As I look back over the past few months of this course I thank @michael for challenging us to think outside the box. I have enjoyed the use of blogging to present our ideas leading to much interaction between all of us and I thank all of you who made comments and gave me suggestions. I used the assignments and reflections to “think out loud” about ideas that pertained to my life both in and out of the library and I have come up with some plans to pursue that I don’t think would have occurred to me otherwise.
My takeaways from this course are summed up in the following quotes from the section on “Color Me Curious” in The Heart of Librarianship (Stephens, 2015)
- No amount of training or professional development can move us forward if an individual is uninterested in learning or growing.
- Curiosity about the world and how people create, use, and access information should fuel our practice.
- Acting on what our curiosity reveals might lead to some innovative approaches to service.
- ……be looking forward and talking with key players about what other learning opportunites the library might offer.
- You don’t need to know how to use a mouse in order to have curiosity, you just need to love the world and want to be engaged in it (John Blyberg).
It is my desire to keep on learning always that gave me the impetus to pursue my MLIS.
I also thank @michael for reminding us to “breathe”. It is something that I have learned to do more often as I have gotten older. A few times a year I get away from the regular routine through my work with youth groups. While my library is only a mile from my house, my speech job is about 33 miles away and that drive time is great for “thinking” – a way to work out problems, figure out my homework in my head, or just breathe. Here I am walking the Labyrinth last month (on the left in my black and yellow Hufflepuff sweater). This is one of my favorite ways to get refocused.
So as we end this course I leave you with a toast to all of us. Best of luck to all who are graduating and to those of us who still have a ways to go……remember to stay true to yourself and your ideas. Here’s to Us!
References and Resources
Halestorm. “Here’s to Us”. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRXXGMSOiQM
Stephens, M. (2015). Color Me Curious | Office Hours. In The Heart of Librarianship, page 34.
Lisa's Library World 
Lisa, I just wanted to say how much I’ve appreciated your work and your comments throughout the semester. Cheers to you, and Hufflepuff pride!
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@sarahtyler – Thank you for your kind words! I had a lot of fun doing these posts and just putting it all out there. Cheers to you as well and best wishes to a fellow Hufflepuff 🙂
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Long live the Hufflepuffs (wonder if we tend toward the library sciences??)
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This course is really about being human and using technologies to bring us together. It was very comforting to hear the “breathe” message and granting extensions if needed. @michael reminded me that we are all multi-dimensional people, student/teacher is just one of our many hats we wear.
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@aplsmith 🙂
To all in this comment thread – I also appreciate all of your participation and sharing this semester!
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This class definitely gave me a lot to think about that probably wouldn’t have occurred to me before! Good luck in the future, and don’t forget to breathe!
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