After close to fifteen years as a school librarian, I have hosted handfuls of student observers and interns interested in the field of school librarianship. Each has their own story whether it’s rolling into a Master’s program right after their Bachelor’s or making it a second career. Some will thrive as school librarians and others I recommended should consider public librarianship and in one case, the woman was barely there enough for me to have any idea what kind of school librarian she would make.

However, as a person in the profession, frankly any profession, you should be open to the idea of hosting people interested in your field regardless of how busy or overwhelmed you feel because we want any job to have more people in it– not for Hunger Games competition but to create diversity and a new crop so that there is someone to fill the retirements of those that come before and know what they’re doing when they step into those roles. It’s maddening to see positions (especially in schools) where a position and person has so much institutional knowledge and a system that when they announce their retirement, nothing is done to train the next person to do it and give them the resources to do it well.

Internships might become mentorships, friendships, or simply collegial relationships. So it makes sense to cultivate these up-and-comers. With a constant need to reinvent our practice with the changing times, I always welcome interns for what they bring– fresh perspectives, new ideas, and a positive attitude.