Thing 10 - My experiences as a librarian

I started off managing a primary school library.  I was given the responsibility of transforming a bunch of book shelves with out of date books into a busy, well-used library.  At this stage I had no training but had a strong interest in library work.  I attended various training events and loved every minute of this challenge.  After three years of hard work, the library was used by nearly every pupil in the school on a regular basis, I had a team of volunteers who supervised classes in their sessions.  I ran a library club which was very popular.  I held events for World Book Day and other occasions.  I had improved the stock on a very limited budget.  I could go on but I won't. 

Because I loved the challenge and the satisfaction of what I had achieved so far I decided to train on a postgraduate course as a librarian.  By the time I left this employment I had only two months training left.  I then moved into a sixth form college as a librarian.  This is quite a different environment but one with its own areas which I love.  I have run special events such as the National Short Story Week, and have several planned for the new term.  I have learned how to use various new technologies to reach users and I find that there is always some new area to develop to improve the service.

I love learning new skills and for this reason I am now working towards chartership.  I have attended lots of training courses this year as part of this and have loved every minute of them.  An area I particularly enjoy is networking.  It is so interesting to hear about the work of librarians in different sectors and to hear that we all have certain challenges in common.