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Supporting the LIS Field: The Personal Development Payback
by Barbara J. Arnold
Librarians and information specialists that are leaders continue their professional development and support the profession in a number of ways. They are active in a professional organization at the local, state, national, or international level. They support their professional school by joining their alumni associations and serving on committees. They serve the profession in general by recruiting, and they continue to develop their knowledge and skills through research, teaching and publishing.
Information technology, the economy, and the politics of the library and information studies field affect the way librarians do their jobs. This field is changing and being changed by professionals both inside and outside of our field. It is critical for librarians, both at the beginning of their careers and throughout their professional life, to support their profession, their colleagues and their professional schools. Being involved in this way helps you to continue your education, introduces you to wonderful people, and can help make libraries more effective institutions for all of our client groups.
Act Locally
There are LIS organizations to match just about every service interest and every subject area you can imagine. In the Madison, WI, area, for example, the State Agency Librarians meet to share information, to support each other in times of need, and to work on legislation that affects the document depository program. The South Central Library System is a public library system that serves libraries in Dane and four other southern Wisconsin Counties. The system has a multitype library committee that schedules tours of area special libraries and co-sponsors continuing education programs on personnel, safety, and technology issues. The committee also plans social functions, which help put names and faces together. It takes very little commitment to be part of either of these organizations, and the payback of inexpensive educational programming and networking or mentoring support far outweighs the time and effort involved.
The Wisconsin Library Association has units organized around types of libraries (Academic, Public, School or Special). Other units are focused on service outlets like children and young adults (YSS) or media and technology, and there are also issues-oriented sections like the Wisconsin Genealogy and Local History, Library Advocacy, Intellectual Freedom, and Social Responsibilities roundtables. Conferences at the state level help you connect with librarians of all types. The costs for travel are less than for national conferences, and friendly, familiar faces make conference presenting less stressful. Contributions to newsletters are welcome. There are great ways to test your abilities and interests in holding an elected or appointed office. Reunions help you reconnect with classmates and LIS faculty.
Think Globally
If you like to travel, joining a national or international organization like SLA or IFLA gives you opportunities to connect with leaders in the field. As you contribute conference programs, write articles for publication, or stand for office, this type of association can provide ways for you to travel to different locations around the United States and the world. Lasting friendships are made by serving on a task force or committee, or by lunching with new people during a conference program. Participating in a pre- or post-conference field trip not only takes you to interesting sights and sounds, but the other participants already have interests in common. If large organizations seem too impersonal, specialized organizations like the Music Library Association or the Church and Synagogue Library Association can provide a smaller more cohesive association.
Support Your School
An ALA masters degree provides students and alumni with the theoretical, conceptual and practical knowledge and skills necessary for a beginning library or information agency professional. It is impossible for LIS faculties to teach to every information agency environment, nor can they anticipate all of the technology or information policy changes coming in the future. It takes time to modify curricula and to recruit and hire new faculty.
For these and other reasons, it is important for alumni to keep in contact with their library school and alumni association. Monetary contributions to the school can provide more flexibility to hire adjunct lecturers that are close to the action. Funds can also assist in bringing important leaders to the school to meet with students and faculty. Contributions to scholarship funds can help recruit more heterogeneous master's and doctoral students. Alumni can also provide important information on the job market and how the content of librarians' jobs are changing. Advice on what libraries and information agencies need in new employees help the schools adjust curriculum requirements and elective course offerings. You can serve current students by serving as a mentor, by hosting them at local professional meetings or advising them on job searching techniques.
If you are far from your LIS school, you can still support both it and the profession by actively recruiting talented young people to consider a career in the field. Encourage and support student library employees. Staff a table on a middle school career night or community career expo. Reach out to a community group that is different from your own. See what their information needs are, and check to see if those needs are being met by the social institutions in your area. I have had a wonderful experience mentoring a high school student that is participating in the Information Technology Academy on the UW-Madison campus. My mentee is now in 10th grade. She was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, and is Hmong. I am sharing things related to information literacy, and she is sharing information about her family's history and the Hmong language and culture.
Participation Leads to Payback
As an active member of professional organizations, you will have many opportunities to continue your professional development, make new and lasting friends and support the future of our profession. If you are balancing work and family, serve at the local level or mentor a student by e-mail. In turn, you will have lots of issues to discuss and consider - great topics for newsletters, newspaper or periodical articles. You may even find ideas for your first great American novel. However you choose to support the field, you will find that the time and effort required repays you with so much more in return.
Barbara J. Arnold is the UW-Madison SLIS Admissions and Placement Adviser. She has over 31 years of professional library work experience in every type of library. She has served in her current position since 1985. Her professional association work helps recruit news students, keeps her connected to her school's alumni and helps keep her advising connected to the real world.