Conclusion

Reflections

The SJSU SLIS program has been unlike any program I have attended. To date, I have previously attended several higher educational institutions ranging from community colleges to state-funded and private liberal arts colleges, none of which served as a frame of reference for the requisite self-discipline, rigor, and attention to detail I sometimes had to muster and eventually mastered during this distance-learning program. Engaging with students around the globe afforded me unique opportunities for fresh perspectives on library topics for which I had formerly felt resolve. These experiences opened me up and helped me realize how limiting acts of stubborn resistance are in a field of such vast capabilities for growth and learning.

Creating my e-portfolio has been a painstaking process which simultaneously afforded me months of great anxiety and exuberance. Then, I began to write. After I submitted the first few competency essays, I understood the usefulness – indeed the meditation – of consolidating all the myriad and murky parts of my education to become this essay behemoth, this love song to libraries. I got lighter.

Strengths

My early years prepared me for change, prepared me for adapting to new environments and situations. As a “chameleon” of sorts with many years of customer service training, I developed proficiencies in reading patrons’ needs. I hope to work with children and teens providing reference and readers’ advisory services. My ability to connect with young adults and children through our shared love for literature, gaming, and art will be an asset to public libraries. Coupled with my innate multi-tasking skills and head for effluvia, odd facts, and knowledge, I recognize my strengths as a future librarian.

My work in this program also catalyzed my awareness of the need for diversity and openness when drafting policies or navigating budgeting issues. I have been reminded that creative solutions exist in those moments of considerate pause.

Professional Growth Plan

Professional development is vital to my role as a librarian, and I look forward to maintaining relationships with current and new colleagues and collaborators. As a philologist, I anticipate a lifetime of learning new facets of librarianship. As a lifelong learner, reader, and library patron, I look forward to mixing my loves for both traditional and emerging technologies to glean new ways to make libraries exciting and fresh for all.

Affirmation

All introductory, reflective, and evidentiary work submitted is mine alone (except where indicated as a group or team project), and has been prepared solely by me. I have respected the privacy of others by removing mention in this e-Portfolio of information that could lead to the disclosure of the identity of students or employers, and I have made good effort to obtain permission from all group members for group projects submitted as evidence. I am protecting the privacy of the contents of my e-Portfolio by password protecting it or by sharing the URL only with my e-portfolio advisor.

Melissa Eleftherion Carr

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