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Stephanie
Tyson
Hello, I'm Stephanie.
My passion is public libraries.
Goal 1: Leadership & 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.
When I arrived in Alachua County, I immediately noticed a need. The Outreach Department took care of a deposit collection for ALFs and other adult services, but had nothing for younger children. For a library promoting early literacy, it seemed to be a misstep. At my previous job, we had a deposit collection that rotated between 27 daycares. NEFLIN was promoting its Innovation Grant, so I got permission to write a proposal. Unfortunately, the proposal wasn’t submitted, because the due date came too soon. Writing a grant proposal (even one that doesn't get submitted) is a good practice of the process, and aids in examining a problem and how one would solve it.
One of the big assignments for Digital Curation is coming up with a preservation plan for your own files. To me, preservation planning is a puzzle to be solved, as you have to ask yourself “What If?” scenarios and come up with a solution to each. Not only do you have to evaluate what you have and come up with solutions for any problem that may arise, but you have to also look forward, to where you think technology may be headed.
This was a group project, which by necessity required excellent communication and collaboration between group members. The basis of the project is looking at the needs assessment (the previous assignment), and creating a collection development plan, an action plan, and then actually selecting materials to be ordered.
This case study is uniquely suited to this goal in that it was a group project and the focus was communication. Yes, communication between group members is important, but the cast study itself was about a serious breakdown in communication between various levels of an organization. Projects like this help illustrate the problems that arise in a workplace, and allow students to reflect on the best practices in a situation such as this.
I.b. Students demonstrate effective communication skills.
This is an assignment that could fall under several SLOs, but I decided it should be in this one, because successful communication is the foundation of the assignment. The goal was to read and review 30 YA books, half of which had to meet certain criteria, and the other half of our choosing. The idea behind it is to get into the habit of reading and reviewing books - whether for magazines/journals or for patrons. In order to be successful in this venture, one must be able to effectively communicate thoughts, feelings, and more about the book.
The main purpose of this assignment was to convey to the professor our thought process in creating our other assignments. Because we are not graphic design majors, the purpose in doing so was to show the thought and planning behind each assignment to help determine the success of it, instead of success being based solely on aesthetics. We had to journal about our process, our setbacks, and our successes. I also included my instructional design plans for each assignment, as it helps give context for reflections.
There comes a time in every public librarian's life when one must fight for funding. Even if you are not doing it officially on behalf your library, but are doing it as a private citizen, it is necessary to be able to convey the needed information to the representatives you are contacting. This assignment is a letter to the editor, but you can see the applications of it elsewhere. The cornerstone of advocacy is effectively communicating talking points on an issue.
This is another assignment that teaches students to get to the heart of communication. Like the advocacy letter, the idea is that you have a limit to what you can say (either due to time or space in a column). It promotes advocacy for libraries and helps students prep for the inevitable conversations with people about the obsolescence of libraries.
I.c. Students participate in professional and community engagement activities in the field.
Co-Curricular - NEFLIN Training
I am a major advocate for the training consortiums in Florida. Before coming to USF to pursue my degree, NEFLIN was how I got the majority of training. My most recent trainings attended were the 2019 Library MakerFest and The Efficient Librarian: Productivity Strategies for Workplace Success. In addition to in-person training, I take full advantage of the library of webinars they have archived.
Co-Curricular - NEFLIN Children's Interest Group 2018 Leader
It was my job to set dates/places for meetings and decide what would be discussed. This was the first year NEFLIN had tried to split the region into two groups, with limited success. The idea was to make it so that members wouldn’t have to travel as far for a meeting - in an attempt to boost attendance at the meetings. Towards the end of the year, I left Columbia County to move to Alachua County, and was no longer able to keep my position as it was not related to my new position.
I.d. Students demonstrate leadership skills and innovation in a diverse and global environment.
Co-Curricular - Columbia County Public Library Management Team
While I was in Columbia County, I was on the Management Team for about 8 years. I was a Librarian II at the time, head of Youth Services, and thus had a position on the team along with the people I stated above. At first the team met monthly to discuss issues with policies, procedures, workflow, etc and come up with solutions to problems. It was also a chance to discuss problems with patrons or staff and what could be done to address those issues. Eventually it moved to meeting quarterly, but the meetings were still essentially the same.
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