Week at the library

Last week I spent several mornings at the Northfield library. I went to three of the children's programs--Early Lit program on Monday, Infant Lapsit on Tuesday, and the Toddler story time on Wednesday. I also had the opportunity to talk to Kathy Ness and Leesa Wisdorf, two librarians who run the children's programs. I learned a lot about the children's programs and the library in general from talking with them. 

Unfortunately the car I am borrowing wouldn't start in the -22* temperature of Thursday morning (even the schools were canceled again from the cold), so I had to reschedule my meeting with Lynne Young, the library director. The library is closed in honor of MLK day tomorrow, so I am meeting with her along with Diana Tallant, the coordinator and program director for the Booker bus, on Tuesday (go to the Booker blog at: www.bookerbus.blogspot.com/ to find out more about Booker). That pushes back my story, but I am planning to finish it by Wednesday. 

Week two

I finished the story about Mary Rossing this weekend and it should be posted soon hopefully. This week, I decided to cover the Northfield library's early literacy programs and possibly look at some of the expansion possibilities and other issues the library is currently facing.

This morning, I went to the library around ten to check out the First Steps Literacy Program, which takes place weekly on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10-12 in the morning. It was pretty quiet while I was there, probably because of the snowstorm that eventually caused the Northfield schools to close early. I did meet a volunteer and one of the children's programs organizers, Leesa Wisdorf, who leads the Infant Lapsit program on Tuesday among other things.

I plan on going throughout the week to check out the rest of the children's programs and hear more about the purpose, goals, etc. of the programs and talk to both the organizers and the parents and caregivers that attend with their kids.

Check out the library at: http://ci.northfield.mn.us/library/
and the children's programs at: http://www.northfieldpubliclibrary.blogspot.com/

Interview with Mary

This morning I had the opportunity to interview Mary Rossing. In my journalism class this fall, I interviewed mostly fellow students for my stories, so interviewing the mayor of Northfield felt like a big jump. I was excited for the opportunity. Mary beared with me despite some pauses or choppiness on my end as I searched to find which questions I still wanted to ask and tried to keep up typing. Luckily I was able to use a computer that recorded audio, which was helpful. I really appreciate Mary taking time to talk to me and enjoyed hearing her thoughts.
Now all that's left is actually writing the story!

Week one

The first week of my internship has started off relatively slow as I am figuring out story ideas. On Monday, I met with two Northfield.org board members, Jane McWilliams and Rob Hardy, to brainstorm story ideas. I quickly realized the vast amount of story possibilities for me to cover in Northfield, even with the many stories that Northfield News and Locally Grown cover. One of the reasons I wanted to complete an internship with an organization like Northfield.org was to learn about the role of community journalism. Initially, it seems daunting to think that one person (like myself) could cover important topics with so many other great news sources available, but there are so many topics and issues in a town like Northfield that I don't think this is true. Even covering topics that have been reported on several times can bring in fresh perspectives and information.

I also attended Mary Rossing's swearing in at the city council meeting Monday evening and learned a bit about the Way Park and First Street closure issues (which to be honest I knew nothing about). For my first story, Mayor Mary Rossing agreed to meet with me tomorrow. I spent this afternoon researching Mary and her accomplishments and plans for Northfield. I have met Mary only very briefly but I know that she values being transparent to citizens in the Northfield community. Her willingness to meet with me re-enforces what she has already said and done to to make herself available to the community. As Northfield's newly elected mayor Mary has been interviewed a lot already (go to http://locallygrownnorthfield.org/post/7552/ for her interview with Bonnie Obremski about her first city council meeting as mayor). Still, I hope I can ask Mary some new questions from my perspective as a college student and other questions readers will find interesting.

Topics that I'm thinking about covering in the next few weeks are the new library early literacy programs, the impact of the St. Olaf/Carlton students on the Northfield community, and education in Northfield (still not sure of what specific topic with this). Any helpful information, contacts, events, or just suggestions in general would be great to hear.