November/December 2001
Lister Hill Library's Recent Graduates
Lister Hill Library is home to two recent graduates of the masters in
library services program at the University of Alabama, Mike Fitts and Sylvia
McAphee. Their accomplishment is magnified by the fact that they
achieved this milestone while still putting in 40 hours a week at their
respective jobs at the library. Mike currently holds the position
of Library Assistant III in the Circulation Department, and is responsible
for management of the Circulation Desk. Sylvia works in the technical
services division of the library and is responsible for serials management,
and also fills in at the reference desk. They got together recently
and talked to the Lister Hill Letter staff about why they decided to go
into professional librarianship and what their goals are now that they've
received their MLIS degrees.
Like many people, Mike said he initially had
no idea what librarians actually did, but upon his introduction to library
work as a student assistant at Lister Hill a few years ago, decided that
he really liked the library environment and wanted to better himself by
becoming one of the faculty librarians. For her part, Sylvia received
her introduction to library work at Jacksonville State University as a
student aide in the library there. The library director took notice
of her and suggested a career in library service to her. A colleague
at Lister Hill Library echoed that encouragement soon after she began work
here.
Once they each made the decision to return
to school for an advanced degree, the problem of managing their schoolwork
load along with the demands of a fulltime job became their primary concern.
(Mike even took on a second part-time job at Baptist Medical Center during
this period, although he subsequently had to let that one go.) Both
said they prayed a lot for patience and strength. Mike also said
that he noticed that as long as he kept busy and didn't stop, he could
effectively ignore his fatigue! Both also said that the satellite
classes here at Birmingham Public Library helped to reduce the commuting
requirement, while their real life experiences working in a library helped
them with their class work as well as allowing them a realistic perspective
on library theory.
As for goals and special interests, Mike's
undergraduate degree and personal preference are in management. As
he points out, minorities are underrepresented in the upper echelons of
libraries, so his goal is to become a library director some day.
Sylvia on the other hand enjoys the work she currently does in both the
technical services and reference areas of the library and would love to
continue working in both capacities. She also says that she'd love
to "be Sue Medina!" the director of the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries.
She became thoroughly impressed by Sue, who was the guiding force behind
the development of the Alabama Virtual Library, when she took a class from
her this past year.
Words of wisdom for others considering pursing
a degree while working? Mike: "Set your mind to your goal, make a
commitment, and don't always listen to what others tell you." Sylvia:
"Take classes that interest you!"
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