Today Lydia catches us up on what’s been happening in her career. The last time Lydia posted, she was very unhappy with her job and her manager. She was working in a public library as a reference librarian, and while she liked the reference side, she knew public librarianship was not her cup of tea. Confused as to what is going on? Click to learn more about the series.
So, I am no longer in Mississippi. Thank the Lord. Shortly after writing about my work at a public library in Mississippi last year, I quit the job. Everyday had become a torture and it was no longer worth me staying in a bad situation that was only getting worse. I was getting no real library experience and my boss treated me like a library assistant and would not let me do anything close to a professional librarian’s job. I had been thinking of leaving that job for some time, so I had already been applying for another job. The week after I quit, I had three interviews and pretty much had at least one interview a week for the next 4 months. Most of the interviews were over the phone and I got excellent practice using my interviewing skills. After all the of interviews, I finally got a great job at a technical college in north Georgia. The college has five campuses and I’m on one of the two larger ones.
I really enjoy my job now. In my last job, all I did was sign people in to use the computers and make sure people didn’t talk on their cell phones in the library. Now I get to answer actual reference question, catalog books, and generally be a real, working librarian. Its such an improvement. I now have a boss that wants me to use my degree and lets me!
Most days I come to work, answer emails, do any cataloging, and prepare for any orientations I might have. I then work at the reference desk for three hours, answering questions and helping people use the computers. In the afternoon, I really just do whatever needs doing, whether its more cataloging, orientations, or more reference desk time. When I first started working, I really thought I would enjoy working at the reference desk the most, but as usual, I had totally thought wrong. My favorite part of my job is doing library orientations. I have at least one a week, especially at the beginning of the semester. I always have a great time trying to teach the students how to use all the resources and helping them with any research questions they might have. As it is a technical college, the students do not do too much in-depth research and most papers are only 3-5 pages, but its still fun getting them excited about research! I believe that my orientations are good and no one has complained yet, so I guess I’m in the clear. My boss usually has me do all the orientations, which is fine because they totally make the day fly by! I have also really been enjoying my work with the catalog. I’m the cataloger for my campus, but I mostly just copy catalog. For ever 15 books I copy catalog, I might have 1 that I need to write the entire record for. Its really great experience especially because there is another librarian on one of the other campuses that is able to answer all my cataloging questions. He is such a great resource!
It’s so wonderful to have a job that you actually like to come to and you don’t dread every single day. My boss and my boss’s boss are both great and really do care that I develop my skills and become a better librarian. I will have so many more opportunities because of this job! I’d like to stay here for at least two years total, if nothing changes in my life, then try to get a job at a larger school, hopefully in either Atlanta or my home town of Columbus, GA. I’ll keep you updated!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
So glad to hear she’s in a happier place! I love to hear when people get out of crappy job situations and move on to better ones!!
{ 3 trackbacks }