About me
My name is Alice; I’m 25 years old and a Graduate Trainee Librarian at The London Library. Previously, I was a Library Assistant (yes, there is a difference between Librarian and Library Assistant) for Oldham’s library service. I will be (hopefully) starting my MA in Library and Information Studies at UCL this September.
Why blog?
I’ve never really seen the appeal of blogging- personally I don’t think my thoughts are interesting enough to warrant feverishly pressing F5 just in case something new appears- however, if this blog is read, hopefully someone will find something useful amongst the rambles. Good luck!
Anyhow, my recent decision to turn my hand to the world of pixels has been prompted by CILIP’s New Professionals Day 2012, where the importance of creating/ presenting a brand for oneself was repeatedly emphasised. So here it goes…
Oh yes, I also thought it would be a good idea to include posts about my professional development as I go along. Who knows, maybe it will be of use to the befuddled who would quite like to get into librarianship but do not have the foggiest idea how to go about it.
Why Librarianship?
Truthfully, I was drawn to librarianship after graduating and not entirely knowing what to do with myself. When it was suggested as a career, I shrugged my shoulders and considered it, researched it and thought perhaps I’d hate it less than most other jobs so I duly went off to find some work experience.
I have always been an avid reader, and that two of my favourite literary characters are also librarians possible helped sway my vocation. I feel a kindred spirit with Lirael, daughter of the Clayr (from Garth Nix’s Abhorsen series). In Lirael’s world, librarians face many life-threatening hazards: … In my labyrinth of a library, we share similar pests: silverfish, mice, alas no magical beasts threatening to endanger the world. Yet.
Henry de Tamble, the time traveller from The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger also encouraged me (and many others, so I’ve heard) into the library world. Thankfully, no-one I know has ever ended up naked in the stacks, but there’s a first time for everything.
Whilst I’ve not had many adventures per se, librarianship can hardly be called “dull”. Each day brings new challenges, a little detective work and a menagerie of members (yes, I celeb-spot. It’s still exciting when I spot a famous person). So let’s just scrap all those stereotypes of boring, frizzy-haired bespectacled fuddy-duddies. Librarianship may not be cool, but if knowledge is power, then we’re about to run the world. Well, assist in it smoothly going about its business in a day-to-day manner. That’s not to say that every library contains megalomaniacs, but we certainly have the capabilities if we were so inclined. We’re detectives, hunting out answers from the vaguest of clues; we’re determined and we persevere; we are mind-readers (who else will find the specific book on trains that you read years ago but can’t remember anything about it except it had a picture of a train on the front cover?); we are invisible, yet the backbone of many industries- architecture, banking, politics, television- we are EVERYWHERE. Oh yeah, we also have the patience of saints (see that train enquiry!). World domination does sound quite appealing though…
I love your definition of a librarian; it's everything I aspire to be, so I must be at least on my way to most of them. Thanks - you've given me two more librarians to add to my Pinterest board Pop-Culture Librarians.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to have the opportunity to work in the London Library - I love being a member, but to work there, that's the dream.