My name is Astrid Emel. I am one of the PDL’s from Public Displays of Law Library Books where I, along with my partner in crime, blog about our monthly displays.

We do a lot of shoving & making for our displays and I am proud to display the Shovers & Makers award on our blog.

In addition to creating displays I manage the Circulation/Reserve department and collection, the A/V Collection, Archives & the Rare Collection, perform book repairs and am part of the reference team. I am also the co-editor of the Word @ Rittenberg, the law library’s newsletter.

I have been called Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm my entire life because of my “sunny” personality. This definitely plays a huge part in why I want to work in libraries, helping people and giving the profession a “sunny” outlook.

Currently I am the children’s services librarian for the Frankton Community Library; however I know I don’t want to work with children forever. Initially, I thought children’s work would be my niche, but I’m definitely moving toward the technology and academic atmosphere. With that in mind, I am currently working on my MLS degree (graduate May 2010) and am taking courses to make myself as marketable as possible (a genealogy class here…library systems class there…). Course work also includes a technology certification, with the hopes of being the “best” candidate for any library job.

In the past, I have been a Page, a Reference Assistant, and a part time Circulation Clerk. Unfortunately, these jobs have been in public libraries, so I have no academic experience. That’s not to say I can’t learn…and learn fast!

So without further ado, I present your next Shover and Maker for whatever job you have for me! I’m a hard worker…I love people…and am 100% devoted to the library profession. *raises hand saying “pick me…pick me!”

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, defines plucky as “having or showing courage and spirit in trying circumstances”. I attribute this rather positive character trait to my title because I am brave despite my own self. At the risk of opening myself up to a world of ridicule (which would be deserved) I will tell you that the only one who keeps me from becoming THE most world-famous, most awesome librarian EVER, is me. :-)

Despite the plaguing self-doubt that I experience almost daily, I have managed to do something in my position as Technology Librarian at the Allen County Public Library that I think is useful *and* fulfilling: I make videos of myself and put them on YouTube. Do I know how to have fun or what?

Deb Noggle, one of our branch managers sent me an e-mail the other day that was so complimentary of these videos, but she describes very well what they accomplish:

Melissa,

I know I e-mail you about this almost weekly, but I just have to tell you how exciting it is watching you become the face of the ACPL. You exude knowledge, helpfulness, and a genuine friendliness in your weekly video of events. It’s really great that there is a person that patrons can watch and feel like they’re making a connection with. You talk to the camera like you are someone’s next door neighbor giving out helpful advice about what’s going on for the weekend! I really enjoy watching your spots each week, and can definitely see a progression of comfort level for you—and that is something that’s not really easy for everyone to do. It just keeps getting better and better.

This is really great work. (And I will try to stop stalking you with my weekly messages!)

DN

My goal in making these videos to is make a personal-feeling connection with patrons to tell them about stuff they don’t want to miss at the library. I hope that’s what they’re getting. I’m feeling pretty good about them.

When my manager asked me to start doing them, I told him, “I always wanted to do commercials!” This was not completely untrue. I grew up with TV and was a reluctant reader, and in my kid imagination I always thought it would be cool to do commercials or act. A couple of years ago, I did some community theater, and really enjoyed it. So my stagefright and camerafright, if I ever had any, are nonexistent; and I really do feel comfortable in front of the camera. I have quite an imagination, and I just try to translate that into my videos. Maybe it’s good that the childlike part of my brain never quite went away!

What a thrill to be honored alongside so many other impressive S&M-types! As a Young Adult Librarian in Henrico County, Virginia, I work tirelessly to make teens feel valued by offering them programs they are sometimes interested in, listening to them go on at length about Twilight or Percy Jackson, and affording them opportunities to earn those treasured volunteer hours required by a number of local schools.

This year afforded me several opportunities to shove furniture around, push massive book sale donations into corners, yank out shelves and put them together in more useful arrangements, haul around comic books, tote snacks for ravenous teens, and even roll book trucks around on the occasional shelving mission. I value each of these exciting opportunities for personal growth.

I have been know to say a word or two about libraries on my blog, Capital City Desk and to use other flashy web 2.0 thingies like Flickr. I even learned to podcast this month — a sure sign that it is no longer cool.

Thank you for this honor!
Lisa K, Henrico, Virginia

I am a Collection Development Librarian at the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District in Washington (that’s the state, btw). I am humbled to be included with all these other fabulous Shovers and Makers.

I am inspired every day by my fellow members of the Library Society of the World, and they all make me want to do great things. Collection development is my passion in the library world, and I have many ideas on how to shove and make collections relevant for libraries in the future. Stay tuned.

Thank you all for this wonderful honour. I’m blushing, really.

I’m Kendra K. Levine, the “Whatever” Librarian for the Institute of Transportation Studies Library at UC Berkeley – I’m responsible for a little bit of this, that, and some other things. For the most part I like shoving the interests of the user to the forefront of our charge and making people love the library for all the services we provide. (Ok, I also shoved myself into the bookdrop.)

I’ve been really shoving things around in the transportation realm, and I hope this all pays off with cars that drive themselves.

Aside from being a member of the LSW and SLA, I’m also a renowned mover and shaker. I sometimes blog at Library Attack, but mostly just make pithy remarks on Twitter, @kendrak.

Thanks!

I’m just this gal, y’know, who does her job every day. I show up and I get stuff done.

Hi! My name is Graham Lavender, and while I’m still an MLIS student at McGill at the moment, I’m planning to shove and make my way into a library near you in the next few months (please hire me!). In my spare time, I enjoy organizing Web 2.0 conferences (http://web2pointyou.pbwiki.com) and writing on a blog that has almost outlived its name (http://inspiredlibraryschoolstudent.wordpress.com). I’m also finishing up a practicum project about how to improve the McGill Library subject guides, in which I held focus groups and discovered that the students had no idea what I was talking about. I look forward to meeting as many of the other Shovers and Makers as I can in the near future!

I am the Electronic and Educational Resources Librarian at Belmont University, in Nashville, TN (you may have heard of us….we had that debate thing back in October – something about choosing a president)

Let’s see…I can’t keep track of the things I’m doing and the things I want to do, so here’s what comes to mind

• I update the library’s website, and want to overhaul it so it’s pretty *and* functional
• I keep track of over 100 databases all by myself. (yes, that’s right, I have no staff)
• I shoved a *whole bunch* of really old educational materials out of our Curriculum Lab (we’re talkin’ 1970s science textbooks here)
• I’m working on shoving (gently) the Education department into the 21st century
• I’d *love* to shove (mightily and with a satisfactory crashing noise) our print release station out the window.
• I’d also like to finish (heck, start) creating a database review process so that maybe our faculty will pay more attention to what they’re paying for

  
  Apparently, I’m also considered a founding member of the Library Society of the World (much to my surprise – I’m never that early to anything!). Thanks to all the LSW people I’ve met over the last 2 years – you’ve livened up conferences and my daily work life in numerous, fabulous ways, and I hope that every one of you gets the recognition you deserve.

  I can be found online most places under library_chic (or librarychic).

Yay me! Thank you for the honor. Now, down to business.

My Blog:

The Original Librarian Trading Cards.

Yes, the very large, and once very active, Flickr Pool of Librarian Trading Cards, was inspired by this blog.