Welcome to the Jungle

Hello everyone!

My name is Holly, and I live in Olympia, Washington. I am a Library Associate in the Youth Services department at the Tumwater Timberland Library. We are part of the Timberland Regional Library system, which has 27 branches. My interest is teen services, and I primarily work with teens at my library, though I also host a weekly toddler storytime (though we are on break right now) and I assist in the event planning for children’s events as well. I work closely with a colleague in the adult services department to do weekly teen programming (our last program for the summer was yesterday), and we sort of make up the unofficial teen services team. I am a big advocate of teen services, both in general and within the library community at work. I was recently tapped by the director of youth services for our system to work with another librarian to present a teen services training that is open system-wide to staff who are interested in learning more. I am so excited! In November I will also be attending YALSA’s Teen Services Symposium in Portland! Is anyone else going?

I am also very active in my library’s social media and online presence. One of my job duties is to do weekly postings on our branch’s Facebook page (I post twice on Thursdays). I am also on the online reader’s advisory committee for the system; we use QuestionPoint and patrons are able to fill out a form with likes (or dislikes) about books, and one of the staff members on the team will take it and create a personalized reading recommendation of 3-5 titles for that patron. About 2 months ago I also joined the Teens Online committee, which consists of four of us running the Teen Facebook page, the Teen Tumblr, and the Teen Instagram, as well as updating the teen page on our library’s website and updating the online booklists for teens (I am currently working on Sci-Fi and Fractured Fairytales with happy endings).

This fall I am pleased to be starting a teen volunteer group called Teen Tech Tutors, which we are modifying based on another branch’s model. On the second Friday of each month, we will have teen volunteers available for two hours at a drop-in clinic that adults (or anyone, really) can come to for help with their various electronic devices. I am thrilled because I think this is a really great way to help our patrons connect with other community members and also show teens that they are valued and important to the library community. I believe very much in participatory culture, and the use of online tools and social media in promoting the library, which is a large part of why I am so interested in this class. I believe that this is one of the most applicable classes to my current job, and I am so, so excited to be able to take it! I cannot wait to learn more about ways to utilize technology in community-building and collaboration within the library.

I am planning to graduate next December, and this is my 6th semester in the program. I joint majored in Spanish and Linguistics and minored in Math at New York University. I miss NYC every day, but for now I am where I need to be.

I decided to try making a video to share some fun facts about myself. I got a new computer recently, so I have been having fun and experimenting with it. Hopefully it works!

And, as promised, here I am with Matt Bomer: