It's Academic

It’s the second full week of the semester and like most, I have hit the ground running. However, this year, I have no idea what I’m running towards, perhaps to the end of October when I see a stop in my instructional and orientation sessions. Changes made during restructuring have now been implemented and shared with the public and those changes mean I am now doing the majority of instruction for our health sciences campus. I knew I was taking on more instruction but it did not hit until I looked at numbers for January-June and July-December. In the next week, I will complete the same amount of instruction but the majority taking place over 3 weeks. 

Over the summer we migrated from a liaison to a functional model. This has not been the easiest transition and it often feels like I am starting all over (after starting in March 2023). Under this functional model, I am on the Student Success & Instruction side and now a Student Success & Instruction Librarian. We have domain areas of focus and mine is in health sciences. It’s a weird place to be in considering a lot of health sciences is research focused but I’m willing to give it a go. There are also several classes I am taking a new approach to teaching this semester. When I go to upper-level undergraduate and graduate classes that focus more on research, I will be teaching those sessions and will meet with students one-on-one after class for basic follow-up post-class. If a student needs more of a full-on research consultation after the instruction session, they will meet with the research librarian, who is based out of the health sciences. We have not attempted this type of structure before but will be testing it out in the next few weeks. I believe it will be successful but perhaps it may be a little confusing. 

I am tired of and on the verge of being overwhelmed. But I am saying, no to any more sessions before mid-October. I’m doing this for my sanity but also to set boundaries and expectations for the future. It’s also important for me to do this so that I can be engaged in other aspects of work beyond instruction. Instruction is 50% of my job now, but there are still other areas of librarianship that I want to take part in, as well as become more involved in committees both on campus and on a professional level. 

All that being said, the one thing that remains the same is the collaborative and supportive work environment at the library. Perhaps it’s the fact everyone has had to adapt together, try new things, and experience growing pains helped to foster this closeness. Before all of these changes, everyone for the most part is supportive and willing to help when needing an ear or someone to review materials. While it looks like a completely different library from the outside, this has not changed. I can send a message or walk into the office and dissect classes and problems just like before. And all things considered, enjoying my co-workers has made a lot of these changes a lot easier. 

Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice (PaLRaP.org) is accepting submissions for research, practice, feature, and commentary articles as well as news items for the Fall 2024 issue (vol. 12, no. 2).
Research, practice, feature, and commentary manuscripts are welcomed at any time; however, for full consideration for the fall issue, please submit your manuscripts by August 31, 2024.
News item submissions (staff changes, awards/recognitions, events, initiatives, etc. happening in PA libraries that may be of interest to other libraries) are also welcome at any time. However, for full consideration for the spring issue, please submit your news items here by October 1, 2024.
For more information about PaLRaP, including submission guidelines and section policies, visit http://www.palrap.org.
PaLRaP is a peer-reviewed, online, open access publication of the Pennsylvania Library Association’s College & Research Division. This journal provides an opportunity for librarians in Pennsylvania to share their knowledge and experience with practicing librarians across the Commonwealth and beyond. It includes articles from all areas of librarianship, with a special focus on activities at or of interest to Pennsylvania’s academic libraries.

Published biannually: May and November

Co-Editors: Kate Cummings & Roseanne Perkins

Peer reviewers: Members of the Pennsylvania library community

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