{"id":19,"date":"2026-06-14T00:03:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T00:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/?p=19"},"modified":"2026-06-14T00:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T00:04:49","slug":"assignment-x-transform-like-ditto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/2026\/06\/14\/assignment-x-transform-like-ditto\/","title":{"rendered":"Assignment X: Transform Like Ditto"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Why does this theme stand out to you?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Assignment X, I chose to discuss the concept of the <strong>library as a startup<\/strong> (Mathews, 2012). This theme stood out to me because it is a model I had not yet considered for libraries. Throughout my time in the MLIS program, I have been warned that the library has undergone major changes with the digital age and rolling back of social services. Because much of the purpose of the MLIS program is to give students the foundational theories of library and information science, we don\u2019t always get to discuss how to address these major changes. This is the first time I\u2019ve been given a thought model to prepare myself and my library for the turbulent environment we\u2019ll face.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What are your initial reactions or questions? AND Can you connect it to your past experiences or future goals?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Honestly, my initial reaction to this article was \u201cnot again\u201d. For context, I got my undergraduate degree in Business Administration and did not enjoy it for several reasons, including that I am not a very flexible person. I ruled out entrepreneurship as a career early on. I found that job postings frequently described their environments as \u201cdynamic and fast-paced\u201d and wanted potential applicants to match that. Business mentors will tell you that you don\u2019t have to match 100% of the qualifications listed on the job posting and you can also \u201cfake it \u2018till you make it\u201d, but neither of these approaches matched my internal sense of integrity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I decided to enter the MLIS program, I was aware of the changing role of the library, but I still hoped that it would provide a more stable environment than corporate. Reading the title and first few pages of this article gave me some dread for the potential volatility of my future career. However, as I got further into the article I saw how the thought model could be useful in my career. In fact, I realized how my background in business could help me more in my library career than I initially thought.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How might this idea shape your perspective on libraries, learning, and community?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This idea has changed the way I think about libraries from a static institution to a constantly-evolving, amorphous, live entity. I hope this isn\u2019t too informal, but I liken this new model of libraries to the Pok<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00e9<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">mon Ditto in the recent video game <a href=\"https:\/\/pokopia.pokemon.com\/en-us\/\">Pok\u00e9mon Pokopia.<\/a> Stay with me for a moment. In the game, Ditto works to rehabilitate environments so Pok<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00e9<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">mon can live in them once again. Along the way, it learns new skills and transformations from its friends but still holds onto the image of its beloved Trainer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_20\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendo.com\/us\/store\/products\/pokemon-pokopia-switch-2\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-20 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/561\/2026\/06\/ditto-300x169.jpeg\" alt=\"Screenshot of the Pokemon Ditto from the video game Pokemon Pokopia. Ditto is purple and amorphous with two dots for eyes and a smiling pink mouth\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/561\/2026\/06\/ditto-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/561\/2026\/06\/ditto.jpeg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ditto is a purple, amorphous character that can transform into anything. Image credits to Nintendo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_21\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendo.com\/us\/store\/products\/pokemon-pokopia-switch-2\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-21 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/561\/2026\/06\/dittoleafage-300x169.jpeg\" alt=\"Screenshot from Pokemon Pokopia. Ditto is transformed into their human trainer. Their arms are vines and they have just created a bush on the ground. Bulbasaur is smiling next to them.\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/561\/2026\/06\/dittoleafage-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/561\/2026\/06\/dittoleafage-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/561\/2026\/06\/dittoleafage.jpeg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-21\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ditto transformed into their Trainer learning the move Leafage, which creates a bush. Image credits to Nintendo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Modern libraries can be like Ditto too. Libraries can transform to serve many different purposes while still retaining their identity as institutions of information. Libraries will go through adversity, but they have their friends &#8212; in the form of patrons, supportive legislators, and more &#8212; to support them along the way. To paraphrase Mathews (2012), libraries and librarians cannot stick to what we&#8217;ve always done well; we have to look out for new opportunities to inform and support our communities (p. 2).<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Where do you see this theme showing up in practice?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I see this theme showing up in practice practically everyday at the library, but particularly during strategic meetings. During my short spring internship, I already observed some obsolescence in my library. The staff did have ideas and desires to change; what they lacked was time. They were too busy with upkeep of normal library functions like circulation and programming to implement new ideas like more social media activity. To extrapolate upon Mathews&#8217; (2012) concept that the whole culture of a library needs to be open to change, I think the implementation of this culture needs to begin top-down (pp. 3-4). The executive suite needs to be convinced of the usefulness of the &#8220;library as a startup&#8221; model and the need to provide time and space for librarians to try out new ideas. The E-suite needs to be open to new ideas being brought up by staff members often. Then, the ideology can be spread among the staff and part of their time can go towards experimentation. I know that in practice it will not be this easy to instill the startup mentality, but I imagine myself starting in small ways whenever I have free time in my future jobs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>References<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mathews, B. (2012, April). Think like a startup. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Facing the Future.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why does this theme stand out to you? For Assignment X, I chose to discuss the concept of the library as a startup (Mathews, 2012). This theme stood out to me because it is a model I had not yet considered for libraries. Throughout my time in the MLIS program, I have been warned that &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/2026\/06\/14\/assignment-x-transform-like-ditto\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Assignment X: Transform Like Ditto<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/835"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions\/23"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/isthebel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}