{"id":4467,"date":"2012-07-18T00:04:17","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T04:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=4467"},"modified":"2012-07-18T11:13:09","modified_gmt":"2012-07-18T15:13:09","slug":"alsc-member-profile-meet-liz-delzell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2012\/07\/alsc-member-profile-meet-liz-delzell\/","title":{"rendered":"ALSC Member Profile – Meet Liz Delzell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each month, an ALSC member is profiled and we learn a little about their professional life and a bit about their not-so-serious side. Using just ten questions, we try to keep the profiles fun while highlighting the variety of members in our organization. This month, our candidate bravely volunteered to participate. So, without further ado, welcome to our ALSC profile<\/a>, ten questions with ALSC member, Liz Delzell<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I am the Youth Services librarian at Woodstock Public Library<\/a> in scenic Woodstock, Illinois. (Have you seen Groundhog Day<\/em>? That was filmed right here!) I have been at WPL for just over 10 months and was lucky to have been hired right out of my MLIS program. In my position, I get a chance to do just about everything a librarian might be interested in doing. I am in charge of collection development for both the juvenile and young adult collections, I plan and present programming for preschool and elementary-aged children, I work at the public desk in our Children\u2019s Room and at the Reference Desk in Adult Services, and I serve as the liaison to our local schools.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How long have you been an ALA\u00a0member?<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Why did you join ALSC?<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Do you\u00a0belong to any other ALA divisions or roundtables?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have been an ALA member since 2007, when I first decided to apply to library school.\u00a0 I joined ALSC because I knew that I wanted to work with children in a public library setting and I believed that ALSC would put me in contact with people who were doing just that in creative and innovative ways\u2026 and I was right!<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Favorite Dr.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Seuss book?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My favorite Seuss book is probably McElligot\u2019s Pool<\/em>. My mom didn\u2019t seem to mind it, so it was one that got read over and over when I was a child. I definitely spent a significant amount of time thinking about what a pool like that might look like in real life and how deep that thing would have to be to accommodate it all. As an adult, I think I appreciate the message to do what makes you happy even when people put a lot of energy into telling you that nothing will come of it.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What motivates you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Smiles and laughter. If I can get you smiling and\/or laughing, I am going to continue down that path. Smiles and laughter indicate to me that we\u2019ve made a connection \u2014 a positive one \u2014 and that we\u2019re going to be able to make progress toward whatever it is we\u2019re trying to accomplish because we\u2019ve shared a good feeling. When people smile and laugh at the library, I think they\u2019ve made a positive connection with our organization and what we do because we\u2019ve given them a good feeling. My husband always says that \u2018putting smiles on faces\u2019 is what life is all about \u2014 I agree so much that I used that as the title for my storytime blog.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> <\/strong>What do you hope to accomplish in your professional career?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Librarianship is my second career. Before this, I was a middle school teacher. When I was in college, I was a tutor for disadvantaged kids and a camp counselor in the summer. These were jobs I was drawn to because I liked them. I liked what I was doing and I liked who I was working with. The common thread I can pull from them all is that I was working with children and I was trying to make a difference\u2026 in their days, in their experiences, and ultimately in their lives. So that is my hope for my professional career as a librarian \u2014 to make a difference in someone\u2019s day, someone\u2019s experience, or someone\u2019s life. I guess I just want to be a force for good in our world so I am happy to be a foot solider in the Army of Goodness that is children\u2019s librarianship.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is your favorite word?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My favorite word is espionage<\/em>. I\u2019ve always thought that it looks and sounds like what it is \u2014 sleek, sneaky, a word that should be whispered\u2026 \u2018espionage\u2019. (Sidenote: if you asked someone who speaks with me on a regular basis, they\u2019d probably guess that either \u2018dude\u2019 or \u2018awesome\u2019 was my favorite word because I use them both liberally. I called a nun \u2018dude\u2019 once. It was awesome\u2026 and so was she.)<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What is your favorite fingerplay?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I like the tweaked version of \u2018Itsy Bitsy Spider\u2019, where you do the regular version, then introduce the kids to Itsy Bitsy\u2019s baby brother \u2018Eensy Weensy\u2019 and sing it in a super high voice. Then you introduce their big brother \u2018Big Giant\u2019 and sing it in a super deep voice. Children and adults alike always seem to crack up and that makes me happy.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0 Legos or Lincoln Logs?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Legos all the way! I remember sitting in a family friend\u2019s basement with a can of Lincoln Logs wondering what on Earth I was supposed to do with this jumble of petrified Tootsie Rolls? I don\u2019t ever remember having an even remotely similar thought about Legos, though. It\u2019s like Lego speaks to kids. They have an innate sense of what to do\u2026 and their imaginations run wild. Just the other day, my six-year-old was describing the jungle he\u2019d built from a smattering of Duplo. To me, it looked like a bunch of blocks laid out at random. To him, there were ponds, rocks, trails, trees, and flowers of all descriptions. Again, I say Legos all the way!<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 Jim Gill or Lady Gaga?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gaga-oh-la-la! Confession, though \u2014 I\u2019ve never listened to Jim Gill *dodges thrown puppets*. Sorry! I\u2019m still pretty new to this and at storytime, I do the singing and I use pretty traditional songs. I hear he\u2019s great, though \u2014 so I will put \u2018Check out Jim Gill\u2019 on my to-do list.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0\u00a0Do you use social media?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Use<\/em> it? I am borderline addicted to it. I keep tabs on\u2026 erm, I mean\u2026 keep up with friends on family around the world via Facebook and it\u2019s the first place I want to go to share news or ask for advice. I am relatively new to Twitter but I am trying to make connections there, too \u2014 especially with other people in our profession. I have a storytime blog<\/a> that I use to share my storytime themes and crafts and that led to being part of a group of children\u2019s librarians across the country and around the world that share their flannel board stories each week (#flannelfriday). I also really enjoy using Pinterest to gather digital bits and pieces that I come across to share with friends and colleagues. I guess I love social media because I think it allows us all to collaborate both personally and professional in really unique ways.<\/p>\n

Okay, so normally, we just have ten questions. Liz had such fun answers — and I couldn’t decide which ones to cut — so I’m using editorial discretion and going with twelve questions instead of ten.<\/em><\/p>\n

11.\u00a0 Favorite part\u00a0of\u00a0being a Children\u2019s Librarian?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are two things I love about a children\u2019s librarian that are sort of personal to my experience. First of all, I love that people who know me or are just meeting me for the first time are genuinely shocked that I am a librarian. Like the vast majority of librarians I know, I don\u2019t fit any of the tired stereotypes about librarians. More than anything else, I am told that I am way too loud! The second thing I love about being a children\u2019s librarian is the way in which I get to approach my job and the people I work with. Sometimes I get to sit in a rocking chair. I sing songs. I tell jokes. I use puppets and felt. I dance. I use different voices and make weird faces. I use glue sticks and googly eyes. I read picture books and graphic novels. I talk to kids to learn about what they *like* and try to get them more of it. In short, I get to be goofy ol\u2019 me every day and it\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n

12.\u00a0\u00a0Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love the Summer Olympics! I like the Summer Games because I enjoy watching women\u2019s volleyball, women\u2019s gymnastics, mens\u2019 and women\u2019s swimming, and mens\u2019 and women\u2019s track and field events (especially sprints).\u00a0 I do have a soft spot for some of the Winter events, too – the luge, downhill skiing, and speed skating. I love the Olympics period. I guess I really enjoy chanting, \u201cU-S-A! U-S-A!\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n

Thanks, Liz! What a fun continuation to our monthly profile feature! (Liz can be reached at lizd@woodstockil.info)<\/p>\n

Do you know someone who would be a good candidate for our ALSC Monthly Profile<\/a>? Are YOU<\/strong> brave enough to answer our ten questions? Send your name and email address to\u00a0alscblog@gmail.com<\/a>; we\u2019ll see what we can do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each month, an ALSC member is profiled and we learn a little about their professional life and a bit about their not-so-serious side. Using just ten questions, we try to keep the profiles fun while highlighting the variety of members in our organization. This month, our candidate bravely volunteered to participate. So, without further ado, welcome to our ALSC profile, ten questions with ALSC member, Liz Delzell. 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What do you do, and how long have you been doing it? I am the Youth Services librarian at Woodstock Public Library in scenic Woodstock, Illinois. (Have you seen Groundhog Day? That was filmed right here!) I have been at WPL for just over 10 months and was lucky to have been hired right out of my MLIS program. In my position, I get a chance to do just about everything a librarian might be interested in doing. I am in charge…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[198,144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alsc-member-profile","category-blogger-mary-r-voors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}