Student Focus: Emma Stilwell
Emma Stilwell.
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Emma Stilwell is a Community Librarian with Christchurch City Libraries and has just completed an MIS qualification with Victoria University of Wellington. Originally from the Wairoa Gorge outside of Nelson, Emma has lived in Wellington and Edmonton (Canada) and currently resides in Ōtautahi. When not working (or thinking about work) Emma can be found struggling to figure out what people do in their free time when they’re no longer studying. Recent attempts include opshopping, sewing, gardening, and foraging for fruit in Christchurch’s Red Zone
Thank you Emma for volunteering your time to be our featured Student Profile for this edition of Library Life! We really enjoy highlighting students who are on their way to completing their qualification in library and information studies, and also connecting them to the community they’ll be joining when they graduate ! You already seem to be fully submerged in this community though, so can you tell us a bit about your journey so far? Over the last five years I’ve worked in six different libraries in three different systems in Aotearoa and Canada. I think this change and movement has given me a broad perspective of public libraries and helped me grow more than I would by staying in any one role. I was a big reader when I was younger, more through lack of choice than anything else. I spent three hours on school buses each day and when you're at the start/end of the line, the only other kids to hang out with are in books. The library was the place I waited for my mum to pick me up if I couldn’t take the bus home. I was definitely forgotten there a few times as a teen and left waiting in the dark outside Richmond Library after it closed. |
After finishing a BA in Political Science and German at Victoria University of Wellington, I worked in customer service jobs to save for an OE. I traveled for a few months then came back to Aotearoa ready to start a real career. I wanted a job I could be proud of and feel like I was making a difference, and I was tired of trying to survive in Wellington on the minimum wage.
My first library job was a part-time customer service role in Wellington Central Library, which I found engaging and rewarding. I moved through a few more part-time WCL roles, getting more and more hours until I was eventually able to work full-time in a branch library. This gave me more of an idea of the different types of work in a public library, and I was able to lead some exciting programmes in the branch library.
My partner and I moved to Canada in 2018 and I became a Library Assistant with Edmonton Public Library. This really opened my eyes to what libraries can do and be, and how much room for growth there is here in Aotearoa. The programming, the investment, the professionalism and the culture were all really invigorating, and I wanted more.
We were keen to get permanent residency and stay in Canada, so temporarily came back to Aotearoa at the end of 2019 to fill out and process our applications. While we only intended to stay here for a year, COVID-19 happened and we committed to making the best of it. The role I intended to be temporary has turned out to be rewarding and given me a lot of scope for innovation and personal learning. I’m living in the community I serve, and I am helping to introduce some programming I’m very proud of to the Shirley community in East Christchurch.
How long have you been studying and what qualification are you currently studying towards?
I have just finished my Master of Information Studies (MI) qualification with Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). I’m now looking forward to graduation later this year!
While on paper my study has finished, I’m now working to communicate my research. I presented a LIANZA webinar on my research in May this year (it’s on the LIANZA Youtube channel) and am also going to be presenting a research paper at the LIANZA conference in November. I’m working within Christchurch City Libraries to communicate my own research and integrate it into our programming and am also helping others that want to do further research into early literacy or other areas. Learning never ends!
What made you decide to study for a post-graduate qualification?
I’d contemplated it while working in Wellington, but I’d only recently finished my BA and I wasn’t ready to commit to study again. I couldn’t really picture myself working in libraries long-term at that point.
Working as a Library Assistant in Canada, for the first time I saw librarianship being a professionalised career rather than a job. I saw the professional culture that having predominantly qualified staff created and, to be frank, I saw that the library system paid a salary that made it worth investing time and money into further study.
If I wanted a role bigger than part-time maternity leave contracts, I had to get a qualification equivalent to an MLIS. Our long-term goal was to move to Canada permanently so I wanted to set myself up to be a librarian there. The global COVID-19 pandemic had other plans for us, and I’ve stayed in Aotearoa.
It’s not all bad though! My MIS qualification has really inspired me to think about our profession more broadly – hence, my greater involvement with LIANZA this year. The qualification’s focus on library strategic management and professional principles like access to information, rather than day-to-day work, is helping me to continually challenge and improve how we do things here. I’m excited to be part of helping the profession grow and improve in Aotearoa.
Can you tell our readers about your experience so far and what you have found most enjoyable about the programme?
Enjoyable wouldn’t be the word I’d use. At times fascinating, at times hard, and almost always draining to fit in alongside full-time work – but ultimately, the programme gives the necessary foundation to further my career.
I started the MIS programme while I was still in Canada, so I really appreciated the asynchronous courses that meant I didn’t have to get up at 2am to participate. I also spent a whole semester travelling across North America living out of a minivan, which was only possible because of the flexibility of the classes. So many of my readings and assignments were done in public libraries, from little rural ones in Gimli, Manitoba or Parry Sound, Ontario to famous old monuments to knowledge in Boston and Philadelphia. I came to really appreciate the calm and the focus I got from being in any library, no matter how poky.
The VUW MIS programme allows you to do two courses through the WISE consortium, which allowed me to take courses on more niche topics than the more generalised information-management focused topics offered by VUW. I did one paper on Youth Librarianship with City University of New York and one on Makerspaces with Rutgers University. I also enjoyed how being in classes with people from other universities gave me a wider perspective about how things can be done.
What advice would you give to someone considering studying towards library qualification?
I’ve been wondering this myself. I always thought that I wanted to become a manager of some kind so that I could have more of an impact on which services are developed and delivered, as I feel that makes the most difference to our customers. I’m really enjoying being a Community Librarian though, and I think I’d miss the regular contact with customers that keeps me aware of the needs of the community. Recently I’ve been involved more in-staff professional development which I’ve enjoyed and I feel is another way of having a broader impact on our service delivery past the customers that I directly assist. There are so many different roles in public libraries that I’m confident I’ll have no trouble finding ways to challenge myself and keep growing professionally.
My first library job was a part-time customer service role in Wellington Central Library, which I found engaging and rewarding. I moved through a few more part-time WCL roles, getting more and more hours until I was eventually able to work full-time in a branch library. This gave me more of an idea of the different types of work in a public library, and I was able to lead some exciting programmes in the branch library.
My partner and I moved to Canada in 2018 and I became a Library Assistant with Edmonton Public Library. This really opened my eyes to what libraries can do and be, and how much room for growth there is here in Aotearoa. The programming, the investment, the professionalism and the culture were all really invigorating, and I wanted more.
We were keen to get permanent residency and stay in Canada, so temporarily came back to Aotearoa at the end of 2019 to fill out and process our applications. While we only intended to stay here for a year, COVID-19 happened and we committed to making the best of it. The role I intended to be temporary has turned out to be rewarding and given me a lot of scope for innovation and personal learning. I’m living in the community I serve, and I am helping to introduce some programming I’m very proud of to the Shirley community in East Christchurch.
How long have you been studying and what qualification are you currently studying towards?
I have just finished my Master of Information Studies (MI) qualification with Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). I’m now looking forward to graduation later this year!
While on paper my study has finished, I’m now working to communicate my research. I presented a LIANZA webinar on my research in May this year (it’s on the LIANZA Youtube channel) and am also going to be presenting a research paper at the LIANZA conference in November. I’m working within Christchurch City Libraries to communicate my own research and integrate it into our programming and am also helping others that want to do further research into early literacy or other areas. Learning never ends!
What made you decide to study for a post-graduate qualification?
I’d contemplated it while working in Wellington, but I’d only recently finished my BA and I wasn’t ready to commit to study again. I couldn’t really picture myself working in libraries long-term at that point.
Working as a Library Assistant in Canada, for the first time I saw librarianship being a professionalised career rather than a job. I saw the professional culture that having predominantly qualified staff created and, to be frank, I saw that the library system paid a salary that made it worth investing time and money into further study.
If I wanted a role bigger than part-time maternity leave contracts, I had to get a qualification equivalent to an MLIS. Our long-term goal was to move to Canada permanently so I wanted to set myself up to be a librarian there. The global COVID-19 pandemic had other plans for us, and I’ve stayed in Aotearoa.
It’s not all bad though! My MIS qualification has really inspired me to think about our profession more broadly – hence, my greater involvement with LIANZA this year. The qualification’s focus on library strategic management and professional principles like access to information, rather than day-to-day work, is helping me to continually challenge and improve how we do things here. I’m excited to be part of helping the profession grow and improve in Aotearoa.
Can you tell our readers about your experience so far and what you have found most enjoyable about the programme?
Enjoyable wouldn’t be the word I’d use. At times fascinating, at times hard, and almost always draining to fit in alongside full-time work – but ultimately, the programme gives the necessary foundation to further my career.
I started the MIS programme while I was still in Canada, so I really appreciated the asynchronous courses that meant I didn’t have to get up at 2am to participate. I also spent a whole semester travelling across North America living out of a minivan, which was only possible because of the flexibility of the classes. So many of my readings and assignments were done in public libraries, from little rural ones in Gimli, Manitoba or Parry Sound, Ontario to famous old monuments to knowledge in Boston and Philadelphia. I came to really appreciate the calm and the focus I got from being in any library, no matter how poky.
The VUW MIS programme allows you to do two courses through the WISE consortium, which allowed me to take courses on more niche topics than the more generalised information-management focused topics offered by VUW. I did one paper on Youth Librarianship with City University of New York and one on Makerspaces with Rutgers University. I also enjoyed how being in classes with people from other universities gave me a wider perspective about how things can be done.
What advice would you give to someone considering studying towards library qualification?
- Make sure your household is onboard and supportive. I don’t think I cooked a dinner for a whole year while I was working full-time and studying 20 hours on top of that. My partner was incredibly supportive and did the vast majority of our day-to-day housekeeping so that I could relax and enjoy the little time off I did have.
- Talk to a range of people about what programme is right for you and your professional goals. I talked to my managers at Wellington City Library about the different programmes long before I committed to starting one. When the timing was right, I knew that the MIS was the one to help me achieve my goals.
- Have a plan for when things get hard and you want to quit. I made a playlist of songs that usually motivate me like “My Shot” from Hamilton and “Settlin’” by Sugarland. They possibly say more about me than I’d like to admit.
- Look out for scholarships – for example the $5000 Nora Bateson Scholarship helps cover some of the costs of getting overseas work or study experience https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/scholarships/current/nora-bateson-scholarship-vuw.
I’ve been wondering this myself. I always thought that I wanted to become a manager of some kind so that I could have more of an impact on which services are developed and delivered, as I feel that makes the most difference to our customers. I’m really enjoying being a Community Librarian though, and I think I’d miss the regular contact with customers that keeps me aware of the needs of the community. Recently I’ve been involved more in-staff professional development which I’ve enjoyed and I feel is another way of having a broader impact on our service delivery past the customers that I directly assist. There are so many different roles in public libraries that I’m confident I’ll have no trouble finding ways to challenge myself and keep growing professionally.
Did you know recent graduates automatically qualify to apply for RLIANZA?
Victoria University of Wellington Master of Library and Information Studies and Open Polytechnic qualifications are recognised by the LIANZA Professional Registration Board as meeting the LIANZA Professional Registration Bodies of Knowledge (BoKs). Graduates who are LIANZA members just need to pay the initial application fee of $57.50 and submit an application form with a copy of their qualification to become professionally registered. You then start collecting professional evidence over the next three years in order to revalidate. RLIANZA shows your peers and employers that you have demonstrated a commitment to professional standards, and to developing and enhancing competence.
READ MORE >
Victoria University of Wellington Master of Library and Information Studies and Open Polytechnic qualifications are recognised by the LIANZA Professional Registration Board as meeting the LIANZA Professional Registration Bodies of Knowledge (BoKs). Graduates who are LIANZA members just need to pay the initial application fee of $57.50 and submit an application form with a copy of their qualification to become professionally registered. You then start collecting professional evidence over the next three years in order to revalidate. RLIANZA shows your peers and employers that you have demonstrated a commitment to professional standards, and to developing and enhancing competence.
READ MORE >