Author Archives: Sonya Schryer Norris

Everything I need to know about coping with COVID-19, my mom taught me when I was twelve

My parents had just divorced and I was concerned about our security. My mom was working for the U of M law library. I asked her what would happen to us if she lost her job. U of M Law Quad She said she was a good employee, and if she lost her job itContinueContinue reading “Everything I need to know about coping with COVID-19, my mom taught me when I was twelve”

4: Cataloging mischief and adjunct profs

My cataloging class was both the most challenging and the most entertaining course I took in graduate school. Don’t let anyone tell you that cataloging isn’t sexy, or fun! Anyone without a glimmer in their eye when they consider a MARC record is willfully avoiding the obvious. And it was taught by an adjunct prof.ContinueContinue reading “4: Cataloging mischief and adjunct profs”

3: Management II: First big lesson of library school

I did more than make friends during my Library Management course. I decided how to focus my attention. Because ivory towers are not real. Our first big assignment was to develop an enhancement to a library with a budget of $400,000, write a paper about it, and make a presentation. My group chose to addContinueContinue reading “3: Management II: First big lesson of library school”

2: Management I: Defeated by a book report

My first class in library school was Management. I was very excited. I was Going to Be a Librarian. The first assignment was a two-page report on a management title of our choice. Yes, a book report. I chose what I thought would be a profound and instructive text from the Harvard Business School. IContinueContinue reading “2: Management I: Defeated by a book report”

Library school diaries 1

Join me on a look back at my decision to return to school at 31 to get a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science at Wayne State University. I’ll also share a subsequent tale of high adventure: I survived a hurricane at Disney Springs. I’ll talk about the most important lessons I learned inContinueContinue reading “Library school diaries 1”

Radicals Become Librarians

Originally posted on Finnian Burnett:
Welcome to Sonya Schryer Norris, author of the Katherine Philips research blog series with a new guest post. Radicals Become Librariansby Sonya Schryer Norris Photo by Sasha • Stories on Unsplash In 1991, during my sophomore year of college at Michigan State, I planned to live on a commune after graduation. We’d count…