Goal I: Leadership and Innovation

Students are innovative, ethical, problem-solvers able to lead and manage through communication, collaboration, and reflection.

I.a. Students are able to evaluate critically, reflect, and problem-solve individually as well as collaboratively.

• LIS 5020 – Issue Briefing: Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Groups to Librarianship. How can recruitment and retention of diverse groups to librarianship lead to a more culturally competent profession? Using existing strategies for improving diversity and inclusion, and narrowing the focus of discussion to recruitment both at the educational level and hiring plus job retention levels, I concluded that a goal-oriented approach using community collaboration can work to address diversity issues.
• LIS 5020 – Collaboration to Revise a Library Policy. My group of five students worked together to modify the City of Bethlehem’s Patron Rights and Responsibilities to make it more inclusive and less harsh. For example, the original policy prohibited ADA-protected behaviors and specifically targeted the homeless through language regarding bathing in bathrooms and bringing too much stuff to the library. The team thoughtfully discussed ways to remove and replace this language. Further, we broke down the policy’s structure from a bulleted list of acceptable behaviors to a clearly sectioned document, and added a separate public safety section to draw attention to these types of issues. My additions are highlighted in blue, but I weighed in and discussed other highlighted portions.
• LIS 5120 – Discussion Post: Public History and Community Archives. Viewing public history through a real world lens let me examine how possibilities for institutions focused on public history could expand access to all. In my discussion post, community archives serve as a particular example for how libraries and similar institutions could use non-traditional practices to collaborate and empower marginalized and under-represented communities by giving them a place to tell their stories. As librarians, we can sit with them in times of sorrow, listen to them and understand their history and current reality, and then let them take the lead telling us what they need from libraries so libraries can act.
• LIS 6455 – Virtual Curated Collection. I developed a virtual curated collection for 9th graders at University High School in Orange County, Florida using the Florida’s B.E.S.T. Standards – English Language Arts and Language Arts Florida Standards (LAFS). Entitled “Exploring Immigration and America through Poetry and Photography: A Virtual Curated Collection,” I identified 17 resources to assist students in their understanding of an English Language Arts assignment challenging students to convey the themes of immigration, shared American ideals, and civic responsibilities in a democracy using Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” and photographs of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island. The range of resources I provided included primary sources, access to Lazarus’ poem plus contemporary poetry about immigrants, tools to facilitate close readings of poetry and primary source analysis, background and discussion of Lazarus, and historical information about Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, immigration, and American democracy in the Gilded Age.

I.b. Students demonstrate effective communication skills.

• LIS 6303 – Publishing Project: Family Programming Guide for One Book One Pinellas. For my publishing project, I created a digital family programming guide using Microsoft Word’s brochure template for a fictional One Book One Pinellas countywide program. Based on other One Books in Sarasota and Philadelphia, I selected books (a primary book to appeal to adults and older teens and two others for younger readers) and researched types of events (from large group activities to smaller storytimes). When libraries partner with community organizations they allow their patrons to process difficult themes like racism on a deeper level which in turn allows them (us) to better understand their (our) neighbors. This building connections form of accompaniment is something I would like to bring to my job once I am employed as a librarian.
• LIS 6409 – Strategic Plan. I drafted a strategic plan for a fictional public library in Pinellas County using crafted vision and mission statements and values to drive the substance of the document. By devising four main goals and their accompanying objectives and tasks, I learned how the planning process could go. If I were helping to develop a strategic plan for an actual library, needed steps would include a SWOT analysis, discussions with key stakeholders, and surveys for patrons and non-patrons in the community. 
• LIS 6523 – Sample Adult Program: Sunset Yoga for All. I created a yoga-for-all adult services program, including a budget, located at a joint-use library (college and public library combined) during midterms to support the collegiate and surrounding community in learning mindfulness, de-stressing, and other techniques. As a librarian, I hope to support programs like this which establish the library as a place of inclusion while working with community partners. 

I.c. Students participate in professional and community engagement activities in the field.

• LIS 6445 – Florida Library Association (FLA) Advocacy Letter: Appropriation Veto of State-Funded Library Programs. As part of my public library seminar, I submitted a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis urging him to reconsider his veto of state-funded library programs from the state budget. I explained how the Complete Florida Plus Program and Florida’s Multitype Library Cooperative serve Florida’s citizens and how these program cuts directly affected me as a future librarian and Florida resident. I plan to continue my advocacy of libraries through the FLA as a student and librarian.  
• Co-Curricular – Letter to the Editor of the Tampa Bay Times, published August, 23, 2019: Here’s How Restorative Justice is Supposed to Work in Schools. My letter to the editor of the Tampa Bay Times is indirectly related to libraries because it serves as a separate way I have demonstrated my community engagement in the field. I have spent the past three years working with a community justice group advocating for effective implementation of restorative justice practices in Pinellas schools. Restorative practices are beginning to be used in library settings, and I can see great crossover between the two entities on this issue in the future. It can make both libraries and schools more welcoming and equitable places for children, if the work is put in to support this kind of cultural shift. 

I.d. Students demonstrate leadership skills and innovation in a diverse and global environment.

• LIS 5020 – Elevator Speech: Image of Librarians. The final assignment for my foundations of library and information science course called on us to draft an elevator speech response to the questions: “You’re studying to be a librarian? You need a master’s degree for that?” My thoughtful response is grounded in what I hope to be as a librarian and why a master’s program is necessary to achieve those plans. 
• LIS 5120 – Article in Florida Libraries: The Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum: A Community Anchor and Voice Amplifier in South St. Petersburg. For my cultural heritage institutions and libraries course, my classmates and I were tasked with visiting and reporting on three museums, parks, or other heritage sites and how they related to libraries. For my historical site, I selected the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in St. Petersburg and wrote about my experiences there, along the African American Heritage Trails, and at the Lynching Memorial. I turned my report into an article, published in Florida Libraries, with the intent of sharing how museums and libraries can work together to ensure our shared work thrives.
• LIS 6946 – Supervised Fieldwork: Gratitude Project. For my special project, I designed and led a Gratitude Project for the month of November. This included a kickoff program to start the month, a thankfulness-related word of the day to be used however works best for patrons – meditation, photo challenge, or journaling – to help them discover gratitude in their daily life and was shared on the library’s Facebook page and during the Gratitude Graffiti finale program at the end of November. I wanted to create something that could bring the community together during this exhausting pandemic time while connecting with the library. Since November is all about Thanksgiving celebrations, I thought a Gratitude Project would be a great way to do this. The accompanying artifact link contains three flyers I created in Canva for the Project – (1) an overall informational flyer, (2) the Gratitude Project Kickoff flyer, and (3) the Gratitude Graffiti Wall flyer.
• Co-Curricular – Leadership Activities as Student Organizations of Library and Information Science (SOLIS) President. As President, I led the group’s resurgence following a couple years of quiet. This involved numerous emails and meetings dealing with procedures and policies of both the University of South Florida and the professional associations SOLIS oversees (i.e. the American Library Association and Special Library Association). The officers and I generated social media and utilized the group’s Canvas page to market the group to students, and we planned and hosted monthly meetings throughout the semester. At our first meeting for the semester, I introduced the organization to student members as well as welcomed our advisor, Dr. Vanessa Reyes, to speak to the group. I also helped outline and brainstorm the contents of the meeting which included a banned books trivia challenge and informal meet and greet with fellow students. The attached artifact is a Canva post announcing the meeting.