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Jacqueline Ceron

As I began working on this reflection paper, many good memories came to mind.
My interest in librarianship began several months after graduating from Northern Illinois
University. I had obtained my Bachelors degree in History, and I considered returning to
school to earn my teaching certification after working as a teaching assistant for several
years. I enjoyed helping students with their class assignments, and I loved watching them
improve their reading and comprehension skills. I encouraged my students to read and to
develop their passion for reading. However, I soon realized that life as a classroom
teacher did not suit me. The question, then, was what should I do? It wasnt until the
school librarian commented that she thought I would be a good librarian because of my
interest in working with kids and my passion for books that I gave some serious thought
to whether or not I wanted to become a librarian.
After this realization, I took the next couple of weeks to do some extended
research online at the American Library Association website. I wanted to know what it
would take to become a librarian. To be honest, I didnt know that in order to become a
librarian I would have to obtain a Masters degree in Library Science. I have come to
realize that this is a common misconception and that many people do not know that
librarianship is a professional field requiring an advanced degree. After researching
Dominican University and the University of Illinois, I decided to apply to Dominican
because I was certain that it would prepare me for the library profession. Once I was
accepted in the Library and Information Science program I was prepared to embark on
my new journey as a graduate student at Dominican University.
In Fall, 2013, I began taking two online classes: LIS 701: Introduction to Library
Science with Dr. Karen Brown, and LIS 703: Organization of Knowledge with Dr. Karen
Snow. On the first night of my LIS 701 class, I remember sitting at home with my

notebook and pen, ready to take notes. I was excited about beginning my first day as a
graduate student. Dr. Brown gave us an introduction to the core values of the library
profession and the foundation of libraries. My passion for becoming a librarian developed
even further on that first day of my graduate class. I was very eager to get started
exploring the library profession.
I was nervous about starting my online catalog class since I had heard cataloging
can be difficult to study, especially online. I didnt know what to expect from my online
cataloging class. The thought of following strict rules to learn how to code was
intimidating. However, Dr. Snow taught the class with great ease. I learned the basic
method and rules of cataloging. Each week there was a very important lesson to learn
about cataloging, including new codes to use when categorizing library materials. At
midterm, I used the Library of Congress Classification website to help me create
bibliographic records for the midterm exam, eventually including this exam as an artifact.
I began my library internship in the Youth Department at Franklin Park Public
Library in September of 2013. I had not had any library experience, and I thought this
would be a great opportunity to gain experience and familiarize myself with the way a
library provides its services to the public. I was both nervous and excited as I walked into
the Franklin Park Public Library on that first day. I didnt know what to expect, and it
was a whole new experience for me. As a library intern at Franklin Park, I helped
coordinate several programs such as Game Night, Storytime, and Reading Paw, an
activity that asks children to read to a service dog in order to encourage their own
reading. In addition, during that time, I created bookmarks with a list of popular young
adult books for teenagers who visited the library. I was not familiar with the latest teen
books so I had to do some extensive research and found a great website called Epic Teens
that provides a list of popular teen books from different genres.

For the entire three months that I worked at Franklin Park Public Library, I
analyzed and took notes about the patrons who would come to the library every day. I
remember discussing in LIS 701 the different needs of library patrons, and I connected
each experience that I had at Franklin Park Library to my class discussions. People come
to the library for many different reasons. Some people come to the library to use its free
resources and information. Parents come to the library with their kids so they can
participate in programs or find books to read. Some patrons even come to get assistance
with their job search. All these different needs were met due to the dedication and passion
of each library staff member at Franklin Park Public Library. My experience there helped
me develop my own professional identity and discover the type of librarian that I wanted
to become.
In my second semester at Dominican University, I started working at Lyons
Township High School North (LTHS) as a Library Paraprofessional. I was very excited to
begin my new library position because I was to be given greater responsibility and handson experience serving students at LTHS, including reference, circulation, collection
development, and reading advisory. My LIS 704: Reference and Online Services class
prepared me for this new library position. One of my assignments for LIS 704 required
that I examine the quality of three different reference service interactions. This
assignment help shaped my perspective on how I should interact with library users when
answering reference questions. I chose this assignment as an artifact for one of my
Outcomes.
I took LIS 770: Management of Libraries and Information Center online with Dr.
Christopher Stewart during Spring, 2014. This class was by far the most challenging yet
the most rewarding of all the classes in my program. Dr. Stewart was able to bring out the
best in me. Although this class was very difficult at times, Dr. Stewart was very helpful,
challenging all his students to think critically as they explored the management,

organizational structure, and business aspects of the library. That semester I learned the
principles of management and the functions of a manager in at library setting. In the class
we discussed the importance of finance such as budget reports. For one of our class
assignments, I analyzed the budget and the financial report for Oak Park Public Library.
This assignment was good practice understanding the revenue and spending costs of the
library.
Over the summer, I did a second internship at Northlake Public Library District
(NPLD). Using the skills and knowledge that I acquired from my four LIS classes and my
internship at Franklin Park Public Library, I felt confident and prepared to take on my
new internship position in Children and Young Adult Programming. The experience I had
at NPLD was profound. I developed a positive relationship with the patrons that visited
the library, doing my best to interact and provide great customer service to the patrons.
At NPLD I divided my time between the Youth Service reference desk, helping
patrons find books, articles, and other materials, and the Young Adult librarian, helping
her coordinate programs for tweens and teenagers. There were a few programs that I was
in charge of, including Game Day, Poetry Club, and Movie Maker. Of all the programs
that I helped coordinate, Movie Maker was my favorite. For this program, I was in charge
of teaching twenty children how to make their own motion still movies using Legos,
iPad, and Movie Maker software. Children and teen services and programming are some
of the essential aspects of the library. My internship at Northlake Public Library helped
me gain profound interest in developing childrens programs, preparing me for my
upcoming youth service classes, including LIS 723: Services for Children and Young
Adults, LIS 721: Library Materials for Children, and LIS 722: Library Materials for
Young Adults.
Because of I was so interested in becoming a youth service librarian, LIS 723:

Services for Children and Young Adults was essential because it provided me with the
concepts, information, and tools I needed to develop, evaluate, and promote
programming and services for children and teens. Most of our assignments and projects
for LIS 723 were hands-on, giving me the opportunity to present several programs that I
created, including bilingual storytime for preschool students, readers advisory for teens,
and a teen chef program. One of our most important assignments was to analyze and
evaluate a chosen community, which for me was Joliet. Studying the demographic region
of community libraries is essential for librarians because it provides information on the
community of children and young adults living in the library district and allows librarians
to develop programs to meet the needs of area children and teens. For my final project, I
created a PowerPoint presentation on the importance of developing Spanish programs for
Latino children and teens based on the demographic information I found about my target
community. I included this PowerPoint presentation as one of my artifacts for my
ePortfolio.
In LIS 721: Library Materials for Children and LIS 722: Library Materials for
Young Adults, I read and reviewed a list of books from different genres for children and
young adults. Each week we had class discussions about the books that we read, debating
topics related to childrens literature. There were many topics that we talked about such
as the quality of the book, censorship, different themes and styles, peer pressure, comingof-age, cultural stereotyping and self-identity. In LIS 721 I also learned how to analyze
and write different types of book reviews. The main purpose of writing book reviews is to
understand the values and creative styles of each book that has been written for a young
audience.
After looking through some of the discussion posts I found online at Illinois
School Library Media Association (ISLMANET-L), I decided to create for my final
project in LIS 721 a website on how childrens literature can be used as a tool to address

bullying as well as a list of recommended books for teachers and librarians on the subject.
I presented my website in class and I spoke about the benefits of bibliotherapy and how it
can be used to help children deal with bullying. Similar to LIS 721, LIS 722 focused on
young adult (YA) materials. A lot of the young adult books that we read for class dealt
with many serious issues that many teens have to face every day. For a group project, we
developed a website and provided information about teen suicide and how librarians can
use young adult literature as a tool to address this serious topic. As a group, we
communicated to our class the importance of helping teens whom are suffering from
depression. We reached our goal of educating our classmates about this topic.
My experiences in the Library and Information Science program prepared me for
the challenges and responsibilities that I face in my current position as a Library
Specialist at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). My reference skills and ability to
do database searching greatly increased due to the lessons and concepts I learned in LIS
745: Searching for Electronic Databases. Dr. Yijun Gao, who taught LIS 745, provided
us with the skills needed to understand different types of databases so we would be able
to easily retrieve information faster and more reliably. Because of what I learned from Dr.
Gao, I have been able to help students access different databases in order to improve and
increase the volume of their research.
For my ePortfolio, I went through all of my assignments and projects and selected
some of my best work to include. My ePortfolio reflects the knowledge and skill that I
developed at Dominican University. In addition, all of my artifacts demonstrate my
ability to develop programs and assessments, use a variety of technology, and present
information.
There are four artifacts that best demonstrate my skills. My first artifact is a Latin
American Studies Subject Guide that I created for LIS 704, developing it for
undergraduate students studying Latin American History. I put together a list of

resources, including circulation books, databases, reference books, and open-source


databases, that I know students will use for their research. The next artifact I created was
a marketing plan that I developed for LIS 770 in order to help promote a Spanish library
service to the Latino community.
Another artifact that I developed is a Selection Tool PowerPoint presentation for
LIS 748. Using Camtasia 2, a screen recorder, I created several videos that showed my
classmates how to use some of the selection tool websites. This presentation was very
important because I was able to explain to my audience the importance of selecting
appropriate books for Latino children and teens and how to avoid choosing books that
contain stereotypes.
The last artifact that I selected is a mock Library and Information Science
webpage that I developed using CSS code in LIS 753: Internet Fundamentals and
Design. This webpage took me a while to develop because there are different rules that
must be followed in order to develop a responsive webpage. I included a special CSS
media code to make sure that my webpage is viewable using a mobile phone. I learned
from this assignment the importance of developing responsive webpages because many
library patrons use different technology platforms. It is the librarians responsibility to
make sure that all the information found on the librarys website is accessible to each
user, regardless of whatever browser or technology platform he/she is using.
My time at Dominican University has come to an end, but I will soon begin a new
journey as a professional librarian. I will never regret my decision to choose Dominican
University. Because of what I have learned at Dominican, I feel well prepared to make a
difference in my community. Although I still get questions about my profession, it is, in
part, our fault for not speaking up and teaching the public about the many important roles
that librarians serve in the community. As Dr. Janice Del Negro said at the Follett lecture
earlier this year, Librarians need to speak up and advocate. We cannot remain quiet,
letting the public continue to think that our role as librarians is insignificant.

Once I graduate from Dominican University, my plan is to work in a public or


academic library. In addition, I want to get involved with some of the professional library
associations such as REFORMA. For years I couldnt decide what I wanted to do with
my life. I felt I had wasted my time because I had gone to college without having a plan
for what I wanted to do when I graduated. Once I went to Dominican University I
realized that I was meant to become a librarian. I am excited about graduating and finally
fulfilling my dreams.

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