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This course was a consistent presence through this semester of work in my school. It was really nice to have consistent outlets for reflection and prompts to engage more deeply with my community.

I actually think that I have almost run out of reflections to share! So much of this experience was inherently reflective, so I feel as though I have shared most of my learnings in other locations already.

Overall, this program has taught me how to identify and communicate my values to the team at my school. It has seen me through finishing my last years as a math teacher and into my new career as a school librarian. Aspects of librarianship that used to feel overwhelming, like collection development and strategic planning are now routine parts of my job. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had over the last few years to learn alongside you all!

Angela

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Thank you all for this amazing semester!

I used to think school librarians were the coolest people in the world. But now I think they are the most proactive, creative, and inspiring people in the universe. Growing up, some of my biggest role models were school librarians. During middle school, for a moment I thought I could be a librarian! Unfortunately, my grades were not ideal. I disliked being in school, and I would always rather be somewhere else. (Other than the school library, of course!) Back then, I knew I had to get a master's degree if I ever wanted to pursue this profession. I stopped thinking further because I knew going to graduate school wouldn’t be for me. So, fast forward to today, I never thought I would be where I am now (a.k.a. finishing my last semester of grad school!)

Throughout this course, the most valuable thing I learned was how the school librarian works beyond the school. One of the major projects we undertook this semester, the community and school scan, informed me how large our world is as school librarians. For school librarians there is no stopping point or drawn-out line which states, you must obtain information only between point A to point B or you cannot pass “GO!” and collect $200. Throughout this project, I became more aware and familiar with how the community affects the surrounding schools. During the corequisite course (592), I discovered how connected we are as librarians. In one of the townships, the teen librarian was related to my current supervisor at the public library. Through this connection and conversing with my mentor, I discuss various topics between the public and the school library. In my future career, I plan on making new connections in the school district and township to ensure a stable relationship and collaboration!

Another thing that I learned throughout this course was to plan for the plans that need to be planned. In other words, start early and plan everything (including the unexpected). When I worked as an art specialist at a summer camp, there were several times when there was unexpected bad weather or one of the rooms was unavailable for the day. Due to this sporadic and spontaneous nature, I became more vigilant in having backup plans and plans for those backup plans. Similar to the community and school scan, the professional workshop project is something that I took a lot of pride and joy in making. I wanted to create a workshop dedicated to helping others plan for the future and see what was available. I want to make sure those plans are available when I need them the most!

Outside of projects and assignments, I also valued reading about everyone’s weekly experiences from their field experience. One of my favorite sayings is "Teamwork makes the dream work!" What better way to learn than from each other?

I am a strong advocate for gamification and collaboration in education. When we feed information to and from each other, we can see a new perspective than one we might not have seen initially. I hope to continue our classmate relationships into professional ones as we slowly make our way into our future or current career paths. Let's start to grow our PLNs here and now!

Overall, this course has prepared me more than I ever anticipated. From the detailed projects to the engaging online class discussions, I am ready to open the door to the next chapter in my life. Even outside of class and in the final semester, I learned many tips, tricks, techniques, styles, strategies, lesson planning options, infographic designs, AI software, and everything else that will guide me to become the best version of a school librarian. Of course, this wouldn't have been possible without Dr. V's thorough curation and encouraging feedback! Thank you everyone for a wonderful semester!

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I used to think I would never feel comfortable with the technology aspect of librarianship. Now at the end of this program I am excited to teach digital literacy and navigate new digital tools. This semester I pushed myself in new ways through my class load and field experience. I am proud to say I did it! And although I was so nervous to begin my field experience, it was hands down the best part of my semester! Which thankfully confirmed that I was on the right path. This course helped guide me through my field experience. The weekly readings and discussions were like a guiding light of what I should be looking for in the school library. This of course helped me prioritize what I would like to do in my own library. I truly feel ready to run my own library now. Thanks to this course, my field experience, and truly this entire program, I feel prepared to take this next step. Not only that, but I am so excited! I have found the resources this course provided to be invaluable. Thank you Dr. V for taking the time to curate it all! And thank you for helping prepare me for my role as teacher librarian.

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I thought when I started this program two years ago that I would pretty much go it alone. Little did I know that there was an entire community of people at Rutgers ready and willing to offer advice and support and that has made all the difference in this journey. I think that would be my highlight of the program because in terms of library preparation it seems impossible to choose one tool from the overstuffed toolboxes we’ve created. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to fill my toolbox with not only the theoretical knowledge from our coursework but also the practical application and ideas that were a huge part of the program. Sometimes I thought Dr. V must have a magic wand or some kind of telepathy because she just knew what we needed. Conducting the needs assessment was perfect timing in evaluating my collection for an in-house grant application and creating a presentation to a BOE was partially reusable for the same endeavor. I literally said to myself how did she know? Dr. V literally anticipates our needs. She just knows.

The value of a strong PLN, in its many forms, was made so clear in this class. I was thrilled to be able to attend NJASL with classmates, professors and other professionals in the field. It was truly an amazing experience to be with so many people of the same mindset working toward similar goals. The bus tour was also such a wonderful opportunity to connect to librarians in the field and see the amazing work they are doing. Time and again, online and in person, I have been shown that the nature of our profession really draws selfless and caring people who are eager to share the merits of their programs.

I count myself fortunate to have such knowledgeable and caring people surrounding me as I take my next steps into the professional field of librarianship. I know I can rely on them for ideas, quick answers, a sounding board, or just a sympathetic ear, and I hope they know they can expect the same from me. The road to graduation often challenged me and at times took me way out of my comfort zone, but the people I met along the way lightened my load a little and made it that much more enjoyable to get here. I'm grateful for the supportive community at Rutgers and the opportunities it has provided me to grow both personally and professionally.

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I had no desire to go back to graduate school after completing my MLIS in December 2022. But I got a job as a school librarian and the schedule works so well with my family’s life that I decided to stick with the position this year. In order to keep this position, I had to go back to graduate school to complete my SLMS. To say that this was the hardest professional year of my life would be an understatement. I wanted to quit so many times. I complained endlessly to my husband about how much work was on my plate.

However, each week that passed, I had this feeling that continued to build that what I was learning in these courses was so unbelievably nonnegotiable to my pursuit of a career in librarianship. EVERY.SINGLE.THING applies to what I am doing, what I have done and what I aspire to do. The validation and inspiration I have received from this last year of school is unparalleled. Though I do not think I will be a school librarian for long, what I have learned in the last year and in this course has changed how I view my role and has left me feeling empowered.

Undeniably, the biggest lesson I have learned is patience. Change does not happen overnight and it also doesn’t happen in just a year of hard work. It takes time, it takes collaboration, it takes communication, it takes a growth mindset, and it takes commitment. It is a process that is thoughtfully broken down into attainable baby steps. When taking these steps, accountability is paramount. We have to hold ourselves accountable and responsible for what we do to actualize our vision.

I am bubbling with so many ideas and am so looking forward to having the summer to truly process and reflect on how it all fits together. This year of graduate school was like lighting a match. Next year when I am able to put all I have learned and processed into practice will be the time to see what kind and how much light can truly exude from this spark. I am quite restless with anticipation and wish I could look into a crystal ball to catch a glimpse.

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When I joined this program, I didn't expect to find such a passionate community. Yet, as I reflect back on this class and the MI program as a whole, I can say that some of the most engaging learning I've participated in was with my peers. In many ways, this is a reflection of what I've come away with from 575: that the most meaningful engagement and community comes about when all those involved challenge one another and cheer each other on. As I head into library world, I hope to take this feeling with me – that collaboration is a two way street, that the community that I serve can also reciprocate that service through the unique insight and identities they bring into the library.

As I mentioned in my Flip for this week, I've recognized that enacting change is not something that is done in a day, a week, or even a year. It requires focus, determination, and long term planning. I hope to hold this thought with my close. When I go into work and don't see my vision of an ideal library, it doesn't mean I've failed. It just means that I am not there yet. Real change takes real time, and I need to ensure that I don't let despair take over when I don't see the fruit of my labor grow overnight.

Like some of you, I went into this program with a specific age group in mind. I had worked with teenagers for year prior to the program and did my FE/PT work in a high school library. While I know I would be successful and happy in a high school library, I've also learned through this program that I am drawn to the energy, play, creativity, and excitement that elementary and middle school students bring into the library. When I think about my own personal values, these are certainly more aligned with who I am. I also have many of you to thank for allowing me to discover that. In so many of our classes together, I've seen the work you've done with that audience in mind and I am constantly inspired and excited.

I felt this course was extremely well-scaffolded. I loved coming into it and being able to apply the "jargon", conceptual frameworks, awards etc that we had been introduced to in prior coursework. There were few topics that I felt I was going into blind but I felt I had the opportunity to dive deeper into many of them, especially budgeting and advocacy.

Thank you to all of you for making this program feel so incredibly human from behind a screen. And thank you, Dr. V for the love and support you've offered now and throughout the program.

I feel lucky to have had such a supportive community throughout my time here.

📕 💗

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Thinking back to 2.5 years ago when I started on this journey, I couldn’t imagine feeling as prepared as I do today. Going back to school as an adult is a humbling experience and there were many moments of doubt. Slowly as the program progressed, I started to feel more confident and could see some of the ways the theories we were learning could be put into practice. This semester, 575 combined with 592, really helped bring the bigger picture to life. For the first time we had the opportunity to see the way our learning applied in the real world. I truly believe nothing can compare to the hands-on learning experience FE provided. Speaking as someone who had a mid-program panic attack worrying that school librarianship was not the right fit, I can confidently say that it actually is the perfect fit, and the proper field placement made that abundantly clear. I learned so much this semester and thought the way 575 and 592 melded together to help us focus on particular aspects of the program each week was incredibly helpful. Our FE’s gave us opportunities to test things out, ask our mentors for advice, and run hypothetical scenarios by them to see how they would handle things. It provided a great trial run for us before taking control of our own spaces and really allowed us to see things that might be successful in one place, but don’t translate to another.

We talk a lot about how this job can be a lonely one, but I think we all are leaving here with close connections and people we can reach out to when we feel like we’re on an island. I’m grateful for the knowledge I gained in this program, but more importantly the friendships I’ve found during it. I’ve learned so much from each and every one of my peers and feel lucky to have had Dr. V on the sidelines cheering me on the entire way. In times of doubt, she was the calm in the storm guiding me back to safety. I can’t wait to see where we all land in the coming months and look forward to hearing all about the strong programs you’ve created.

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I learned in this course that being a school librarian might be lonely sometimes, but that I will not be alone. I am leaving with a clear-eyed but optimistic sense of the ways I can connect to my future school community and the support system we all will have as we leave Rutgers. I have learned so much from all of your posts, ideas, and FE experiences, and I know this is a microcosm of what our professional practice and community can be. I also learned that we really can be leaders and make an impact. In many ways that kind of feels like the mission statement of this program—creating library leaders—and now, after learning from and with all of you, I’m like, oh yeah, that’s absolutely a real thing. I can see it already in what so many of you have done in your field experiences!

I used to think I would never want to work in a school library. Then I thought I would never want to work with anyone but high schoolers—especially not elementary school kids. I have a 3-year-old and (almost) 7-year-old at home and that was quite enough for me, thanks, plus I thought that all the really fun stuff we get to teach is limited to older kids. But now, after working at a K-4 school and reading about the truly exciting experiences you all have had at every age level, I see that there is joy and meaningful teaching to do with every age group. Having this openness feels like a real blessing as I approach the next phase.

I was low-key terrified in January—what if I did all this work over 2.5 years and...didn't actually like it?! I now I feel like I genuinely know what school library practice looks like, and I'm confident that the school library is a place I want to be. In our last office hours Dr. V mentioned that she wants our assessments to be valuable in the real world, and I found them so helpful in this way. I really appreciated how the community assessment feeds into the strategic plan, and in fact the materials I made for assignment 3 led to a job offer last week! So there you go; they’re not only valuable for the real world, but job search tools. Overall, I am so grateful for the ways in which this course in tandem with 592 made me feel prepared for the real world, and so grateful for all of you!

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Throughout this program, so much of what I have learned has been strictly in theory, especially because- until this semester- I was not working in any library setting. While it is essential to understand the theoretical foundations of instructional design, child development, information behavior, and the myriad other domains that inform our profession, it can be hard to truly imagine how they will play out in the real world. This course combined with 592 brings theory to life which, for me, provided me the much needed confidence and reassurance that what I've learned and applied in theory does not exist in a vacuum and has prepared me for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Entering my first library job while completing this course has been an absolute godsend as I don't know that I would have survived these first few whirlwind months without the timely modules that have directly influenced my practice. It feels difficult to pinpoint a single "best" takeaway as my needs (and my school community's) are always shifting.  At any given moment this semester, I had a new "aha!" such as when I was working on selecting furniture for the library and we learned about the primordial learning metaphors or when I read about elevator pitches and then had the opportunity to pitch a new learning management system to the superintendent when we ran into each other in the hall.

When I try to predict what from this course will resonate with me into my future, I hope it will be the sound of Dr. V's endless encouragement and contagious optimism that we will change the future playing on loop in my mind, an antidote to the anxiety and imposter syndrome that sometimes rears its head. I hope it echoes louder than my self doubt; I hope it becomes the soundtrack of my library life. How lucky are we to have had her (and each other) to cheer us on through all of this?

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I was grateful that the structure of this final semester combines the idealistic and the realistic. Through our assignments I was able to think big, what would I want to do in my own space without the limitations my FE library may be facing. This helped me to feel that upon graduation I'll be able to bring valuable and big ideas to a new library. To the point of the FE, I appreciated understanding how sometimes there are things outside of our control we need to contend with and so we need to take that big dream idea and break it into smaller parts that are more practical. Never losing the goal of constant improvement, but looking at how to do it within the space we have. I also really valued the practical interview advice towards the end of the semester. Reflecting on those questions both highlighted some areas to brush up on prior to an interview, and instilled confidence when we saw just how knowledgeable we've become throughout the course/program. I really enjoyed the professional development assignment and thinking about how we can help our community. We've talked a lot throughout the course about things we can do to build an understanding of the value of libraries and a reading culture so it was nice to spend time really detailing that through a professional development project.

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I found our weekly discussions to be the most valuable part of this course. My fieldwork position only showed me a small sliver of "what is" and “what could be.” Reading everyone else’s experiences cued me in on the many possibilities of school culture, media center set ups, and district priorities. Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences this semester, I have learned so much from all of you!

I also found our projects to be incredibly useful and authentic. The community scan and board presentation are all activities I can see myself participating in when working in a school. I am a big fan of sandboxes to play around in and try out techniques, and the projects in this class were just that. I was able to try new tools and techniques with low stakes. Our projects also provided me with the opportunity to get to know my fieldwork placement district at a deeper level. My experience there was so impactful because of these additional projects.

Finally, I am so thankful for my field experience position. There is only so much one can understand from books about behavioral management, lesson planning, and multitasking.  My fieldwork position gave me the opportunity to experience all that goes into school librarianship in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere. I do not think I would have been as prepared as I feel now without the fieldwork experience. The cooperating librarian reflection and self-reflection also allowed me to really reflect on my strengths and weaknesses and discuss authentically with my mentor.

Thank you so much for a great semester, and a great three years (for me!). I can't wait to see what you all get up to! Congrats!

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Theory and Practice really need to be two sides of the same coin. One of the most important ways that this course has prepared me for the real world in giving me the opportunity to apply theory in practice. I could become incredibly proficient in reciting standards in the same way that I could be fantastic at delivering experiences to students - it is when the two come together that magic happens. This course, along with field experience, has provided me with the opportunities that I needed to see many of the concepts that we've discussed in action (budgeting, classroom/behavior management, advocacy, collaboration, tech integration, etc.). I'm a hands-on learner and going through the motions within the experience has a much bigger effect on me then just reading about it. Although some things we were unable to witness because of timing (orientation), there were many things that I was able to experience (Read Across America, Author Visit, PLC meetings, next year's budget and orders, inventory) and think about for my own future library.

I also appreciate how smoothly some things seemed to "click" during this course. I was fortunate in that my mentor gave me opportunities to take the lead because I had the ability to immediately try out or apply some of the concepts we were learning in class. There are also a few things that I tried out, like my top reads poster, that couldn't have the full impact unless I was working full time with the same students over an extended period of time. I'm looking forward to trying those things out!

I am savoring this moment a bit because this is the point in time that I can look back and think about who I was six months ago, a year ago, two years ago. There has been a lot of growth, and so many things that seem natural now from having done them regularly over the past three months seemed foreign not too long ago. Small things from how to support students in self-check out to how to set up an efficient library that limits opportunities for students behavior to deteriorate, how to find your first few educators to hook into the library, to growing relationships into deeper collaboration that has the potential to expand and grow.

I'm so excited that many of you are off onto your next adventure. I'm in my final slog and hope you all are done for a reunion celebration in August when I am done :)