During the 2022 J-Term, April Peterson ’22 completed a career internship at the Folke Bernadotte Library. Her faculty sponsor, Dylan Mohr, sat down to talk with her about the experience.
Could you say a few words about your J-Term internship at Folke Bernadotte Library? What were your goals for the experience? What did your daily routine look like?
My internship in the library this j-term was a whirlwind experience! With J-Term being so short this year, I practically lived in the library trying to pack in as much experience as possible in my limited time. Since I want to become a librarian but don’t know what specific type, I wanted to try out as many different things as possible. I’m not sure I had a “typical day,” but most days I spent part of the morning at the Reference Desk, answering research questions and helping patrons find and access materials. The rest of the day I mostly spent working on various projects around the library– processing new materials to be archived and newly donated books, choosing books for a display, gathering books related to next year’s Nobel Conference, and more.
How did this internship shape or change your view of the library and librarianship?
The time I spent in the library gave me a better appreciation of all the work that goes on behind the scenes. There are a lot of things that seem to just magically happen in the library–you request a book or article, and it appears, new books show up on the shelves, book displays change–but the reality is that there are a lot of people working hard to make those things happen.
If you could tell other students one thing that they might not know about the library or librarianship more broadly, what would it be?
I think there’s a misconception that the only purpose of a library is to get books. Maybe that’s how it was a hundred years ago, but our modern library has so much more to offer. Come to the library to get all sorts of resources–journal articles, movies, music, games–to ask questions and get research help from librarians, for information literacy sessions, or just to hang out or study. Or don’t come to the library at all! They also have plenty of resources available with online access. The library is a lot more than just books.