calv56
Mar 8, 2012
Graduate / Pratt Statement of Purpose (Information Studies) [2]
I am writing a statement of purpose for the School of Information and Library Studies. Perhaps I have been looking at it for too long and need another pair of eyes. Some suggestions? ( the conclusion is not included yet)
It was the summer before entering high school that I volunteered for the Los Angeles Public Library for the first time. I and a group of other volunteers were assigned to organize the photo archives of the Music, Arts, and Recreation section. I recall the two hours I spent each week; looking through advertisements, photographs, newspaper clippings and the occasional binding work--the great sense of achievement when my group finished the task of successfully organizing the collection. I learned that the library is more than a place that holds books, and as I continued to volunteer that it is an environment where the past is preserved. For this reason I wish to enroll into the School of Information and Library Studies.
The first step would be to complete the Master of Library Information Studies and eventually attain a certificate for Archiving. My goal is to contribute to the process of preserving information. I am currently torn between which field to study--Cinema or Printed Materials. Ideally though, I want to work in a museum like the Morgan Library or the Museum of Moving Image. These are places that stimulate thought by uplifting the past and presenting it as more than just a dusty object. And a main thing about this is to make it interactive for the community. All this cannot become a reality until I am given the tools, the training, the education to fulfill a service to the community whether local or international.
In August 2005, I began my pursuit of a degree in Literature at Pasadena City College and later as a transfer at Eugene Lang College at the New School University in 2007. My capstone project was a work analyzing the work of author Roberto Bolano entitled, Octavio Paz versus Roberto Bolano: Their Matriarchs of Mexican Literature. The work was expanded over 50 pages on the duality of 1970s avant-garde Mexican poets claiming their game against the gran padres of Latin American Literature by creating work unfamiliar to what was popular at the time. I chose this thesis because I had continued to be interested in the aspects of literature that had been given less attention. For the past three years I have worked at Posman Books in Grand Central Terminal. Now, I understand there is decidedly given difference between book-selling and libraries. But, never had I considered shifting sides until someone in the Pratt Information Studies suggested maybe it was time for me to consider from selling to preserving information. Last year I volunteered at the Brooklyn Public Library as a Welcome Ambassador. The tasks were simple; directing patrons to locations throughout the building efficiently and building a rapport with a new community.
I am writing a statement of purpose for the School of Information and Library Studies. Perhaps I have been looking at it for too long and need another pair of eyes. Some suggestions? ( the conclusion is not included yet)
It was the summer before entering high school that I volunteered for the Los Angeles Public Library for the first time. I and a group of other volunteers were assigned to organize the photo archives of the Music, Arts, and Recreation section. I recall the two hours I spent each week; looking through advertisements, photographs, newspaper clippings and the occasional binding work--the great sense of achievement when my group finished the task of successfully organizing the collection. I learned that the library is more than a place that holds books, and as I continued to volunteer that it is an environment where the past is preserved. For this reason I wish to enroll into the School of Information and Library Studies.
The first step would be to complete the Master of Library Information Studies and eventually attain a certificate for Archiving. My goal is to contribute to the process of preserving information. I am currently torn between which field to study--Cinema or Printed Materials. Ideally though, I want to work in a museum like the Morgan Library or the Museum of Moving Image. These are places that stimulate thought by uplifting the past and presenting it as more than just a dusty object. And a main thing about this is to make it interactive for the community. All this cannot become a reality until I am given the tools, the training, the education to fulfill a service to the community whether local or international.
In August 2005, I began my pursuit of a degree in Literature at Pasadena City College and later as a transfer at Eugene Lang College at the New School University in 2007. My capstone project was a work analyzing the work of author Roberto Bolano entitled, Octavio Paz versus Roberto Bolano: Their Matriarchs of Mexican Literature. The work was expanded over 50 pages on the duality of 1970s avant-garde Mexican poets claiming their game against the gran padres of Latin American Literature by creating work unfamiliar to what was popular at the time. I chose this thesis because I had continued to be interested in the aspects of literature that had been given less attention. For the past three years I have worked at Posman Books in Grand Central Terminal. Now, I understand there is decidedly given difference between book-selling and libraries. But, never had I considered shifting sides until someone in the Pratt Information Studies suggested maybe it was time for me to consider from selling to preserving information. Last year I volunteered at the Brooklyn Public Library as a Welcome Ambassador. The tasks were simple; directing patrons to locations throughout the building efficiently and building a rapport with a new community.
