Logistics, logistics!

Daily Hours:  4
Total Hours: 30.5

Today I did some planning research and communication, in addition to meeting with Michael again to firm up some loose ends on exactly what I'll be doing for the practicum this summer.  In particular, we talked more about the Bubbler programming I'll be planning.  It looks like the two events will be:

• A fermentation workshop in July led by interns from UW's Slow Food Club, who already have a presence in South Madison with their work with the Boys and Girls Club in the neighborhood.  The workshop will include background information about the science of food fermentation and will feature kimchi making stations.  All participants will come away with an 8 oz. mason jar full of kimchi.  I have also reached out to the group to have a presence at our Eat, Play, Art event later in July.

• An August program put on by BadgerBOTS, a local robotics group that encourages kids to get excited about STEM related education and concepts.  More details on exactly what the workshop will entail will come together soon.

We also discussed the coordination work I'll be doing with Seed Library over the summer, which will include an informational talk in a few weeks for a high school community gardening group that had reached out to us.  I plan on spending part of next week really getting up to speed with everything related to the project.  One thing I really appreciated in our discussion of the Seed Library was Michael's emphasis on the rationale behind libraries offering this kind of service.  Libraries have always been in the business of information access, navigation, and sharing.  We have always encouraged exploration and self-directed learning.  The seed library is just another way of facilitating those kinds of interactions, encouraging patrons to try something new or expand their existing skills by offering equal access the materials (the seeds), and then supporting the full-use of those resources with educational programs offered each month by the Master Gardner volunteers.  Modern libraries can offer dynamic services promoting new technologies like e-readers but also age-old ones like agriculture!

After I told Michael a bit about my comparison of the Fitchburg Library and SMB, and he came up with the idea to have me to do a mini-assessment of SMB's current Spanish-language collection based on circulation data etc. and an assessment of our current Spanish-language services: what we are doing well, what we are behind in, and what services could be overlapping with those offered by other organizations in the area.  I am especially excited about this opportunity as I feel it will dovetail nicely with the independent study I am also doing this summer about Spanish-language services and multi-cultural outreach!

I can't believe that I've reached the 30 hour mark already! Whew!