Tales of a Librarian
Posted by tallforahobbit on January 29, 2010
So I’ve just been alerted to the Library Routes Project which is a Wiki through which librarians can share their route into the profession and why they chose this Librarianship.
I’ve only read a couple of posts so far but I thought I’d share my route – its not a very long story.
I completed my undergrad degree in 2003 (in History) and at that time I was trying really hard to decide what I wanted to do next… I’d never had a calling to do anything in particular – most things I do are because I fancy it at the time so until I figured it all out I just started applying for jobs that sounded interesting. I spotted a part time job at the University of Sunderland (UoS) Libraries as a library assistant – applied – did terrible at interview because I’d only found out I had an interview 2 hours before the actual interview (after returning from an overnight flight) – I had no clothes and no real idea about what was happening. Needless to say I could barely see the dewey numbers in the dewey test as I was so tired – and unsurprisingly I didn’t get that job.
A short while later I bought the Tori Amos Album Tales of a Librarian (which of course is great) and at that point I decided that I did want a library job and I would apply to other libraries when anything came up.
About a week after this decision I got a call from UoS and they offered me a full time job – so I started soon after and really enjoyed it..it was a revelation. I started the Masters degree in Information & Library Management (Distance Learning) a year later and a month after graduating successfully got my current job as Distance Services Officer – and what I like about my job is that it seems pretty unique. In this country anyway I don’t think there are many people out there with the same job as me.
So I’ve been in my current job for over 3 years now and its actually great – I’ve had some amazing opportunities including overseas travel and best of all the library where I work is easy going with a good atmosphere – it’s a place I enjoy going to and I do get a lot of job satisfaction.
