super professional

today was the end:
the end of the school stress (semester).
the end of the work stress (software release cycle).

i've turned in my final assignment and all my work deadlines are complete. i feel completely strung out! i don't know how to begin to relax.

in other news, i finally joined ALA (American Library Association for you non-library folk). i also bought a subscription to VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates, also for the non-library folk). i simply cannot get enough exposure to young adult materials. more and more i feel it is my calling. someone told me recently that they think people shy away from jobs with young adults and i'm not sure why. well, i guess i know why, but it still surprises me. to me though it makes sense more than anything else.. i learned to love reading when i was a young adult. i want to share that. i get super nostalgic just thinking about it.

expertise

i've been working with a wonderful librarian {WL} at the *PL. when i first contacted her it was because she'd posted a need for a practicum student and so i knew she was open to working with students. turns out she's the assistant director as well, score one for gwen's networking power!

the class is collection development, and i have to work with my WL (almost like a practicum) at several tasks for the class. my first major assignment was for selection. i'm working with the teen health collection, and my WL said that she'd purchase all the books i'd selected, because she trusts my expertise. folks, i'm not even sure i'm spelling expertise correctly let alone having any! i'm pretty psyched though that they'll really be using (and valuing!) all this work i've been doing. who knew spending $1500 on books would take endless hours? i wish i'd had more time. so many resources and so little time to review them all.

next step: aquisition!