Greetings to all my INFO 287 peers!

I apologize for being late to the party, but glad to be a part of this class and amongst a community of splendid and bright individuals like yourselves. 😊

My name is Samantha Fetalvero. I am in my final year in the SJSU MLIS program. If all goes well and I can keep my head above water, I plan to graduate in the fall of this year. I currently work as a Seasonal Library Aide in the San Joaquin Central Valley, which is where I have been born and raised. At first, I was not sure about working with the public since I am an introvert, but now I feel like the “Energizer Bunny”, and I cannot get enough working at the card and circulation desk. It is one of my favorite clerical duties. I also have a part-time job as a student assistant with San Jose State University iSchool as a Zoom trainer. And this semester I have decided to take three summer courses. It is a bit of a rocky beginning, but I am hoping I will be able to kick it in gear and persevere this summer semester. I have great ambitions of starting in a public library setting (which I am already doing), but as time goes by and I gain more experience and figure out what areas I am most interested in, I would like to move into academic librarianship. Areas that pique my interest right now are cataloging, metadata, Storytime with the children, and collection development.

Once I heard that blogging was part of the criteria for this course, I was ecstatic because I had not had the chance to use WordPress since my initial encounter with it when I began the program in the Spring of 2022. I want to see how I will be able to expand my blogging skills. I was also interested in this course because I am curious to learn from my fellow peers about how their libraries (or libraries they know of) take advantage of their spaces in unique ways that they help serve their communities.

In my spare time, I love reading romance (as you can tell by my photo and please no judging…😊). Whenever I want a break from reading that genre, I sometimes like to check out young adult graphic novels or reading about certain mental health illnesses that are personal and touching to me. If I can find an excellent either graphic novel or nonfiction read through audiobooks, then I will definitely invest with one of my Amazon Audible credits. I think my favorite audiobook read was Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, especially because of the various Hispanic representations in that book. And I like to find easy dishes to make for myself. Something with not too many ingredients. To relieve stress, I am a fan of working out (e.g., Pilates, strength training, barre, and treadmill). But I am too embarrassed to step in a gym, so all my workouts are conducted at home on almost a daily basis.

Most of my quality time is spent with my three cats, who on occasion cause chaos but I still love them. Once I am done with school though, I plan on learning Spanish and Tagalog as well as try to get in touch with my artistic and craft side. I am thinking along the lines of painting or drawing. And I would love to see a ballet show at some point.

Best of luck to everyone this semester! Let’s finish strong!