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Monday, April 17
Some Final "Spirit of Librarianship" Stuff
by
Jason
on Mon 17 Apr 2006 01:54 PM EDT
...and then I'll shut up about it.
In a blog post after I won, I said I'd put a "what I really wanted to say" acceptance speech online (as
opposed to what I did say having not really prepared a speech and being
half-drunk and trying to talk while standing on a chair in a bar full
of other drunks.) So here's my shot at that:
Jason's Virtual "Spirit of Librarianship" Acceptance Speech
"First off, I want to accept this Award on behalf of all the other
nominees. All of us are deserving of the award by virtue of our
nomination and I don't think of myself so much as winning the award as
sharing it with all of you.
I want to thank the various people that nominated me and also those who
voted for me. It's an honour that all of you took the time to
make your feelings known on my behalf.
I want to thank my student mentor Sabina Iseli-Otto and my unofficial
second mentor, David Jackson, for giving me a two-for-the-price-of-one
mentorship that inspired me on a continual basis to try to make things
happen in this school.
I also want to accept this on behalf of my classmates. To me, the Spirit of Librarianship takes many forms and I
think that all of us have virtues that embody that spirit in some
way. If I had time, I'd go through the class list and say why I
think each of you deserves a part of this award. But above
everything else, to me, the Spirit of Librarianship is about equality
and fairness. So giving an award that singles one person out is,
in some strange way, contrary to what I think the Spirit of
Librarianship actually is.
I went so far as to ask if I could have "Jason Hammond - on Behalf of
the Class of Winter 2006" put on the plaque but they said there wasn't
room. Still, if anyone wants to list "Co-recipient of the Winter
2006 Spirit of Librarianship Award" on their resume, I would strongly
encourage you to do so. If any future employer needs to verify
this fact, have them call me!
I was joking with someone that this award should be called the "Most
Naive Librarian Award" because that's what it feels like sometimes -
that I am being acknowledged for my childlike belief in the purity of
what librarians do. If I do have any impact in winning this, I
hope that it's maybe opened up a similar window to those of you who are
here, just for the piece of paper or just for the good-paying job you
might get at the end of your studies.
I didn't know there was a Spirit of Librarianship Award when I came to
FIMS and did the things that I did simply because, in my opinion, they
needed doing. I hope this thought continues to inspire me (and
might inspire you) as we go into the "real world" in the future."
Linda Bussiere's E-mail
Linda Bussiere sent out a very kind e-mail to the entire department
(faculty and students) the day after I won the Award. I'm
reprinting it here with her permission:
Congratulations to Jason Hammond, who was awarded the Spirit of Librarianship Award last evening!
Jason is a first-semester Master of Library and Information Science student who hit the ground running in this program. He galvanized his co-hort by organizing social events the very first week of school -- introducing
many of us to the Jessamyn West book, "Revolting Librarians Redux", and sharing his enthusiasm for
librarianship -- getting us all to talk about social responsibility.
In the spirit of the librarian-as-information-faciliator, Jason started a class listserv to promote discussions both academic and social, which has sparked many involved debates about everything library-related. On this listserv, Jason has shared his favorite librarian blogs, preparing his classmates for the real issues that arise
in the library world.
In a spirit of the librarian-as-community-builder, Jason has set up the Lunch Bucket Series, bringing in special
speakers from outside the library community, but within the world of books. The inaugral visit from Kitty Lewis, from Brick Books (recently featured in this month's Quill & Quire) was an occasion that brought library students together, and Jason's passion for all things books made the room hum with excitement.
In his first semester Jason the librarian-as-educator has also collaborated with other students to organize a student reading for Freedom to Read Week, as well as help initiate an new open-access online journal for LIS
students, called Cantilever.
Jason Hammond has received the Spirit of Librarianship Award because he truly embodies the many-faceted
roles of librarian, and without his presence in this program, the true meaning of librarianship would not quite be the same for for all of us!
Thursday, April 13
One Semester Down, Two To Go
by
Jason
on Thu 13 Apr 2006 05:02 PM EDT
Hard to believe I'm finished my first semester as of today!
I got my course registration list for the summer a couple days ago:
| 506 | Management | | 525 | Managing Internet Information Services | | 566 | Children's and Young Adult Literature | | 697 | Individual Study | | 746 | Special Topic: Introduction to Collection Development Practices in Academic Libraries |
I'm going to do
my individual study on the relationship between Canadian book
publishers and libraries (the exact focus isn't finalized yet.)
I'm pretty happy (and surprised) that I got into all of my first
choices - I've talked to a few classmates who didn't. The most
disappointing thing is that there are about four other courses that I
could've easily substituted into this list as I would've liked to take
them as well.
We had our final Lunch Bucket speaker series of the semester today and
it was a group of first termers with library experience plus Renee from
second term who's got a Library Tech diploma having a panel discussion
entitled: "Here In the Real World: Life Before (and After)
MLIS" Had about 15 people out which was a better crowd than I
expected on the last day of classes to be honest. Great
discussion and my only regret is not taking my minidisc to record what
was being said. When we did sessions at the SPG, we'd have
someone (usually Jill or I) designated to take notes and then we'd post
them online for future reference. Have to admit I was a bit
disappointed that no one from faculty or staff showed up - I mean,
you'd think they might take an interest in a topic like this? But
maybe they think they get all the feedback they need on the program via
other channels? Who knows...
Quinn also had a good crowd out to watch "The Aristocrats" last night
even though there was a huge downpour. Only one person walked out
and I think that might've been because he turned the lights down
completely and she couldn't work on her needlepoint.
And the Book Zine is out (well, I got a preview copy last night after
they finished compiling them at the Grad Club. Not sure if
they've made it to our mailboxes yet) and it's a great little
collection. Easily the best list is Mike McNally's "Top Ten
Things I've Actually Said In Class To Astound & Annoy
Professors". I'm trying to convince Ella to scan in all the back
issues plus this one and put them online. If anybody's taking
Preservation or Archives or whatever that stream of classes are called,
maybe you could do this as a class project? <hint, hint>
I'm off to drink some Bushwakkers beer at 7pm at Lyndsay's then we're
likely on the road all weekend touring around so I probably won't be
posting until Sunday or so.
Classmate of the Day: Just
because I'm in such a good mood and it feels appropriate, let's give it
to every single person in the Class of January 2006. Yay
us!
Saturday, April 8
One Week and Two Assignments Left
by
Jason
on Sat 08 Apr 2006 11:30 PM EDT
I'm doing an
annotated bibliography on the corporatization of public libraries for
501 (sort of a recurring theme with my work here so far) and then I
have to do a Request for Proposals for 505. Then I'm done my
first semester of library school. How crazy is that? Next
week is going to be busy...
Monday
- Final 503 class, should get back a bunch of assignments including my
final Reference Question and marks for our final group
presentation. Then Destressor at Grad Club where they present the Spirit of Librarianship Award.
Tuesday
- M&D arrive in the afternoon for a 12 day visit. In the
evening, I have my final 501 class where I'll hand in my annotated
bibliography.
Wednesday
- will probably do a bunch of running around with M&D, shopping and
local sightseeing/orientation then in the evening, we're hoping to have
the first of what might become monthly library-themed film
nights. Quinn's taken the lead on this project but is trying to
get me into an usher outfit. Unlikely!
Thursday
- we have our final Lunch Bucket Speaker of the semester at noon.
It'll be a panel discussion called "Here in The Real World: Life Before
(And After) MLIS" featuring three first-term students speaking about
their experiences in the program versus what they found working in
libraries. Then I have my final class of semester is 505 at which
time I'll hopefully have my Request for Proposals ready to hand in
(though I can hand it in next week if I need the extra time - very
generous of the instructor to make this option available for the class
knowing how busy we'd all be at the end of term.) Then I might
just have a beer at the Grad Club to celebrate.
Then I'll relive high school by coming home drunk and having my parents look at me disapprovingly. Ah, good times...
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