Why Being NYPL's Community Outreach Intern is PERFECT

I sort of love my internship at the New York Public Library. When I first arrived, I had no idea that I would become so involved with the community outreach department and that I would so deeply fall in love with it.

It's such a unique way of interacting with people because a lot of my work is at a distance. But at the same time, I know that I'm making an impact, regardless of the distance between me and the community.

My day today started off with a staff meeting which Nick invited me to. It was for the Outreach department and included Nick, Sarah, Luis, Louise, Emily, and Brigid. We began by going around and explaining what we were working on.

I realized something beautiful: they are all incredibly busy just like me. Their lists of projects are incredibly long and they somehow have the knack to make the impossible, possible.

They are my people.

This describes my life.

They were all incredibly supportive of my projects and wanted to see me succeed. Slash they don't also want me to leave. Nick says I don't need to go back to Iowa. Sarah said I should just stay here.

I'm glad they appreciate my hard work.

After discussing our current projects, we talked about the urban novels we read. For many prisoners we serve, they request urban novels. It's a genre that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s and came back in the early 2000s. These novels heavily use vernacular language and often focus around sex, money, and drugs. It was interesting to hear about the stories my co-workers read and what they thought about it.

Finally, we ended our meeting discussing goals for the upcoming months. I can't even begin to explain how motivatonal this meeting was. It was inspirational to hear about what they are working on and their goals for the upcoming months. This encourages me to do as much as I can until I leave in April.

So here is how my afternoon turned out:

• I sent off another four veteran interviews to the Library of Congress. That brings the count up to nine fully completed interviews sent to LOC. Sure, it will take 6-8 months to process but at least the ball is rolling.
• I created an additional page for LaTanga Blair. Nick wanted me to push each interview a little bit more and create a space for the listener to discover more about the topics the veteran discusses. 
• I began an additional page for Gerald Brown. 

Needless to say, it was a productive afternoon and I didn't actually want to leave at 5 PM. I brought my notes home and actually might do some work on these additional pages over the weekend. We will have to see if there is time. See why this internship is just right?