And so begins several posts on “things I’ve found in the library”. They’re mostly notes so far, but some of them are absolute gems. This is the start of a few I found around Valentines Day.

Library roots / routes

Inspired by the Library Routes Project Wiki, I’ve decided to write my own post about how I came to be working in libraries.

It’s kind of a clichéd thing for a wannabe librarian to say, but ever since I can remember, I’ve loved libraries. I used to visit my local public library weekly as a kid with my mum, and I can actually remember her saying to the library assistant working there at the time “I can imagine Niki working here when she’s old enough”.

Fast forward ten years or so. I’m sixteen years old, I have a part-time job I dislike and while looking in the local paper, I see a job advertised for a Saturday Library Assistant in the very library I’d been visiting since I was little. I apply. I get the job. I loved it. I start out just working Saturdays, but ask for more hours during the school holidays. I remember working every single morning during one summer. It was great. The library really was tiny and was mainly used by older people (I guess quite obviously, for a public library in a semi-rural area). Sometimes I was asked to work in other libraries on the Isle of Wight (which is where I grew up) and I always, always said yes. So when I had to go to university and effectively resign, I was incredibly sad. I should point out here that I never really considered it as a long-term career at this point, just a little job which gave me a few pennies. I was also completely unaware of the possibilities of studying librarianship or information studies at university, which is why I chose to study English, and later politics and international relations.

When I started my final year at the University of Reading, I still had no clue about what kind of career I wanted. Libraries were in the back of my mind, but I still didn’t consider librarianship as a career. I looked into music journalism, which I deemed too competitive; radio production, which would require further training and was also really competitive; and working for the civil service, which was just a shot in the dark. It wasn’t until I found CILIP’s pages on graduate trainee opportunities that a little light popped on in my head and I decided on a whim, to apply for a few. When I was later offered a permanent library assistant position at Reading (rather than a graduate traineeship), I took the offer even before I finished my degree. My job is a split post, which means I work on a subject floor (social sciences and history) in the mornings and in the afternoons, one can find me in acquisitions. I also work regularly on the circulation point in the library, which gives me even more experience in a range of environments.

While working, in April 2008 I decided to start a distance-learning MSc in Information and Library Studies at Aberystwyth University. Working full-time and studying on a part-time basis has certainly been a challenge, but I think hardly having a break between my two degrees has helped. I’m on the cusp of finishing now, and after four years (gosh, I know), I’m finally putting the finishing touches to my dissertation about social tagging, folksonomies, and music discovery. I’m really interested in Web 2.0 and I’ve been able to apply this a bit in my current position as I was involved in making podcasts a couple of years ago. Like thewikiman says in his Library Routes post, I think it’s important to make yourself seen in any library environment where you want to progress, no matter how small a part you play; I’m always the one everyone turns to to write minutes or do pretty much anything at short notice. I volunteered myself to help out with store collections, which meant getting training to operate a Mobile Elevated Work Platform (!!) which was pretty fun. More recently, I’ve applied internally at Reading for my first professional post and I have an interview (it’s for a Trainee Liaison Librarian, if you’re wondering).

So there you have it. Like many, I didn’t really ‘fall into’ librarianship - it was kind of an obvious route ever since I started work at the public library when I was still a teenager. I doubt I will ever escape its clutches now!