Hello! Today, you have the opportunity to hear from our two interns, Rachel and Brian. Both Rachel and Brian have been working at UDPL since the beginning of the summer and have been a huge help to the staff! Before their time at UDPL is over, they wanted to share a few of their experiences and lessons that they have gained from the library.

What experiences have you gained from our internship at UDPL?

Rachel: The Upper Dublin Public Library has given me the opportunity to receive a wide range of skills and experiences that I will be able to take with me wherever I end up working. I have learned how to evaluate reviews of new materials for the collection and then watch these materials go through the preparation process of being put onto the shelves. I’ve also enjoyed sitting at the reference desk where I’ve had the opportunity to help patrons of all ages find items that they were looking for within the library or perhaps find something new to read or watch.

Brian: While I’ve worked previously in a public library, my time at the Upper Dublin Public Library has given me a wider breadth of experience than I had previously. This has involved helping to create some video tutorials for online services that I hope will be of some use to members, as well as learning about how members are rapidly adapting to elibrary services like Overdrive, which continues to expand. I’ve also had the chance to learn from a number of experienced librarians and staff, all of whom have passed along invaluable lessons that I plan to make use of in the future.

What’s the next step for you?

Rachel: After finishing my internship at UDPL, I plan on moving to Illinois for graduate school. I’ll be attending the University of Illinois for my master’s in Library and Information Sciences. The University of Illinois has the best MLIS program in the United States, and I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to study there. With my master’s, I would like to specialize in Academic Librarianship and Reference and User Services, with the hopes to be an academic reference librarian.

Brian: My internship here is actually the end of my time at Kent State University, and the completion of my master’s in Library and Information Sciences. While I specialized in Digital Libraries, I feel as though my education has given me the confidence to attempt to enter a number of fields, and I’ll be doing just that. I plan on being able to go anywhere to do anything!

What would you recommend for summer reading?

Rachel: This summer, there were two novels that I did not want to put down and I believe that others might enjoy these titles as well. These titles are The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes. If you haven’t read anything by these two authors before, you should start with these two titles.

The Handmaid’s Tale, which was published in 1985, is set in a dystopian future and explores themes of women in subjugation and the various means by which they gain individualism and independence. You might recognize this title because it has recently been turned into a series on Hulu (I heard the first season was pretty great).

The Last Letter from Your Lover is, in my opinion, one of Moyes best works. Jennifer Stirling finds herself in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It’s only when she finds a letter written to her from a mysterious man (who isn’t her husband) that she soon discovers what she has forgotten all along and must fight to find him before it’s too late.

Brian: I’m as excited as anyone else to see Game of Thrones back on television. If you’re looking for more books like A Song of Ice and Fire, I’d recommend checking out A.J. Smith’s The Long War series. There’s plenty of action and suspense, with a helping of magic and monsters for good measure. Luckily, UDPL has the first three books of the series – The Black Guard, The Dark Blood, and The Red Prince – available to borrow.

I’ve also been reading The Steel Bonnets by George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman series. This nonfiction book is a history of the Border Reivers; a number of English families and Scottish clans that spent nearly three-hundred years at war with each other in a free-for-all that saw constantly shifting alliances and feuds.