Hi everyone!
My name is Jane, this is my sixth semester in the SJSU MLIS program. I have been a part-time student for the past two years while working full-time as a high school librarian at an all-girls independent school in New York City (one more week until summer vacation). I was born and raised in San Jose, went to college in San Francisco for English and Comparative Literature, did a post-grad program in London, and have now been in Queens, New York for roughly the past six years. When I first moved to New York I worked for Brooklyn Public Library’s Justice Initiatives team, where we provided supportive library services and programs for New Yorkers impacted by incarceration. This was, and continues to be, extremely important work to me. There is so much to be said and done about information access, technology, and the American carceral system; writers such as Victoria Law, Jackie Wang, and Ruha Benjamin discuss some of these intersections poignantly. I shifted into school library work three years ago and can still envision my future in librarianship going either route: in schools or in the public library.
I chose this class in part because as a high school librarian in 2025, there are so many emerging tools and technologies in the world of research and information that educators, students, librarians, and patrons are exposed to for better or worse. I am excited by the possibilities presented by these new digital frontiers, however, I maintain concerns about user privacy, environmental impact, and the effect on critical thinking skills. I am very much looking forward to this class and learning alongside you all!