Internship Reflection
As I am nearing the last day of my internship, I can’t help but think about my experiences and how I have grown as future librarian. When I first started reaching out to nearby libraries for practicum opportunities working with youth, I hadn’t even thought of outreach. That said, I am so grateful for the opportunity to have worked in outreach for youth with the Lake Travis Community Library bookmobile as I have become a more well-rounded librarian as a result.
Every position has its challenges, and this internship was no different. Yet, those same challenges while difficult provided me the opportunity to grow and broaden my perspective/knowledge. One of the biggest learning curves was to be ready to change a program or operation at any point in time. All of this is based upon the current outlook and situation present when arriving at an outreach stop. Often times, despite it possibly being a regular stop it is not a place you are in charge of, and things typically will have changed in some way. One of the best pieces of advice I got was to remember that in outreach you are going to other people’s spaces, so you need to meet them at where they are at that time. Another lesson was that with outreach one is consistently packing, unloading, and repacking materials for each stop. Every outreach stop looks different, and the bus is small so you can’t carry everything. Therefore, you always need to review and triple check to determine if you have all your necessary materials for the next and current stop. Unfortunately, this is one lesson I learned the hard way as I forgot craft materials for one program and had to improvise on the spot. The program turned out well, thankfully, but it was a lesson learned. I appreciated my supervisor's grace on the matter but her also using that moment as valuable opportunity to teach me ways I could really grow and understand some of the challenges of outreach.
Despite the challenges, this internship gave me a plethora of varied program experiences. For my internship I helped run/create programs for summer outreach stops that focused on youth. So, I was able to experience programming changes from setting, time frame, age demographics, and even social cultural dynamics. I held programs on the bookmobile (a small, confined bus with little wiggle room when full of people), a narrow school hallway (had some cafeteria tables/benches and next to an exit), an outdoor pavilion (hot and right next to a parking lot), and a community center room (lots of windows and big open space). Furthermore, some of the programs we only had 20 minutes with the group and other times we had 40 minutes. I also had to help design programs that would entertain toddlers to fifth graders. Sometimes those ages were all in one program whereas others the youth were all the same age. Additionally, the social cultural environment was different at each stop as one was a school setting (kids in grade levels with a teacher in a learning environment), another summer camp (kids paired in similar age groups with adult and young adult leaders in a structured fun environment), and families at a neighborhood community center. The combination and diversity of these factors gave me experience in planning a wide range of storytimes and craft programs- more than I thought I would have in an internship. Moreover, having to plan and execute a variety of programs was also one of the most fun parts of my internship as it really allowed me to be creative. I didn't feel like I was limited in any major way despite some more challenging programming factors like space and age. More importantly though, these experiences give me confidence in my abilities to adapt and offer programs that may be outside the typical library setting and for a wide age range of kids as well.
However, the most important takeaway from this internship is the importance of outreach especially for youth. Not all youth have guardians who can or will take them to a library. Therefore, their interactions with the library out and around the community at these stops will give them ideas about the library and what it can do for them. So, it is important that the kids see the library as a place that is welcoming, fun, and has resources like books for them to access. Some of the ways Ms. Karen B, my supervisor, emphasized this was by having free books for kids who couldn't check out materials and a scavenger hunt on the bookmobile with prizes for its completion. While, talking about books and reading is important, the priority with outreach at these stops is to engage with the youth and build connections. The library is more than just books; it’s a place for all people and one that is friendly and safe too. That is what we are trying to leave the youth with at these stops a lasting impression that the library is always there for them if they want and or need it. We don't know exactly the impact the outreach will have on the kids, and we don't know what they are going through. Still, we do know what outreach can possibly do and it’s the possibilities of great benefits for the youth and others which justify the need for any kind of library outreach in the first place.
The lessons, the experiences, the memories, and more from this internship are highlights of my program thus far and start in the library field. I know far more than I had walking in the bookmobile doors and will be leaving it a much more knowledgeable, adaptable, and skilled future librarian. My hope is to take what I have learned and the wisdom of my supervisor, the patrons I served, and the other library staff and apply it to future projects and programs with youth in the libraries I may serve. My deepest gratitude and best wishes go to my supervisor, all the Lake Travis Community Library staff, and kids I met throughout the summer, they have all made me a better librarian and person.
