An Interview With Steven Cohen

young man now thinks I know where everything is in the library. He will seek me out the next time he comes in).

GD: Who in the library field has influenced you? Who is out there right now doing great things, or things which you admire?

SC: I have a few "librarian heroes", two of whom are local to Suffolk County.

I have had the pleasure of working with a great director of my local public library, Myron Roochvarg, who retired after 30 years of service during my first year...he wanted to be more of a mentor to me than he was able to, but he influenced me more than he knows.

Also, the head of reference services for the cooperative system in which I worked, Edana Cichanowitz, has always challenged me to perform at my highest potential and provided me with opportunites to present at workshops. Plus, she is the best reference librarian this side of the Mississippi.

Turning to the weblog world, I have always been fond of Blake and the work he was able to do at LISnews, bringing fellow librarians together for the common cause of sharing resources, news stories, and the like. Plus, I don't believe the "stuff" would be the type of site it is now without his influence.

Last and certainly not least, I admire all the members of the law-lib and LLAGNY listervs, who help each other out on a daily basis. Librarianship is not performed in a bubble. We all need each others help in sharing resources and ideas. Thanks guys!!!

GD: As a relatively recent MLS graduate, what do you think is lacking/great/useless/wonderful in library science education today? What would you add or take from the curriculum if it were up to you?

SC: I am a big fan of the BLS (Bachelor of Science) degree that has gotten some discussion in recent years (and even before then). Imagine having the necessary skills to become a full fledged librarian. Maybe an internship during the senior year of college. Then the advanced courses can be taken for the MLS. I think that this would draw more students into the field. The downside? We may not be seen as professionals if the MLS wasn't essential to the profession. It's a controversial topic, but an important one.

Keeping with the theme of keeping current, I think a course on finding the vast amount of reliable and useful information available on the

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