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Information Literacy Personal Statement

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As a practicing instruction librarian, I have dedicated my career to creating confident, conscientious, and capable researchers. I believe that information literacy - a person’s ability to discover information, understand how information is produced and valued, and apply information to the creation of new knowledge – creates a foundation for lifelong learning and success.

Although I am a librarian by practice, I am a teacher by choice. I believe in the educational mission of libraries and work hard to perpetuate the democratic ideals on which our profession was founded. I encourage my students to take their learning personally; to look beyond the assignment to see the connections to their everyday lives, and beneath the information to see the systems of social, economic, and political power that build and inform our world. As a teacher, I take the work I do seriously and I encourage my students to do the same.

I structure my teaching practice around the practical application of skills. Rather than teaching in abstract terms, I encourage students to apply the concepts we explore in the classroom to their everyday lives; building connections between the academic and …show more content…

I have experience teaching first-year undergrads up through doctoral students in settings including traditional library instruction, online ELMS courses, and a for-credit course. As the director of the UMD Libraries Research and Teaching Fellowship, I have first-hand experience supporting MLS students as they learn to teach, provide reference support, and explore their scholarly interests. Working with future librarians has been the most worthwhile and gratifying aspect of my position. I would welcome the opportunity to extend this experience into a formal learning environment in

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