I must add my "two cents" and agree with Daniel. The key point here is that there is no trained professional overseeing an intern. There is just a desire to have a synagogue library run with no proper staffing, no budget or proper collection maintenance. Etc... This is a common perspective of those who think that anyone can do what librarians do. We must fight to protect our profession. Gloria Jacobs
Sent from my iPhone > On Sep 3, 2014, at 11:57 AM, Anna M Levia <[email protected]> wrote: > > Daniel, I don't understand the strenuous objections of you and your esteemed > colleagues. The cash-strapped Rabbi, on the advice of his very smart mother, > is asking our professional organization for help in finding an intern. > "Intern: a student or trainee who works, sometimes without pay, at a trade or > occupation in order to gain work experience." (Google) > What is wrong with a library student from Rutgers or other school in the area > getting some practical experience, in consultation with trained faculty, > while helping this library? The Rabbi is correct in stating that many library > schools require internships. > I agree with you that interns or volunteers should not replace paid workers, > but in this case there is no paid position. Bensalem Kollel simply wants to > get its libary in order. Good for them for not getting rid of the books and > turning the room into something else! > Anna Levia > From: "Daniel Stuhlman" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Tuesday, September 2, 2014 5:00:34 PM > Subject: Re: [ha-Safran] Library intern > > 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: <[email protected]> > > > > Bensalem Kollel, Synagogue, and Outreach Center > 2446 Bristol Road Bensalem, P.A. 19020 > Phone (215) 752-5032 • Fax (215)752-2340 > www.bensalemoutreach.org > [email protected] > ____________________________________________________________________________________________ > 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 > [email protected] > 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: > [email protected] > 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: [email protected] > 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 > [email protected] > https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran > > > > -- > Anna M. Levia > Assistant Curator, Judaica & Hebraica Collections > Interim Bibliographer, Linguistics > Green Library 321, Stanford University > Tel: 650-736-1306 Fax: 650-725-1068 > > __ > 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: > [email protected] > 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: [email protected] > 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 > [email protected] > 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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 [email protected] https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
