Brandon Rowland graduated from Auburn University in 2008 with a bachelor’s in Public Administration. Due to the economic recession, he was in a situation many Americans found themselves in at the time – unemployed with few prospects.
“I couldn’t find anything that was full-time with benefits. I gave myself a deadline of three months to find a job before moving back home,” he said. As an undergraduate, he had worked in the campus library. “It was coming to the end of that three months when my supervisor from the library (who also worked at Auburn Public Library) called and told me to apply for a part-time position there.” Brandon got the job, and six months later moved into a full-time role as a circulation assistant.
“Once I was full-time, my supervisor told me I would be promotable with a library degree,” Brandon recalled. He began asking his colleagues where he should pursue a Master of Library and Information Science, and even in Auburn, Alabama, the professionals directed him to the highly respected program at The University of Alabama. “The majority of the staff at that time had earned their MLIS from Alabama, and they all told me, ‘Check out UA’s program – they have an online one.’”
It wouldn’t be his first encounter with Roll Tide culture (Brandon’s wife, Codie, is a lifelong Alabama fan, making theirs a “house divided.”). He remembers the application process to the MLIS program being “pretty simple,” and he really liked that he didn’t have to take the GRE but could take the MAT instead to qualify for admission. One of his favorite parts of his coursework experience, though, was the synchronous, live instruction. Through webcam and voice chat, students attend each class one night per week.
“It was better for me than an in-person class – even more interactive. I had the benefit of live instruction with a simultaneous chat room, so I could ask questions of my classmates and professors without interrupting the lecture,” he said. This experience made the coursework easier to incorporate into his life, leaving him with fond memories of his time in the program. “Many of my friends reflect on grad school like it’s just terrible and a ton of work, but for me, the MLIS was better than undergrad! It was rigorous, but something about the live instruction made it click. It just worked – even more than in-person classes I have taken.”
About halfway through his time in the program, Brandon was promoted from circulation assistant to digital services specialist. After he completed his MLIS, his position was evaluated and due to his credentials and an increase in workload, his role was reclassified as digital services librarian, which he was well prepared for thanks to the MLIS. “The curriculum enforced the core philosophies of librarianship – open information, patron privacy and others – but they also incorporated a lot of the new and emerging technologies that specifically helped me as digital services librarian. It’s obvious the UA program is at the forefront of library studies,” he said.
Brandon also noted that the program offered unique courses that he found particularly helpful. He greatly enjoyed Dr. Jamie Naidoo’s Digital Storytelling, which aims to train librarians to develop story programming for patrons of all ages. Because of the way it sharpened his public speaking and presentation skills, Brandon said, “It’s been applicable in everything I do.”
Those presentation skills came in handy when he applied for a senior level position in another library. “I was offered a library director role somewhere else, but ultimately I declined it because I liked what I was doing here at the library so much.” Plus, if Brandon had taken the job, he probably wouldn’t be able to dress up as the T-Rex at the library’s annual Halloween Party (pictured at right). “The degree from UA definitely helped me get offers that otherwise wouldn’t have been on the table,” he said.
“Librarianship is a very fulfilling career. I get to do a little something different every day. And you never know what someone’s going to come in and need. There’s not much that isn’t on the table, in terms of how the library can help you, so we always try to do whatever we can.”
Published: August 31st, 2020