Brief Reflections of a Library Intern by June Thammasnong

As a newbie fresh out of library school, I jumped at the chance to intern at Tufts Hirsh Health Sciences Library.  It’s been quite the glimpse into a highly specialized environment, and I’m enjoying all that I’ve been learning about health science librarianship so far (and boy, is there a lot to learn).  I think that the state of health science librarianship today has this wonderful positioning to tackle issues of access to health care and quality health information, as well as understanding and reducing health inequities.  To me, the nature of librarianship is at its heart beating with social justice compassion and applying the lens of health and medicine makes it even more meaningful with the added bonus of research!

It’s been extremely worthwhile to experience and observe just the daily goings on behind the scenes at an institution like Tufts. I’m glad for the chance to sit in during library instruction sessions, committee meetings, and just to be generally included. I am happy to be on as many committees and take on whatever projects I can get my hands on.  Not many of my internships have been as inclusive as this, and  I’m amiss that I won’t have the chance to be a part of future innovation and teams like data management.  I am grateful for my time at Tufts HHSL, and look forward to taking what I have learned to nurture a career in public health focused library institutions.