#TTW10 : Connecting With People (by TTW contributor Justin Hoenke)

Me, at the very beginning of my time in Library school.
Me, at the very beginning of my time in Library school.

I decided to be a librarian in late 2006 at the urging of my mother in law Jill.  She had been a librarian for many years and spoke of her work very passionately.  With a simple poke and a simple “you know, you’d be good at this library thing“, I was off to attend Clarion University of Pennsylvania in January 2007.

When I was a kid visited the Northland Public Library in Pittsburgh, PA on a weekly basis.  I remembered two things about my time there: they had rabbits in the children’s area and they had the best selection of books on whales in the whole wide world.  Oh yeah, and I thought it was a super fun and magical place.  To me, that’s what libraries needed to be.

My time in library school was good but I always fell out of place.  I wanted to have fun!  I wanted the library to be this amazing place full of wonder, joy, exploration, and full of heart!  Instead, I found myself writing out cataloging records by hand or presenting papers on teen literature.  I got something out of that but…there was another side.

Enter Tame The Web in early 2008.

Instead of talking about  what goes in the 250 field in a bib record , Tame The Web was talking about things I could relate to: What Kind of Conversations can you have?  My Library is…A Rock Show!  I could relate to this.  It was full of wonder, joy, and exploration!  This was real.  This was people connecting with people.

Since those days that’s been my focus with being a teen librarian.  In order to succeed and give the community what they want, I realized that connection had to come first.  All of those other things: collection development, cataloging records, and all of the other stuff I learned in library school were very important and had their place but first and foremost….IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE.  I feel like it has worked out pretty well for me and the communities that I’ve served.

This taught me something else that was somewhat unexpected: there is so much value in connecting with your professional community.  Through library blogs, Twitter, and other social networks, I have met a number of people that not only do I now call my friends but also who have given me so much professional advice and aided in my growth as a librarian and as a person.

All because of a blog that was started ten years ago.  I don’t know if Michael thought about these kinds of things when he started Tame The Web, but they happened.  And I thank him for that.  What may have seemed like a ripple at the time has now created a very positive and helpful tidal wave.

 

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