I graduated from Pitt's School of Information Sciences (SIS) in December 1996. After working part-time at Sunnyvale Public Library in Sunnyvale, California for several months I recently attained a full-time position at Sunnyvale Public as an Adult Services Librarian.

All of my Master of Library and Information Science (M.L.I.S.) coursework laid a strong foundation for my new career in librarianship, but several courses were particularly beneficial. "Behavioral Perspectives" with Dr. Fine gave me an understanding of the special characteristics of working in a helping profession and the essentials for effective and empathetic reference service. Dr. Kimmel's "Librarianship in Society" provided experience with library projects and a useful overview of core principles and personalities within the library profession. "Adult Resources" with Dr. Biagini offered valuable exposure to the diverse areas of adult materials, from Biographies to Mysteries to Westerns, and solo experience with collection development.

As an Adult Services Librarian at Sunnyvale Public my duties include reference service, collection development, readers' advisory, periodic displays, and bibliographic instruction. The skills acquired at SIS have already helped me in working daily at Sunnyvale Public's very busy reference desk, assembling an August display of diversity-themed books, and preparing me for a just-received assignment to select 700 travel books and 100 language books.

One course I wish had taken at SIS, which I would recommend that students consider taking, is "Business Resources." Due to Sunnyvale's position in the heart of the economically booming Silicon Valley region of Northern California, roughly 65% of Sunnyvale Public's reference queries are business-related. Familiarity with business materials like Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Dunn & Bradstreet is critical for this type of reference.

-- James D. "Kip" Currier
Adult Services Librarian
Sunnyvale Public Library