[CPD23] Thing 20: Library Routes and Day in the Life projects

I think the Library Routes project is a brilliant idea. I've been aware of the wiki for a while and read quite a few of the posts. I haven't written one myself because, well, it wouldn't be very long! I don't know if I've been working in libraries for long enough to have roots, let alone routes, but I will write about my 'rootlings' anyway!

'Winding Road' by AColvin on Flickr

 I can't pinpoint the exact moment when I decided that I wanted to become a librarian. When I was 14 I wanted to be a vet. When I was 17 I wanted to be a music therapist. When I was 20 and coming towards the end of my music degree I didn't know what I wanted to be, except I knew I would be a terrible teacher and I was in no way talented enough to become a concert pianist... Luckily I had been working part time in the music library as a student assistant, and it began to dawn on me that this would be a job I would both enjoy and be good at.

I began to talk to librarians and other information professionals about this idea, however this began a bit disastrously! The first couple of people I spoke to about being a librarian were quite negative, and assured me that technology was already replacing librarians, and that it was turning into a dead-end job. This was slightly discouraging, but after speaking to some more people I realised that this wasn't the majority view thank goodness! The Library Day in the Life project was really helpful when I was looking into different kinds of library jobs, and that is the other part of the Thing this week. I have done a few posts during the last two rounds of Library Day in the Life, and if you're interested in reading my Day in the Life posts they can be found here.

I started to apply to graduate trainee positions during my last year of university, and after a few interviews was offered the place at Newnham. My graduateship was brilliant, and I am really lucky that when it finished they kept me on as a part time library assistant as our senior library assistant has decided to reduce her hours. I'm loving working in a library. I have a lot of variety in my work which is great because it means I have learnt so many new things. I have also just started an MA in Library and Information Studies at UCL, which means that I will be able to study the theory behind the things I am doing in practice in my job.

My roots are probably quite similar to many other peoples'. It seems to be quite common for people to "fall into" librarianship. It would be cool if librarians were more prominent at careers fairs etc. to get the word out that librarianship is actually a career, it's actually something people do!