Mischa Johns, MLIS Archives Student, USF

Personal Narrative

My hometown is small, a fact which was a curse as a kid but a blessing as an adult. Sure it was boring…but it was never dangerous. I may have longed to get out of rural Florida as a teen, but as an adult I couldn’t ask for anything better. A large, blossoming yard full of oak trees near a beautiful river with neighbors I’ve known for decades; the quiet life, to a ‘T’.

That’s not to say I’m forever a ‘small town’ girl. I have been fortunate to do a lot of traveling in my life. In 2002, just after earning my AA from St. Johns River Community College (now a state college), I was invited to Japan by a family friend who owned a school, and wound up working there on and off for the next decade while I went to college. I attended first the University of Florida for my BA in Anthropology in 2006 before heading to the University of Sheffield for my MA in Archaeology in 2008, then headed back to Japan to resume teaching. I remained there until 2011, when my friend urged me to return to the States after the Tohoku Earthquake claimed everything I owned in the tsunami.

Now back home, I pursued my love of archaeology and public history by volunteering with the City of St. Augustine Archaeology Program. It was a dream, and the dream came true when I was hired as an assistant, a job I cherished while the position was open. When it ended, I returned home to my small town to work at the library, and was given the opportunity to be able to continue my passion for public history by becoming the Putnam County Archivist, a position I’ve held for seven and a half years with much devotion. Every member of our small team wears many hats, and I’ve been fortunate to be able to share my varied interests with Putnam County by developing programs of all kinds. From genealogy and history to children’s storytimes; from tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons to Makespace sewing, crafting, coding, and computer classes, I’ve been able to do a little bit of everything!

I am also currently enrolled in the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute (SSLLI) where I am working on a project to go beyond ‘just’ ADA compliance and try to incorporate tools, signage, and kits that will increase library accessibility and services for deaf and hard of hearing, neurodivergent, and Spanish speaking visitors to our library system.

My degree in archaeology is not lost; I still treasure it, and use the information to improve my position as county archivist. Because of this new direction, I’m currently pursuing my MLIS degree from the University of South Florida with a concentration in Archives to further improve myself and the services I can provide to my community.