The Librarian's Evolution

One of the great things about being a librarian is that you are always learning something. It is impossible not to pick up knowledge when exploring the information requests that come into the information desk from our diverse population of library users. The Sno-Isle system firmly believes educated librarians offer better service, so it provides a number of trainings that bolster the knowledge of library staff in a number of crucial areas.

In the last month or so I've benefitted from a number of training opportunities the Sno-Isle system has made available. Hopefully the information gained will benefit both me and the library patrons I serve on a daily basis.

I was able to attend a book talking boot camp program offered in partnership with the King County system. This training was offered to library staff serving youth with the intent of making them more dynamic presenters and giving them the tools to interest young people in books. With all the distractions our youth are dealing with daily, I'm always looking for ways to break through to them to promote reading.

Along the same lines I was able to also attend The Mysteries of the Teenage Brain. The library system invited an educational consultant and expert on how the brain of a teenager develops to enlighten library staff about the emotional roller coaster that is the teenage way of thinking and strategies to approach, educate, mentor, and hopefully understand and empathize with teenage library users and better meet library needs which they might not be able to vocalize.

And earlier this week I was able to take part in a Reader's Advisory training on inspirational and Christian fiction. I am fortunate enough to be on the Reader's Advisory committee and each year we organize a training for our fellow staff members on a topic or genre they might not know much about. This year we picked a genre that has a lot of depth and a fervent readership that library staff might not be overly familiar with. Librarians can't read everything, and these trainings help fill some gaps in knowledge and give library staff the tools to guide readers in the right direction though the landscape might be foreign.

While times are tough and budgets are tight, Sno-Isle remains commited to educating and strengthening library staff so that we can always be improving the service we offer our patrons.