Maya Munson 

Reflective Essay 

E-Portfolio 

7/15/2019 

 
After teaching first grade for five years, I came to the conclusion that general education 

teaching was not the right fit for me. Though leaving my position for the unknown was 

terrifying, and I questioned if I was doing the right thing, I am now entirely confident that 

leaving my teaching position to pursue a degree in Library and Information Science at 

Dominican University was the best decision I have ever made. I have learned so much over the 

course of these past two years, and I feel prepared to take on a role as a school librarian. The fact 

that I struggled to choose only three artifacts to demonstrate my growth and learning for each 

of the five student learning goals speaks volumes. I have enjoyed reviewing all of the work that I 

have done during this program in preparation for completing my portfolio, and I am reminded 

of how far I’ve come and the progress I’ve made as a student in the MLIS program. 

I remember feeling extremely overwhelmed when I discovered that many of my peers 

came into the MLIS program with some library experience under their belts, and many of them 

were even presently working at libraries. Initially, it seemed as though I was way behind when 

it came to developing a professional identity and philosophy within the library and information 

professions, because unlike many of my peers, I had no relevant library experience to speak of. 

Or so I thought. It turns out, my own love for reading, exploring, creating and learning, which 

compelled me to become an educator in the first place, were actually quite instrumental in 

helping me to develop my professional identity and philosophy as a librarian. I may have been 
lacking the formal vocabulary used to articulate the core values and ethics of those in the 

information profession, but I knew and believed the ideas behind them. This was confirmed 

throughout the program, when I read and heard about various theories, models and 

perspectives that I already felt a strong connection to. When I was completing my Future 

Scenario paper for LIS 701 (artifact for outcome 1B), I was extremely passionate about what I 

was reading in favor of Makerspaces, a huge trend in libraries. I realized that the ability to 

create freely was something I was not able to promote in my first grade classroom because of 

the unrealistic pace in which we were expected to plow through the curriculum in order to be 

ready for mandated testing. This limitation was one of many that ultimately persuaded me to 

leave teaching in the general education classroom setting, in search of something better.  

Another factor that led me to leave my teaching position was the feeling that I lacked the 

support I needed to succeed in ensuring my students’ growth and development. While I was in 

a supportive district with a wonderful principal, I still felt like I was not seeing the results I 

expected, even though I was giving it my all. Though this was largely due to the fact that I was 

on a team that was not supportive or collaborative, and I felt like I had to reinvent the wheel for 

everything we were expected to teach, I realized that it was also the field in general. My second 

artifact, the Association Presentation for LIS 701, not only demonstrated my growth and 

learning for outcome 1c, but it also confirmed that I was entering into a much more 

collaborative and supportive field. While I was impressed with all that the National Storytelling 

Network had to offer, I was blown away by the fact that there are so many active associations 

that exist to support librarians of all types, as seen by the presentations my peers completed on 

different associations. Likewise, other classes and assignments have helped me to learn the 
benefits of participating in professional activities, organizations and associations, like 

professional conferences and social media.  

It was further confirmed that I was on the right track when I learned that the many core 

values and ethics of LIS aligned with my own personal and professional beliefs and standards. I 

was so excited to learn that my new career is based on concepts like diversity, education and 

lifelong learning, the public good, service and social responsibility. While many of these core 

values overlap with those found within general education teaching, the academic learning 

aspect of general education teaching tends to take precedence, leaving less time and room to 

focus on these other equally important learning experiences. My third artifact, the lesson plan 

on Plagiarism, reflects outcome 1D but also supports the idea that I have a unique opportunity 

in my role as a school librarian. Specifically, in this role I am able to support the core curriculum 

that the students and teachers are learning in their classrooms, while also providing focused 

learning experiences that foster their growth in other ways, like their values and ethics, 

creativity, and critical thinking skills.  

While considering artifacts to include for goal two, I struggled to pinpoint the three 

artifacts that best reflected my learning, because there were so many to choose from. I decided 

that my Collection Development Policy assignment, used for outcome 2B, helped me to make 

significant progress with gaining a deeper understanding of the impact that information 

policies have. By creating a presentation sharing all of the components of the New Orleans 

Public library’s policies, I had to slow down to really read and grasp what each component 

meant, and the significance of why it was included. This project will be really helpful when I am 

responsible for writing my own policies for my school library, so that I know what to include to 
ensure the best experiences for my students and school community in a way that promotes 

intellectual freedom, access, literacy, and positive information behaviors. The artifacts I chose 

for outcomes 2C and 2D were significant because they truly helped me to learn the importance 

of assessing and pinpointing information needs and interests of diverse communities, and 

finding the best ways to respond to these needs. While I knew librarians did so much more than 

select, purchase, read and shelve books, I did not know the details of how and why they decided 

on the resources, programs and services they work so hard to provide. As a result of 

assignments and projects like my ELL Action Plan and Grant Proposal, I have a much better 

understanding of the factors and processes that guide and inform librarians’ decision making 

processes for the benefit of the particular students and communities they are serving. Further, 

projects like these have helped me to develop an understanding of the nature of information 

and its relevance to society.  

Selecting artifacts for goal three was also challenging for me, as so many of my learning 

experiences at Dominican helped me to develop my ability to confidently and effectively 

navigate, curate and create information for different purposes. I actually found that I 

particularly enjoyed demonstrating my learning in order to design and utilize tools to manage 

and facilitate the access of information. I have always loved exploring avenues to create and 

organize in all kinds of different ways, so it is no surprise to me that I really enjoyed the process 

of creating the database brochure and pathfinder that reflect outcomes 3A and 3B. Likewise, I 

particularly enjoyed learning how to effectively evaluate resources in order to find those that 

best fit different purposes and goals, so the curation of sites evaluation assignment for outcome 

3C was very helpful. The learning experiences that reflect goal three, have prepared me to make 
informed decisions as new resources and tools continue to become available, and I am in the 

position to choose which ones to use as a school librarian.  

The first artifact chosen for goal four, the collaborative space design hyperdoc, reflects 

library and information science theories, principles, and research through the application of 

best practices. Working together to provide a meaningful and engaging learning experience 

revolving around a significant trend in the field reflects the collaborative and supportive efforts 

made by librarians for the benefit of other librarians, and those they serve. The second artifact, 

which is the discussion post about emerging technologies, helped me to learn the significance 

of the many emerging and innovative technologies and how they are relevant to librarians and 

patrons. Our direct involvement serving and supporting patrons who help to create, improve 

and use such technologies (and even sometimes as part of library services, programs and 

offerings), reflect how library and information science theories and practices can inform and 

improve technologies. The professional development reading comprehension workshop was my 

third artifact for goal four, and it demonstrates teaching and learning principles in relation to 

professional practice. By teaching and supporting one another with our background 

knowledge, experiences and skills, we all improve and have the opportunity to serve our 

communities better. Not only did I learn a great deal from presenting, but I also gained 

knowledge, ideas and skills from participating in the workshops developed by my peers. The 

three artifacts chosen for goal four are just several of many learning experiences I had to help 

me synthesize theory and practice within a dynamic and evolving field.  

Throughout my program, I struggled the most with goal five, due to a lack of 

experience, exposure and comfort with effective communication as part of marketing and 
advocating efforts. Likewise, I think my lack of library-related experiences made it difficult for 

me to know enough to be able to effectively promote and advocate for libraries and information 

agencies. One of the main components of goal five is effective communication, which has not 

been one of my strengths. Eloquence, clarity and confidence in speaking with other adults has 

always been a struggle for me, and something that I have to work on continuously. I joke 

around with other adults in saying that there is a reason I decided to dedicate my career to 

working with kids, because I often find that dealing with other adults is not as easy or enjoyable 

for me (among many other reasons). As a result, the goal five outcomes pushed me and 

challenged me more than any other goals and outcomes, and I had to overcome many 

insecurities and doubts about my capabilities in order to grow in this area. In the end, I do 

think that I came out of the program as a much stronger and more confident individual who is 

much more comfortable speaking to others about something I feel so passionately about, and 

now I have the knowledge and experience to support my stance.  

The marketing brochure from LIS 748 is my first artifact for goal five, representing 

outcome 5A. While I was comfortable using tools and resources to design and create the 

brochure itself, I had no experience with marketing and had to learn what to include in my 

brochure in order to promote the library and reach patrons. The Wiki site transfer project 

required me to work collaboratively with my peers, and at times take on a leadership role, which 

I would have been very uncomfortable with in the past. Finally, my final artifact, the Leadership 

Vision Project probably reflects the greatest learning and development, since I had to step up 

into a role that I typically avoid. For this project, I had to plan and implement steps to obtain 

books for my workplace (a private school with no library), using extremely limited funding. I 
had to lead discussions with my boss as well as many faculty members in order to determine 

need. I also had to connect with colleagues in the field, both in libraries, at warehouses, and on 

social media in order to obtain the resources. This project, which was quite uncomfortable for 

me, was one of the most significant learning experiences for me throughout the program. I was 

able to prove to myself what I am capable of when I set my mind on something I feel so 

passionate about, and for the benefit of my students. 

I have seen tremendous growth in myself as a professional over the past two years that I 

have been in the program, and I am much more capable and skilled in so many ways. I am also 

more confident in my abilities and comfortable taking on more challenging roles. All of these 

changes have certainly prepared me to take on a role as a school librarian, and though there is 

still so much unknown that scares me, I am also so ready to take on the challenge and 

passionately advocate for my students, my colleagues, and libraries in general. Though I should 

not be surprised, because Dominican has clearly prepared me well for these next steps, I was 

still caught off guard when I recently had the opportunity to accept both the Youth Services 

Internship at the Skokie Public Library (summer), and a School Librarian Position at a public 

School in Northbrook, IL within the same week. My learning and training through the program 

truly helped to transform me into a knowledgeable and skilled candidate for each of these 

positions and I am eternally grateful for the wonderful experiences I had during my time at 

Dominican. I am so excited to use the new knowledge, skills, tools, experiences and 

relationships I have gained and developed to move forward in my career as a librarian.