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Prism Scholar Biography

Stefanie Blankenship

"I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do"~ Edward Everett Hale

Background Information
My name is Stefanie Blankenship. I grew up in North Providence, Rhode Island and have lived there all of my life. When I was growing up I enjoyed visiting the local library. I attended story hours and special programs and enjoyed checking out books. I pretty much grew up in a library. I started to work for that library, the North Providence Library, after I graduated high school in 2000. I worked in the Reference and Information department and learned a lot about library services. I enjoyed helping people find information as I gained valuable experience in library science. I worked for the North Providence Library until I graduated from Providence College in 2004, where I majored in social science. After leaving the North Providence Library, I worked for Cranston ARC as a community outreach employee who worked with developmentally disabled adults in Cranston. While spending so much time in Cranston I often drove by the various library branches and realized how much I missed working in a library. I started working for the Cranston Public Library system in February 2005 as a library assistant at the Central library, Auburn Branch, and Arlington Reading Room. In June 2005, I was placed exclusively at the Auburn Branch to run the children and teen summer reading program. I was entrusted to this position because of my library experience and my enthusiam for library work. In October I was presented with a wonderful opportunity. I would be given a full time position at the Auburn Branch as a Youth Services librarian if I obtained my MLIS degree. I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the program and blessed with the opportunity to be a Project Prism Scholar. As a Project Prism Scholar I interned at the Mount Pleasant Branch of the Providence Public Library, the Oaklawn Branch of Cranston, and finished my internship at the Central Falls Public library where I conducted on study on the research habits of high school students. I graduated from URI with my Master's Degree in Library and Information Science in May 2008 and I am still employed by the Cranston Public Library as the Youth Services Librarian at the Auburn Branch.

Education

Providence College, Bachelor of Arts in Social Science with a concentration in Psychology and Sociology, 2004
University of Rhode Island, MLIS, 2008

Library Experience
- Mayor Salvatore Mancini North Providence Union Free Library, Reference Associate, 2000-2004
- Cranston Public Library System 2005-present
1. Cranston Central Library, Children's room and Information desk
2. Arlington Reading Room
3. Auburn Branch, Youth Services Librarian
4. Oaklawn Branch, internship
Internship Sites
1. Cranston Public Library, Oaklawn Branch
2. Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative
3. Providence Public Library, Mount Pleasant Branch
4. Central Falls Public Library
  
  Internship
  I have been interning at the Oaklawn Branch of the Cranston Public Library and at the Rhode Island Family Literacy Initative Program for my Project Prism Internship hours.
  
  Oaklawn Internship
  
  I have been interning at the Oaklawn Branch on Tuesdays. At the Oaklawn Branch, I assist patrons at the service desk, shelve materials and help the branch librarian, Adrienne Gallo, with projects. I completed a booklist for the Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominees and posted them on the library's Myspace page that I created as well. I help maintain the children's collection and set up displays in the children's room according to holidays or special events, such as Black History Month, Women's History Month, and Saint Patrick's Day.
  
  At the Central Falls Public Library, I worked with the assistant director and helped him with preparations for a focus group for the Hispanic Community. I also helped maintain the young adult collection, as as well as cataloging materials. I carried out a research project on the research habits of high school students. I introduced them to the Ebsco database Academic Search Premier and did a follow-up on their use of the database for school assignments as opposed to their use of Google or other unreliable websites.
  
  Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative Internship
  
  For two semesters I interned with the RIFLI program on Monday and Wednesday evenings at the Auburn Branch library. I work with children whose families are learning English or taking citizenship classes. A majority of the children are Chinese American, while some are from the Dominican Republic, and others from the Middle East. I help the children with their homework and then we play educational games or have craft time. They love to play trivia games, memory games, and hangman. The girls love to bead and make crafts while the boys enjoy playing games such as chess and checkers. I am in the process of creating an information literacy lesson plan for the children to help them find resources in the library.
  
  Professional Development
  - Rhode Island Library Association Conference, Bryant University, June 2006
  - First Joint Conference of Librarians of Color, Dallas Texas, October 11-15, 2006.
  - Mining Weblogs for Librarians
  - Mock Caldecott
  - Spanish Language Outreach Program
  - Connecting Boys With Books presented by Michael Sullivan
  - Mixing in Math Workshop: Math in Library Programs
  - The Fun and Facts of Family Literacy: Communicating with Parents through Storytimes
  - Rhode Island Library Association Conference, Johnson & Wales University, June 2007
  - American Library Association Annual Conference, 2007, Washington, D.C., Presented at Poster Session on Outreach to Communities
  - Rhode Island Library Association Annual Conference, Salve Regina University, June 2008
    Created by Stefanie Blankenship, Updated March 2009