Dream Job?

Over the past few weeks I have been encouraged to think about not what particular kind of library job I would like, but rather what I’d like my career in library science to look like.  This reflection, combined with the advice to build on my existing skills and strengths, has brought me to a place of consideration of what kind of jobs I would like to do as part of a long career in libraries.

I wrote earlier about my motivations and sense of calling to work at particular kinds of libraries in particular communities.  Right now, the kind of jobs that make me the most excited is reference services positions and management positions in an urban community.  Looking at my current strengths, I now have almost three years of management experience and so it makes sense to build on that capability.  I also have five years’ experience in helping people find the things and information they need, even though it is outside a library setting.  I enjoy that work of interacting with people, figuring out what their needs are and how to fill them and find it meaningful.  One public service job in an urban setting that I found is this one in Takoma, WA for adult services.  It is a good entry level position in the field of public service and the kind of community I would like to work in.

However, just and adult services job does not use my management skills and so it would be nice to move towards something like this Manager of Library Operations job in Oklahoma City. This position is in a medium-sized community library and calls on a variety of skills that I would find challenging and fulfilling, including “facility management, staff and volunteer management, budget preparation and oversight, programming, [and] community related activities.”  They are looking to hire someone with one year of management experience (which I have) and “excellent customer service skills, building and maintaining strategic relationships; planning and organizational skills; and the ability to create and maintain a library that is an inviting and innovative link to the world.”  This is very similar to the hospitality work I do now, as I welcome travelers to DC, manage interns, do bookkeeping and budgeting and maintain a 100 year old townhouse.  I would like to transfer these skills I already have into a library setting.

Hopefully a beginning management job like that would move me in the direction of a position with more responsibility.  A job that more fully represents what I’d like to move towards in my career is this listing for an Assistant Public Services Director at the main branch of the Cleveland Public Library.  The job listing explains the scope of the job as “Directs and manages the activities, collections, and staff of the Main Library to ensure that quality service is delivered to the public. Participates in the development of system-wide plans, policies, and procedures. Serves as member of the Public Services leadership team.”  This combines both my desire to make sure that the public receives good service at the library but also my experience in managing staff, a physical plant and finances.  This position is looking for eight years of management experience in a library setting, something that I could hopefully build up to.

As a bit of side note, because I’m taking an information technology course right now, I’m particularly attuned to what job lists are asking for as far as computer and technology skills go.  Among these listings, some are vague such as familiar with “21^st century librarianship” and “ability to adapt to new and updated software and procedures.”  But some list more specific technology requirements such as “advanced computer skills including use of MS Windows, word processing, spreadsheet processing, electronic communication, database management, and Internet browsing.”  I should make sure to look for opportunities to develop and hone these computer skills as I begin to look for jobs.

And that brings us to the real point of this exercise.  If I am interested in this kind of work, I need to be focused on what skills I need to still gain and develop in order to be qualified and competent.  This is the direction in which I now want to head and if I want to get there, I must put in time, energy and effort to learning and gaining experience.

Join the Club!

There are two professional library associations that I recently joined as a part of my current interests and goals, the American Library Association and the DC Library Association.  Joining such organizations was heavily encouraged when I went to new student orientation, and even the little I've been involved with so far I've begun to see their utility.  This is particularly true in that I'm doing my studies online and not able to connect with my professors and classmates in person.  Making connections with other librarians in person is encouraging and the networking I do will hopefully help me get my foot in the door as I start looking for jobs.

Let's turn first to the national organization, the American Library Association (ALA).  The ALA was founded in the nineteenth century in order to help educate, train, support and advocate for librarians in their work.  They now use their resources to provide a wide variety of services to member librarians and to represent the profession to the large world.  Some of the things they do are to provide a twice yearly conference, job listings, ongoing education opportunities, certification of library masters programs, and grants and awards to leaders in the field.

Both individuals and institutions can join the ALA in a variety of membership categories; they just need to be interested in supporting librarians and libraries.  Thankfully they have very reasonable student membership rates, which results in discounts at conferences and the like.  Being members allows you to connect with other librarians and with the resources of the ALA for education and networking.   I in large part joined the ALA so that I can go to their summer conference in Chicago this year for the student membership rate.

The second professional organization that I joined is the District of Columbia Library Association, which is the “state” chapter of the ALA here (though, as I have to often remind people, DC is not a state and we have no voting representation in Congress as a result though we do pay taxes).  As a state chapter, DCLA supports the mission and vision of the ALA but with a particular local focus.  DCLA also, because of its location in the US seat of government, focuses on advocacy and lobbying for issues important to librarians and libraries.  They have a blog that they use to focus government issues in libraries.

While the ALA has a great national reach and has a very developed online community, the DCLA allows me to interact with others face to face.  And their student rate is even better than the ALA’s as it’s free!  The DCLA does a lot of outreach and announcing local one day and evening events as well.  So far I have attended two events that I heard about through their list serve.  One was an evening social hour and lecture but on by the DC Special Library Association and the Military Division of the SLA.  The new head of Arlington Cemetery spoke about her experience of taking over an organization in crisis and was woefully behind in information technology.

The second DCLA publicized event that I've attended was a one day symposium at Catholic University on “Bridging the Spectrum: Scholarshipand Practice in Library and Information Science.”  There was a keynote speaker, presentations and posters over the course of the day.  It was particularly wonderful to hear about the work people were doing in the area and the variety of organizations they were for with MLIS .

Both of these organizations seem to be important to continue to be involved in.  They provide a wider connection outside of my professors and classmates to the library world.  They are both very active and seem very welcoming to students and newbies.  They were easy to find online and have active websites with much useful information on them.  I’m glad to be a member and having the opportunity to learn and meet others interested in library and information science.

The Path Before Me

As a graduating student with a BA, I believed I had what my professional life would look like figured out.  However, I have learned in the time since then that things often do not go as planned and, thankfully, one ends up satisfied with a reality never envisioned.  That need for flexibility when considering career goals in planning recognizes the fact that new opportunities may present themselves and old goals may lose their appeal.  Even that hard earned wisdom, however, does not negate the value of beginning a course of study with an end goal in mind.  Having an idea where on is going allows for a path to be mapped and steps taken along the way to get there.

As I start my studies in library and information science, my hope and desire is to work in a public library in a reference or adult services role.  I have previously worked at both a university library and a public library and enjoyed both experiences, but felt the most fulfilled and well used during my time at a public library.  There I was able to help people who needed information that would directly impact their lives and often had no other way to get it.  The books and other resources I was able to help provide them with enriched their lives and saved them money.  The library was a community resource that provided space for people to interact with each other and with information in a more equitable and accessible way.  I would like to be part of this process of individual community support and enrichment again.

Of course, I now live in a very different community than when I worked in a public library before.  The public library I was previously employed at was in my medium-sized, Midwestern home town.  I had gone to that library as a child and many of the librarians and patrons knew me for most of my life.  It was not a culturally or racially diverse place, though we did serve people from a variety of class and education backgrounds.   Now I live in a very large, East Coast city which people move in and out of freely.  It is a multicultural and multiracial space.  The public libraries here serve different needs and different populations under different pressures and constraints.

With this difference in context in mind, one of my goals during my education is to make sure that I am aware of the particular challenges urban libraries face.  As a white person in a city that is majority African American, I need to be comfortable with and trained to work in a cross-cultural and diverse environment.  I hope to both taking classes and seeking out practical experience in this area.  I am committed to this city and to this profession and my goal is to do them both justice by being well prepared and competent for the particular place I’m in.

As I’ve begun my school work and begun to be involved in the professional library organizations in my city, it’s become clear to me that one need that libraries everywhere seem to have is for librarians to be good managers.  I certainly didn’t decide to enter this field out of desire to create budgets, make staff schedules or create policies but libraries need competent people to do this work if they are to survive and thrive.  I currently have around four years in management experience in a small non-profit.  I was promoted to that position with little training and have learned with watching my boss and trial and error.  My hope is that during my time of study I will be able to gain management skills in a more formal and systematic way.

It is good, at this point, to remind myself again that plans are just that, plans.  We create goals, take steps to achieve them and life sometimes conforms itself to our vision and sometimes looks completely different.  It is my hope that whatever forms my future in libraries takes that I will be prepared, competent and dedicated to the mission of libraries and librarianship.