Partying with the Pink Chicken of Powell

It was one a.m. on a Friday—roughly a week before Halloween—and I was sitting on the floor of my room sewing pink feathered boas onto a pair of black shorts. White nylons, a hot pink top, and a pink eye mask were to accompany my feathered shorts. Who would guess that I’d be headed off to the library in this outfit.

I’ve interned with the undergraduate library for almost five months now, working in the Teaching and Learning Services department to analyze evaluation data and plan and implement instruction sessions for a Freshman Cluster course. My initial goals for the internship were to gain experience with instruction and to evaluate library instruction services, but when I heard about a potential Halloween party, I jumped at the chance to get involved. Event planning may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the responsibilities of a librarian, but whether you’re public or academic, at the reference desk or working behind the scenes, being involved in planning programs, events, and outreach is not uncommon.

I remember talking with my site supervisor earlier in the year about building a greater partnership between the Information Studies department and the library. Most of the libraries on campus reserve research, reference desk, and other part-time positions specifically for MLIS students to gain practical experience while in school; but why stop there? I pitched the idea of the ALASC getting involved with the planning of the party, and the partnership was born!

          The party ended up as less Halloween and more get-to-know-your-library-themed. However, it was a fun night filled with people in some pretty great costumes, making book sentences, dancing, organizing books by call number, posting photos to Instagram, and learning a whole lot about the UCLA library.

Here are some things I’ve taken away from this experience:

·         Time is definitely a virtue: Whether you have the support of 100 volunteers or 10, you need enough time to plan, meet, discuss, and revise your plan. And be prepared to run this cycle more than once. The planning team at the library did a fantastic job pulling this party together in a little over a month, but there are some things that cannot be rushed, like publicity for the event. We’ve also talked about getting the MLIS students involved sooner to have some input in the beginning planning phases rather than right at the end.

·        Just ask: This goes both ways; when you’re trying to get volunteers and when you’re trying to be a volunteer. I have never been turned down from asking to volunteer for a function. To be blunt, you’re providing free labor, and almost everyone will appreciate your contribution. I was also lucky enough to have fellow student club officers agree to volunteer with me, and was also able to get a few more people to join by pitching the party at smaller group meetings and sending a call for volunteers through the department listserv.

·       Building connections with your (future) colleagues: And keeping them! While I knew most of the other library staff who were at the party, some my classmates did not. It was a great opportunity to meet and work alongside library professionals (some of whom are alumni of the program).

·       Building connections with your users: Probably the most important thing to take away is giving students a positive first experience interacting with library materials, services, and personnel. The get-to-know-your-library approach by participating in really fun and inventive challenges seemed to resonate with the students. A classmate and I were stationed in the new InqSpace where librarians hold research consultations with users. While a research consultation can sound intimidating, the tone of the evening was very relaxed, we were all in costume, and although we were basically giving the students a research consultation, it didn’t feel that way. The students’ questions about the library and the catalog were of genuine inquiry, and we even talked about how one becomes a librarian and subject specialist.

What do I hope the students took away from their experience? That libraries and librarians are pretty darn cool. And my costume? I was supposed to be a flamingo, but someone guessed a pink chicken, and the name just kinda stuck.

 

Linda Kobashigawa

ALA Secretary