Michael Wood: MLIS
About Mike
My mother was a naturalized citizen, born in El Tigre, a small mining town tucked away in the mountains of Sonora, Mexico. Her father was Mayor and town butcher.
One of my best childhood memories is of sitting on Mom's lap while she read me Cervantes "Don Quixote." (We thought certain parts were quite funny.) On her social worker's salary she bought encyclopedias; I was well provided with reference resources at home.
A child of the 70's, I was a common sight at the Tacoma Public Library, where I often stopped for hours before catching the bus home after school.
After earning a bachelor of Arts at the Evergreen State College, I enjoyed a long and creative run working in commercial advertising. The dot com and stock market crashes a few years ago gave me the golden chance to reinvent myself as a librarian.
I think I'm the right type. My Meyers-Briggs personality test indicates that I am in the ISFJ classification, "Introverted Sensing with Extraverted Feeling."
"People with ISFJ preferences are dependable and considerate, committed to the people and groups with which they are associated, and faithful in carrying out responsibilities. They work with steady energy to complete jobs fully and on time.
They will go to great trouble to do something that they see as necessary... ISFJs focus on what people need and want, and they establish orderly procedures to be sure those need and wants are fulfilled. They take roles and responsibilities seriously and want others to do the same.“
The Library Bill of Rights is a document that defines our vision for open information in a Democracy: To provide information access to everyone without favoritism. I love that core of idealism! Preserving, organizing, and keeping accessible the collective wisdom of the human race is of primary importance to every pursuit that is built upon a body of knowledge. It is the heart of democratic civilization itself. Librarianship is a sacred trust.
These pages will highlight some of the milestones in my personal journey toward employment in a noble profession. To me it's the greatest job in the world.