So this post is going to be about my own personal route into librarianship, where I have come from and where I am going to. I suspect my route into library world is probably fairly similar to many people, so not that exciting reading, so feel free to skip to the end...
Nearing the end of my undergraduate degree, I began to wonder what direction I was heading in, after spending the majority of my life in education (barring an interesting range of summer jobs). I set up two weeks work experience in my local public library for after I finished my final exams. This experience was great as I not only got to experience the basics of library work (issuing, returning, shelving, finding) but also got to get involved with the summer reading scheme events and helping library users with accessing and using computers. I really enjoyed helping library users, and being able to make a difference made me realise that this was a path I wanted to pursue.
From this point on I decided a careers in libraries was A Good Idea, and starting looking for library assistant jobs. I got a job part time as part of the shelving team at a university library, which I then added to by taking on another part time role as a weekend counter assistant. Still in the same institution I then progressed to a full time role in the acquisitions team. At the time, I wasn't aware that graduate trainee roles existed, but because I was lucky enough to take on three separate roles in a large institution I was able to gain experience of the different areas in an academic library.
I then went on to a LIS Masters programme full time. This worked well for me, as I was able to devote all my energies to my course - which it definitely needed! I really appreciated the perspective having worked in libraries brought to the theoretical parts of my course, a particularly memorable assignment being one in which I assessed how far the new library then being built by my previous employer was meeting the challenges of future library design. The writing of my dissertation was also a great experience in using my organisational skills to pull together a piece of research over a three month period.
Whilst working on my dissertation I got my first professional post, this time in the further education sector. Working as part of a small team, I was able to gain skills key to librarianship, like delivering inductions, designing resource guides and managing subscriptions. Subsequently, I have gone on to a further role with the same employer with greater responsibility for customer services, including managing centres and procedures, ensuring quality of service and training staff.
Since working in the profession as a librarian, thanks to a supportive employer, I have been able to continue to build my knowledge and skills through training, visits and attending conferences. I have also undertaken teaching, management and customer service qualifications - all of which have been key to my roles, but in themselves are skills from contrasting disciplines. One thing I really enjoy about working in libraries is the variety of different areas you can get involved in and the potential to develop new skills, something I think is key as libraries and the services they offer continue to evolve in the future. My current plans for the future involve completing my chartership and gaining a web design qualification.
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