Hello, friends, my name is Nick, it’s a pleasure to be here with you all!
I live in San Diego, California with my partner and our 10 year old Shiba Inu. I went to UCLA for undergrad where I got a BA in English, but I have not had the opportunity to use my degree in employment since graduating. Professionally, I have been a union organizer, political organizer, and nonprofit program manager. It is my goal to use my union/political organizing background to create a “Librarian Organizer” program, in an effort to encourage librarians to engage in active partnerships with local community groups. I do not currently work in a library but I have recently applied to an internship with a local archive, so fingers crossed for that!
I signed up for this course because I feel like I would like a better understanding of this period of transition from physical to digital information retention and dissemination. Library patrons justifiably expect access to e-books, streaming media, online databases, mobile services, maker spaces, and other digital resources. Understanding the new technology required for digital librarianship is critical and a bit of personal blind spot for me, I am afraid.
I am really looking forward to interfacing with all you lovely folks this semester! Cheers!
@nickrobbins33 I like your idea for the librarian organizer program. I think it’s a good way to tap into your experience. Your pup and BFF are so sweet! And Karla Marx looks super fun! Welcome to the Hyperlinked Library.
@nickrobbins33 “Professionally, I have been a union organizer, political organizer, and nonprofit program manager.” Super cool! Out of all of those career paths, wondering what wisdom you gleaned that led to the conclusion that perhaps libraries is the best path for you? I used to work in nonprofit which was super cool but also experienced burnout, which drove me to work in libraries instead, which has felt super fulfilling and sustainable so ever since. Is Librarian Organizer synonymous with Outreach Librarian? Cheers.
Hey there! Thanks for checking in with a some follow up questions, I love that! I don’t think any of those roles that I have had in the past lead me to librarianship, I came to librarianship because I was an English major who loves literature. Being a librarian was something I always wanted to do, even when I was doing other things, like organizing. All of my past professional roles from have shaped my view of how people and their institutions should interact and I think that I have found, after some time in school, how I want to combine my past experience with my future goal of librarianship. I am not sure what an outreach librarian is, but I think it may be a little different than what I am thinking, I’ll definitely do some research on them from here, so thank you!
What I am thinking of is a training to program to help librarians actively interface with their communities, similar to the training programs that taught me as a union organizer, to go into people workspaces and help them organize for a better future. Obviously, there are major differences between these things but the core philosophy of organizing people is the same, and the idea of a general public, taking ownership of their institutions is where I am coming from.
Oh, and on burnout, oh yes, girl, its so real. My gosh, the non-profit world can be a struggle. Glad you have found some peace in a new profession! 😊