Hello, everyone! I’m Kayla Sartin, Continuing Education Coordinator for the Mississippi Library Commission. If you are a public librarian in Mississippi, you probably know me from the countless announcement and reminder emails for training opportunities we offer from MLC. When I’m not scheduling emails to fill your inbox, I’m working on logistics for in-person events and handling metrics and background tasks to ensure that our virtual trainings run smoothly. Through Zoom, it is easier than ever to connect librarians to professional development opportunities. Personally, I love being able to meet librarians from across the state!
My favorite part of my job comes with the name, continuing education! I attend every training in MLC’s CE Catalog, allowing me to absorb facets of all branches of librarianship, from HR, to special collections, to how to conduct a reference interview. Furthermore, my colleagues know that if I have a question about how something works in relation to libraries, whether it is E-Rate, grants, or even what a PO is, I’ll sit there with my notebook, listening and taking notes until I understand it. In my time at MLC, I’ve learned so much about not only what public libraries provide, but how they work. There is SO MUCH that goes into having free access to information, and I’m appreciative of all of it.
My academic background is in anthropology, classics, and history, all of which are heavy research fields. Anthropology, the study of people, has given me a greater understanding of how interconnected our communities are, locally and globally. Through classics, the study of ancient Greek and Roman language and history, I learned not only about the origins of language and writing, but also the distribution and storage of the written word through time. My history studies focused on Greece and Rome, but I also took a course on rural history, which helped me to better grasp the socio-cultural similarities and differences between the city and the country. I see this directly reflected in the challenges and day to day differences between our metropolitan and rural libraries. We have libraries in Mississippi in huge buildings with lots of staff and plump programming budgets, but we also have tiny, one-room libraries with one employee that provide the only free Wi-Fi in an area. Both are vital to their communities.
Mitchell Memorial Library at Mississippi State University was a second home for me through undergrad. I studied between classes, ate many a meal, and even met my closest friends at the library. Learning how to effectively research print materials and online databases through MAGNOLIA was integral to my studies. There is something so beautiful about needing a specific book about an archaeological site from 150 years ago, finding it at a random rural library, and, through interlibrary loan, being able to pick it up within a few days on the walk back from class. I must say, my favorite thing I’ve ever checked out from any library was a kit of rocks and minerals I needed to be able to identify for a lab. The library: come get your books and your rocks.
I have been at MLC for almost a year now, and in that time, I have learned how integral libraries are to their communities, serving not only as a pool of knowledge through print materials and Internet access, but also as one of the last remaining third places without a fee. I’ve learned about maker spaces, libraries of things, and all sorts of programming areas (as well as the ongoing mystery of how to reach teens!), but most importantly, I’ve learned that libraries are about serving others, and I’m glad to be a part of that even in some small way.
