Welcome to our sixth ALASC profile. This is a series of introductions of ALASC board members, SLIS students, and other information professionals who you may want to hear from. If you’re interested in being profiled, please message us! We’re proud to present a snapshot Julia Chambers, our treasurer. This was originally published on our
Facebook page in January.
Greetings! This is Julia Chambers, your ALASC Treasurer and SLIS student on the youth librarian track. May will mark my third year in the program and with two more courses to go, I plan to finish up in December 2014. I live in Berkeley, California and straddle my time between two part time jobs in school libraries — one at an independent elementary school in Berkeley, and the other at an independent school in Danville, California. My afternoons are spent toting my two daughters around town to gymnastics, soccer, and dance, and my evenings are spent almost exclusively in front of my laptop, but I keep reminding myself this is the only way to get my degree! On weekends, I’m almost always on at least one hike and (New Years resolutions holding) taking at least one yoga class.
I found my way into library school after a solid 15 years in journalism, as a writer and editor for mostly women’s magazines and some local city rags. Volunteering at my daughters’ school library got me interested in the profession, and the challenging SLIS coursework along with the emerging opportunities for those with LIS backgrounds has kept me dedicated to the program. With such limited time to get involved (or even investigate) affiliations with national organizations, I’ve found ALASC to be the perfect entry into participating in a professional organization. My Board colleagues are all doing such interesting things with their coursework, lives, and with the student chapter, it’s been inspiring to see everyone in action!
Almost every course I have taken at SLIS has warned of the budget cuts and reorganization that so many public and school libraries are facing, yet I’m not discouraged. This is primarily because the professors in these same courses along with some of the Career Center workshops I’ve attended have shown me the how marketable a masters degree in information science is in today’s job market. As a middle school librarian, I’m also witnessing daily how critical information literacy skills are, and how ill prepared some teachers are in teaching students 21st century skills. For anyone interested in pursuing a career in school libraries, I highly recommend Dr. David Loertschers’ LIBR 250. This course not only showed me the possibilities of a strong library program, but also showed me ways to make my position one of the most critical to the school’s curriculum.
The best advice I received during this program was from my advisor Dr. Anthony Bernier. He told me to not get too hung up on getting straight As, but rather to really stretch and expose myself new challenges. I really appreciate that focus on the process of learning rather than the end goal of a grade.
