CRV: Concerned Citizen - My Mom

Spencer Plewe

Mitch Clark

The Concerned citizen project was particularly difficult to find a workable subject for. At length though, Spencer decided on filming his mother working at a high school library. In searching for her personal motivation towards this position, she also said getting the job was mainly her searching for a school teaching job, but most the unexpected one to her was a high school librarian. When she talked with Spanish Fork High School’s principal, he told her about that job, and it interested her the most. The result was her enjoying it more than any other place because of the involvement with the students and helping them find the literature they want.

The fortunate thing is that being a librarian compared to a standard subject teacher is the freedom that comes with it. Her collaboration with the school requires her to put her creative juices and personal preferences on display to make certain books seem interesting to check out. These guide or redirect the students’ own paths of what artistic tastes they themselves have. Part of that was how she showcased books to be made into movies the following year, to raise awareness of what’s happening in the bigger world of art outside her community. In this modern world where youth are more and more inclined to movies, the librarian reveals the connection between that and physical literature.

The library is an interesting and exciting place for people.  There are so many stories and knowledge available, and we often don’t understand that.  One thing that was really cool to hear was how the librarian liked hearing if people liked a book, but also if they didn’t.  In a place where we can learn and read so much, we still have our opinion.  We can decide if we liked to classic novel that has been received so well, or if we want to learn from a book about the common elements in our solar system.  We have control of the flow of knowledge that we take in.  This might be possible without a library, but the library is like a Mecca of books that are available for anyone.

The mix of observatory and asking some questions throughout the video helps to put us in the shoes of the librarian.  It is after hours, and some of the more mundane tasks are being done.  We don’t always realize the minutia that is involved with keeping something like a library running smoothly.  This might be because we don’t visit one enough, or because we just simply haven’t bothered to think about it.  Anyway, this is a look into that somewhat unknown area of our world.  

Here's the video!