Wednesday, November 29, 2017 by Mary Lynne Bartlett
Hi! My name is Dennie Park and I am in my 4A term of Joint Honours Psychology and Science! I’ve been a Library Ambassador for over a year, and now I’m one of the senior ambassadors on the team! I’ve always loved spending time in the library and every term working in this position has been an incredibly rewarding experience. The library is an amazing space and provides many resources for students, but sometimes it can be hard to know what is available and who to ask if you’re unsure. It certainly can be daunting, so that is where we come in! Our job is to reach out to other students to let them know what the library has to offer, as well as help make it a more welcoming and approachable place! The thing I love most about this job (besides the fantastic staff <3) is that it also gives us the opportunity to really develop our skills and work in different situations. We’re actually asked about what we’d like to improve on when we start the job and are given many opportunities to do so! It really pushes all of us to go out of our comfort zone in different situations and build our confidence. I feel that the position helped me grow as a student and really come into my own.
Anyone who’s been around me for a while knows that I often encourage people to apply to the job because it’s an amazing opportunity to grow as a person and as a student while having a ton of fun in the process! On top of that, the pay is great and the hours are super flexible! As long as you have a love for the library and an enthusiasm for student outreach, you’re a great fit.
Library Ambassadors are also given the opportunity to create a student engagement project every term that they carry out themselves. We’re asked to bring our own creativity and flair to them, and it’s always brought amazing results! We’ve had projects such as Harry Potter trivia booths, mindfulness activity tables, and blind dates with books! I partnered with Karen Ma on this term’s Halloween-themed board game cafe with treats and a copy of a fortune game from Special Collections and Archives! There are endless possibilities and we also have mentoring sessions with our supervisors and other library staff to provide guidance and help if needed!
I’m pretty much always around the library (usually Dana Porter) these days, so feel free to say hello or ask a few questions if you’d like!
-Dennie
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