How about this: I can see the value of the learning experience - and assistance to the rabbi - who indeed may have a limited amount of funds - but I am tired of seeing situations where someone is expected to volunteer as a student to undertake a learning experience (from whom is the student going to learn?) - for nothing. So- a) do the work as a practicum (for credit) under an instructor who agrees to provide assistance and do it for nothing - but it's up to the university whether this would be an acceptable practicum. Generally - they would want a site supervisor who is going to be providing guidance; b) get the synagogue to do a mini fund-raiser - for a small internship grant - like maybe $1500 - or so for 120 hours or so (the going rates are small in NC - so judge on the local going rate) ; and c) seek out a volunteer from ha-safran (or elsewhere?) to run a check list on whatever this intern and the rabbi get done - since there is (apparently) no expertise available on-site.
It's a good opportunity - but even a student is going to need some guidance - and the small amount of money would be helpful. In my geographical area, I've seen "friends of the library" raise $$ for internships sometimes - (but generally - the intern is going to engage in a special project with guidance - not be on his or her own). Nancy Poole Greensboro, NC On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 8:00 PM, Daniel Stuhlman <ddstuhl...@earthlink.net> wrote: > I discussed this with my fellow librarians here at the college. What I have > to say may sound mean, but we have to stand up for our profession. We put > in a lot of time training to be librarians and trying to keep up with the > latest developments. Cataloging is as complex as all the books published. > While most contemporary commercially published books have cataloging from > Library of Congress or another vendor, many Judaica books need special > attention. Without a proper catalog, a circulation system will not work. > Without a classification system no one will find a particular book on the > shelf. > > Librarians are professionals. I would not expect my car, my plumbing, my > electricity, my roof, or my teeth to be fixed for free or by a volunteer > intern. I would not want a medical student treating me without supervision. > Students and interns are learning how to be professionals. They work under > the careful supervision of seasoned professionals. They have to learn "first > do no harm." > > Don't demean our profession. Don't condone using volunteers for > professional work. It is hard enough to get people to understand that > libraries don't get created and don't operate by magic. > > This "rabbi" is essentially asking someone to steal from one of us. Please > do not become a party to his theft. Stand up for our expertise. Let > everyone know we desire to be rewarded for our knowledge. > > There is a story -- A person called for a plumber to fix his noisy pipes. > The plumber arrived looked around for a few moments, asked a few questions, > then took his hammer and hit a pipe. He announced that he was done and > prepared a bill for the homeowner. The homeowner was thankful for the job, > but didn't understand why a 2 minute visit cost $150. The plumber changed > the bill to: $5.00 for the hammer stroke; $145 to know where to hit the > pipe. > > > > Thank you for your attention. > > Subject: Library intern > Reply-To: <ra...@bensalemoutreach.org> > > > > Bensalem Kollel, Synagogue, and Outreach Center > 2446 Bristol Road Bensalem, P.A. 19020 > Phone (215) 752-5032 • Fax (215)752-2340 > www.bensalemoutreach.org > b...@bensalemoutreach.org > ____________________________________________________________________________________________ > August 29, 2014 > > To whom it may concern, > > My name is Moshe Travitsky, I have a small Congregation in Bensalem, Pa. We > have over the last several years built a Synagogue, established a full time > kollel where Talmudic law is studied, and have an active outreach program > where many people are connected to their Jewish tradition. Starting from > scratch, we have built up a library of a few thousand (English) books. > Things were totally out of hand as far as having books borrowed and > returned, with no good record of what was out. One lady in the community > tried to make a system with cards that were in each book,… but it really did > not work. This summer my mother put bar codes on most of our books. She > lives in NY, but came here to volunteer for a while. > At this point we are at an impasse as we try to get our library functioning > again. The bar coding is still not finished for the hundreds of new books > that were never entered, nor with old books as they come back. We also have > not yet set up a system to actually start using the scanner that we have > here. In addition my mother has told me that I must have a librarian come in > once a week to simply keep the library in order. Of course, paying a > librarian is something that I simply don't have funds for. I've been trying > to get a local person to volunteer, but haven't succeeded yet. I know that > in many fields schools encourage their students to spend some time > interning, as that gives them experience. Someone suggested that I contact > you, if you might be aware of or possibly be able to help me find an intern > and at the same time help us get our library together? > > Thanks for your time and consideration. > Sincerely, > > Rabbi Moshe Travitsky > ra...@bensalemoutreach.org > 267-228-8774 > > > Daniel D. Stuhlman > ddstuhlman at earthlink.net > Chicago, IL > > Blog: http://kol-safran.blogspot.com/ > > > > > __ > Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual > author > and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries > (AJL) > ================================== > Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: > Hasafran@lists.service.ohio-state.edu > To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: > https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran > Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu > Ha-Safran Archives: > Current: > http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html > Earlier Listserver: > http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html > AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org > -- > Hasafran mailing list > Hasafran@lists.service.ohio-state.edu > https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran > __ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran@lists.service.ohio-state.edu To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list Hasafran@lists.service.ohio-state.edu https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
