Case Study No. 1251: Joel Bangilan

Tell Me How - Librarian
3:30
http://www.tmw media.com/tellmehow.html

What schooling is necessary to become a librarian? Why is reading important? What kind of research do librarians do? What do librarians need to know about math? All these questions and more are long overdue for an answer in this video from the Tell Me How series.

To order this and 50 other fascinating videos from the Tell Me How Career Series, go to tmw media.com
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Added: 6 years ago
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ANNOUNCER: "Tell Me How" is the popular video encyclopedia on careers. It is designed to help young people with career selection.
["Tell Me How" appears on screen, then cut to a young man standing in a public library, speaking directly to the camera]
JEFF GARDNER: Do you like to take vacations? Well y'know, you can take one every single day ... and not necessarily to another city or town or nation.
[he points to his head]
JEFF GARDNER: But to your imagination!
[he points to a book he is holding, entitled "Exploring South America"]
JEFF GARDNER: And reading is your ticket to imagination!
[cut to Jeff hiding behind a study carrel, as he looks around nervously and whispers to the camera]
JEFF GARDNER: [whispers] Hi. We're in the library. This is where you learn everything you need to know.
[he tip-toes across the room, then stops next to a young male librarian and points to him]
JEFF GARDNER: [whispers] And this ... is a librarian.
["Joel Bangilan, librarian" appears on screen, as he shakes the librarian's hand]
JEFF GARDNER: [whispers] Hi. This is Joel Bangilan. How ya doin' today?
JOEL BANGILAN: Doing fine. How are you?
JEFF GARDNER: [whispers] Oh, great. Hey, now you know what? I was just wondering ... can you tell us some of the things we need to know about the library?
JOEL BANGILAN: Sure, but ... why are you whispering?
[Jeff looks confused, then talks in his normal voice]
JEFF GARDNER: Well, aren't you supposed to be quiet in the library?
JOEL BANGILAN: Well, it's good to be considerate and respectful of other people who are using the library, who may be trying to read ... but you don't have to "whisper" whisper.
JEFF GARDNER: So, you can uh ... have fun.
JOEL BANGILAN: In a normal voice.
JEFF GARDNER: Yeah, okay.
[cut to footage of Jeff dancing around the library while holding a giant stuffed monkey]
JEFF GARDNER: [in voice over] Well, have you ever had to kick anybody out of the library for being too loud?
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] Honestly, I have, because they were actually horse-playing inside the library and they wouldn't stop.
[cut to a cartoon image of a horse driving a racecar, then back to Jeff and Joel talking in the library]
JEFF GARDNER: Well, how bad was it? I mean, were they throwing books or--
JOEL BANGILAN: It almost got to that point. The kids were running around, and we'd asked them several times nicely to stop. And when they wouldn't listen to us, we asked them to leave.
JEFF GARDNER: Well, is it a good idea for children to come with their parents?
[cut to footage of the interior of the library]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] It's always a good idea for the children to come with their parents. Um, the library is a public place, and anybody can come into the library, so it's a good idea to always have your mom or dad or an older brother or sister with you.
["Books were mostly handwritten until Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1455" appears on screen, then cut back to Jeff and Joel talking in the library]
JEFF GARDNER: Well, how did you get into working in the library?
[cut to footage of Joel sorting books]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] I'd just finished school, and I saw a job opening, and I took it.
["What did you want to be when you were a kid?" appears on screen, then cut to footage of a tiger]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] When I was a kid, I wanted to be a zoologist.
[cut to footage of a man in a dentist's chair]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] And then a dentist ...
[cut to Joel sitting in a chair, as a cartoon image of an apple appears next to him]
JOEL BANGILAN: And then a teacher!
["What should I pay attention to in school if I want to be a librarian?" appears on screen, then cut to footage of young children in a classroom]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] One of the things that you ought to pay attention to in school is learning how to read a book and what makes it a good book.
[cut back to Jeff and Joel talking in the library]
JEFF GARDNER: So everybody who works in this library had to go to school for this?
JOEL BANGILAN: Not everyone, but to be a librarian, you need to have a master's degree in library science.
JEFF GARDNER: Well, you're not reading every book in the library for this, are you?
[he laughs]
JOEL BANGILAN: No, you're not. You just have to know how to read.
[cut to more footage from inside of the library]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] Some people can become children's librarians, or reference librarians ...
[cut back to Jeff and Joel talking in the library]
JOEL BANGILAN: And they help different parts of the community use the library that's inside their neighborhood.
JEFF GARDNER: Well, where do you specialize?
[cut to footage of various childrens' books]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] I work as a children's librarian.
JEFF GARDNER: [in voice over] And what's the differenc between a children's librarian and an adult library?
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] A children's librarian helps kids who come into the library and their parents to use the materials that we collect here.
JEFF GARDNER: [in voice over] I guess you have to like kids, then.
[cut back to Jeff and Joel talking in the library]
JOEL BANGILAN: You do have to like kids ...
[cut to more footage from inside the library]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] Libraries now are places where you get information, and not just books. You have magazines, tapes, videos.
JEFF GARDNER: [in voice over] Well, what other kinds of libraries are there?
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] Well, there's your school library, the one that you have in your elementary school or middle school or high school. You have, uh ... college library, law libraries.
[cut to a cartoon image of books jumping out of an ocean (like they were fish), as Jeff and Joel enter the stacks area]
JEFF GARDNER: Well Joel, we're literally swimming in a sea of books! I don't understand how you keep all these things in order ...
[he reaches over and pulls a book off the shelf]
JEFF GARDNER: Let's say a guy like me comes along and starts reading this book, and reads it for about thirty minutes, and then--
[he places the book on the opposite shelf]
JEFF GARDNER: Uh, puts it over here. How ya ever gonna find it again? You probably can't.
[cut to footage of an elderly female volunteer shelving books]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] Well, we have people that go through those shelves and ... help us put books in order, and keep things in order.
[cut back to Jeff and Joel in the library]
JEFF GARDNER: You mean, they go through and look at them one at a time?
JOEL BANGILAN: They sure do.
JEFF GARDNER: Oh, alright. That sounds like a lotta work ...
[he turns away, as Joel goes behind his back and takes the mis-shelved book off the shelf]
JEFF GARDNER: Well uh, I don't understand ... What're these little letters here on the side of the books?
[cut to a closeup of the spine labels of the books]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] The little letters help us keep them in order. Fiction books are kept in alphabetical order by the author's name, and non-fiction books are kept in numerical order according to subjects.
JEFF GARDNER: [in voice over] And in different sections of the library?
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] Right.
JEFF GARDNER: [in voice over] Hey, what's the Dewey Decimal System?
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] Well, the Dewey Decimal System is a number system in which we put books of the same subject in the same place.
[cut back to Jeff and Joel talking in the library]
JOEL BANGILAN: So, you have books like ... plants and animals and science books all in one place, and art books and geology books in another place.
JEFF GARDNER: Okay, well, what if I wanted to find a book about geology? Where would I go? Would I just start looking through the rock section?
JOEL BANGILAN: Well, you used to do it on a card catalog. Now we use computers.
[cut to footage of kids using old CRT-style computers]
JEFF GARDNER: [in voice over] Are all the books on computer?
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] Not all the books. Information on how to find the book in the library collection are on the computer.
[cut back to Jeff and Joel talking in the library]
JEFF GARDNER: Well, what other things can you use a computer for, besides looking up books?
[cut to footage of a computer screen showing the homepage for the Houston Public Library's OPAC ("Welcome to Everybody's Catalog")]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] You can use it to gain internet access. Uh, database access. Look up things in a directory.
JEFF GARDNER: [in voice over] How good with computers do you have to be?
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] You don't have to be, like an expert and know how to program them. All you have to do is know how to use them, and use it as a tool that will help you locate things inside your library collection.
["One of the most important skills in life is the ability to read. The world is an open book to those that read." appears on screen, then cut back to Jeff dancing around the library with the giant stuffed monkey (as Joel drags him away by the collar)]
[cut to Jeff sitting down at the computer]
JEFF GARDNER: Alright, looks like the library computer. Let's see if we can get on this thing.
[cut to a closeup of the screen]
JOEL BANGILAN: [in voice over] This is a catalog of kids' materials in the library. Sometimes, you just can't find it inside a library collection, and so you have to turn to electronic resources like the internet.
JEFF GARDNER: [in voice over] How valuable a tool is the internet?
[cut back to Jeff and Joel talking in the library]
JOEL BANGILAN: The internet is a very valuable tool. It's a ... a collection of a whole lot of information from all over the world.
JEFF GARDNER: Really? So the internet is sort of like a great big giant King Kamehameha huge big giant volcano-sized ... library!
JOEL BANGILAN: Yes!

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From tmwmedia.com:

Category: Career Education & Life Skills
Sub-Category: Professional Careers
Series: Tell Me How Career Series - Career Opportunities For Young Peoples
Item No: K9129DVD
SRP: $34.95
UPC: 709629291294
Copyright: 2003

In this program host Jeff Gardner learns the important details of being a great librarian or resource specialist. He learns that librarians can introduce their patrons to numerous sources of information. Subjects Covered Include: Do librarians only check out books? Why is a library supposed to be quiet? Why is a library a public place? What schooling is necessary to become a librarian? Why do they give out library cards? What is the Dewey Decimal system? What else is at the library besides books? Why is reading important? Can you be a librarian, but not work for a library? Why do librarians do research? Do librarians need to know a lot about math? Why is the internet called a library?

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From blogspot.com:

Joel Bangilan is currently a Branch Services Coordinator for San Antonio Public Library. He started his career as a children's librarian in Houston. His experience as a public librarian in parts of Houston that are predominantly Asian and Asian American and his own Filipino heritage provides him with an insight to the issues. He advocates for libraries to collect quality books that feature and involve the Asian American community. His collaboration with the Chinese Community Center in Houston created the first Chinese language story time in the city. He developed the collection for the Walter branch library and earned several grants to buy children' books for early readers, translations, and dual language texts of Asian languages. He serves on the Asian and Pacific American Library Association's Award for Literature Committee. Libraries are warehouses of knowledge where all perspectives are represented and respected.

Joel Bangilan spoke with YA author Paula Yoo (Good Enough) in a recent interview.

YOO: Asian American "immigrant"-themed novels were quite "in vogue" in the 1980s and 90s thanks to the popularity of Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club." Now that trend has spilled into the world of young adult/middle grade novels. Why is this such a hunger and interest for these types of books, especially for young people?

BANGILAN: A friend of mine said that it is cool to be Asian these days. Lots of trends in pop culture and lifestyle seem to draw upon Asian cultures recently. Just look at the rising popularity of sushi restaurants that are inspired by Japanese menus or vegetarian places that are based on Indian cuisine. What does it mean that you can buy sushi or saag paneer in the grocery store? Pop music samples from Bollywood tracks and even more musicians and artists claim an Asian heritage. Manga and anime is an exploding phenomenon. And a number of movies have brought back the coolness of Hong Kong fight scenes or ancient mystical China. Pop culture trend setters like the Black Eyed Peas, Ang Lee, Amerie, Kimura Lee, and Lucy Liu have mainstreamed elements drawn from our cultures. Asian and Asian American actors are being cast in more mainstream roles so we see our own faces in movies and television. With this boost of coolness from pop culture, Asian American young people and their friends are encouraged to seek our experiences and faces in the literature.

YOO: Some critics feel that there needs to be more broad-based novels featuring Asian American characters in "mainstream" roles where they are not always dealing with the classic issues of immigration/language barriers/racism. How do you feel about that? Are there any new books, especially for teens, that you feel are good examples of this new trend?

BANGILAN: Sure there is a need for literature like that. Not all Asian American teens are recent immigrants. Many have acculturated or assimilated into mainstream culture successfully. A teen's issues tend to be about self identity. I do feel that those issues are hard to avoid when dealing with the Asian American experience. I have to wonder what Asian American young person does not deal with those issues ever. The United States still has a long way to go in race relations and no matter how much a child has acculturated; there are still people who define others by physical features. So a main character has to go to cheer competition, and is not liked by the other girls on her squad. Certainly this is a mainstream situation, but when the author writes that she has straight black hair and almond eyes, and her grandmother packed her lunch with a lychee snack, the author then has to deal with why even bring that up. An author has to deal with what makes this character Asian; and as a writer does the Asian-ness of the character then progress the story or is it gratuitous. I felt that Project Mulberry, by Linda Sue Park, did this very well. Life of Pi dealt with themes beyond Pi's heritage, but by knowing his heritage we understood his world view. Black Mirror dealt with a biracial girls self identity. I would also recommend Nothing But the Truth (and a Few White Lies). So many times I hear the phrase "Love is color blind"; that the United States needs to be "color blind"; or that children should be "color blind". I think the point is not to move to being "color blind", but seeing "color" and loving it. Instead of ignoring our heritages, embracing our heritage and part of our identity and realizing that it is a treasure.

YOO: Publishers now realize the importance of diversity in children's literature, particularly for teenagers who are often searching for their identity and place in society. Why do you think it's important - and perhaps necessary - for diversity in teen fiction, especially for Asian American readers?

BANGILAN: As a librarian I depend on authors who create or reflect experiences that broaden a child's vision. Not only are there children who want to see their own faces or see that they are not alone in a set of circumstances, there are children who need to see how the other side feels. Books are shared experiences. Literature opens understanding as those ideas and experiences are made common between us. Just as I encourage Asian and Asian American children to read books from European, African, and Latino Diasporas, I recommend books of the Asian cultures to those children of non-Asian heritages.

YOO: Many Asian American authors (both veteran and up-n-coming) express frustration at being pigeon-holed or labeled as ONLY Asian American fiction when they feel their books feature universal themes. Why do you think Asian American teen fiction is important for readers of different backgrounds/ethnicities to read? In other words, why is multicultural fiction important for today's teenagers?

BANGILAN: Teens of other cultures need to see how the other side lives. Like I was saying earlier literature offers shared experiences. These shared experiences give people common ground, common terms, and common references to then exchange ideas for understanding. I think reading Asian and Asian American literature brings to the table concepts and ideas that Westerners and some others might not be used to. I believe that there is a distinction between Asian literature and Asian American genres. First and foremost is that Asian American literature is American literature. Americans with Asian heritage have a completely different experience, outlook, perspective, and conditioning than the families we left either recently or even generations ago and is different from the cultures we are entering. The Asian American experience is blended and often has a pan-Asian mentality. Millennials tend to exhibit this perspective the most in that they don't necessarily see themselves as one ethnicity, but that they see themselves as Asian and have a camaraderie with South Asians, Central Asians, and Pacific Islanders. There are now bicultural Asians who are writing and creating books. Theses authors who might be of Chinese and Vietnamese ethnicities or Filipino and Japanese parents tend to exhibit a pan-Asian mentality. The Asian American experience also has hapas in the mix. These are the individuals who are biracial. The Tiger Woods, Apolo Onos, and Kimura Lees of the world are just as Asian and American as those of us with both parents of one ethnicity. Theirs is a growing voice

YOO: Do you have any favorite books or books you think are groundbreaking/important that were written by or about Asian American young adults? Why do you think these particular books are important?

BANGILAN: I think the flood of Manga is a significant milestone in the evolution of Asian American fiction. Although not necessarily by or about Asian Americans, the whole genre of books hit mainstream culture with a big splash. This is a genre that appeals to both boys and girls. The stories are exciting and the themes are universally human that they reach a broad spectrum.

YOO: Where do you see Asian American fiction going in the future? Do you think it will reach the same level of mainstream acceptance as African American literature has today (witness the mainstream popularity of writers from adult novelist Toni Morrison to children's novelist Julius Lester?

BANGILAN: I think the trend is actually evolving and moving away from the immigrant experience to that of the Asian American experience and the hapa experience. I think teens and children are beginning to identify more as Americans of Asian heritage with a "Pan-Asian" mentality. But their challenges and angst comes from their desire to be seen and be accepted as Americans. Their stories are of a self identity of an American colliding with their roots, heritage, and parents who don't understand. The United States has often defined itself in terms of Black and White, but Asians are emerging into the conversation. I believe mainstream acceptance is the goal. I think writers like Amy Tan, Ha Jin, Chang Rae Lee, Maxine Hong Kingston, Chitra Divakaruni, Janet Wong, An Na and others are blazing trails for others to follow. Just as with African American fiction these few have planted a seed in readers who will be inspired by these first books. There will be some influences from the mother countries by way of new immigrants, but I see Asian American fiction really embracing our heritages both as Asians and as Americans.