Even though I earned my masters in library and information science back in 2010, I have a hard time thinking of myself as a librarian.
I work at a state university, but I'm a library assistant. At my work, there is a substantial difference between librarian and library assistant. Primarily it has to do with tenure and faculty vs. staff, but it's also the kinds of tasks you perform. I handle the mail, marking, mending, newspapers, and current periodicals at work. That probably doesn't mean much to you and it shouldn't. What you should take from it is that I'm about as far away from librarian work as I can get an still be employed at a library.
Still, I have my degree, I took the courses, and I definitely act like a librarian when not on the clock. I provide reading suggestions and resource recommendations to pretty much anyone who asks. I research whatever people want info on (including my partner's random queries like "Is this article about the Smithsonian destroying giant bones real?" or "I saw something about a dead professor's estate donating alien artifacts to a museum. Can you find out more about that?" I feel fairly confident stating what he saw were both bogus stories).
Mostly I acquire information. One of my grad instructors told us librarians should acquire random information and squirrel it away. It's a trait of my profession and many people who work in libraries. One year as part of our strategic planning, we all took the StrengthsFinder 2.0 test. A huge majority of people working at the library were "input," which basically means we collect things. In a library, that tends to be knowledge.
Growing up, I learned a lot of random information. I felt a lot like there were things I wasn't allowed to learn, though. I decided I wasn't in the right crowd or social group to know certain things. The best new year resolution I ever made was the year I decided I wasn't going to put up with that. If I wanted to learn about something, I would. No one could tell me I couldn't learn how to fishtail braid. Ever since that year, I've acquired information at a surprising rate. If you ever want a resolution fairly easy to stick to, use mine. Learn whatever you want and don't let some imaginary someone stop you.
Here's some of what I've learned or done.
I work at a state university, but I'm a library assistant. At my work, there is a substantial difference between librarian and library assistant. Primarily it has to do with tenure and faculty vs. staff, but it's also the kinds of tasks you perform. I handle the mail, marking, mending, newspapers, and current periodicals at work. That probably doesn't mean much to you and it shouldn't. What you should take from it is that I'm about as far away from librarian work as I can get an still be employed at a library.
Still, I have my degree, I took the courses, and I definitely act like a librarian when not on the clock. I provide reading suggestions and resource recommendations to pretty much anyone who asks. I research whatever people want info on (including my partner's random queries like "Is this article about the Smithsonian destroying giant bones real?" or "I saw something about a dead professor's estate donating alien artifacts to a museum. Can you find out more about that?" I feel fairly confident stating what he saw were both bogus stories).
Mostly I acquire information. One of my grad instructors told us librarians should acquire random information and squirrel it away. It's a trait of my profession and many people who work in libraries. One year as part of our strategic planning, we all took the StrengthsFinder 2.0 test. A huge majority of people working at the library were "input," which basically means we collect things. In a library, that tends to be knowledge.
Growing up, I learned a lot of random information. I felt a lot like there were things I wasn't allowed to learn, though. I decided I wasn't in the right crowd or social group to know certain things. The best new year resolution I ever made was the year I decided I wasn't going to put up with that. If I wanted to learn about something, I would. No one could tell me I couldn't learn how to fishtail braid. Ever since that year, I've acquired information at a surprising rate. If you ever want a resolution fairly easy to stick to, use mine. Learn whatever you want and don't let some imaginary someone stop you.
Here's some of what I've learned or done.
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