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Review by Caroline Frawley
State Library of South Australia /City of Burnside Library
11 May 2005
Curious about what REALLY goes on in an
Academic, Public, Special and School Library, I attended SALIN's A
Day in the Life on Wednesday 11 May 2005 and loved every minute of
it! The evening provided the opportunity to network with and learn
from peers in the library industry.
We were treated to four very talented,
inspiring and entertaining speakers, Kate Sinclair (Flinders
University Law Library), Marty Williams (City of Marion Library
Service), Russell Hanson (Davoren Park School), Janiece Pope (AIDS
Council of South Australia).
A common theme in each type of library was
customer service and the speakers shared some interesting customer
experiences. As many of Janeice's customers are people who phone the
AIDS Council suspecting that they may have been infected with HIV,
Janiece finds she gets into quite intimate details with her
customers about their sex lives during the 'reference interview' in
order to direct them to the best sources of information and support.
She then finds herself in trouble at dinner parties for discussing
the topics she discusses all day at work! Janiece has also had some
scary customer experiences which she can share now with a sense of
humour like the man who called himself "Dracula" and said he had a
plan to save the prostitutes of the world by teaching them
Jiu-jitsu!
There is also the need for the librarian to be
flexible and acknowledge that the main purpose of the role is to
help people meet their information needs, even if it means putting
project work aside, as Kate has done, to help thousands of law
students avoid having nervous breakdowns.
However, interruptions and scary customers
aside there are plenty of the warm and fuzzy feelings that come with
the job of librarian when we find just what the customer wants.
Marty said that even though he's not as much of a reader as many
librarians he has found he can bring his life-experiences into the
library helping people choose music to borrow, use electronic
databases and using his general knowledge - particularly where it
pertains to surfing - to connect people with information.
Taking a positive approach to job searching and
developing your career path was another theme of the night. Marty in
particular demonstrated how valuable it can be to move around a lot
in your career. Currently Systems Librarian at the City of Marion he
has had a diverse career working for state government, local
government and the private sector. His work has involved information
technology, database management, business reference services,
marketing, and team leadership. He explained that when applying for
some of the many jobs he has had that he didn't necessarily have all
the experience that was asked for but he had the passion, drive and
ability to take on challenges and learn new things quickly. He has
used career opportunities to learn and fill in the gaps in his
experience and knowledge. This is an inspiring message for those
just starting in their careers who may not have experienced all the
aspects of library service they would like to from cataloguing to
reference work to supervising teams. It's such a positive approach
to view the job search process - and the jobs we gain through the
process as well as those we miss out on - as career and personal
development opportunities.
Janiece's experience in gaining her current
role shows how important it is to stay positive and believe in
yourself even if an employer doesn't choose you for job you know
you're capable of and can do brilliantly at. You never know, you may
get the opportunity to do the role later on down the track. The
first time Janiece applied at the AIDS Council Library she was
runner-up but knew she should have been chosen in the first place,
so as fate had it the next time it was advertised she applied again
and was successful.
Probably the most inspiring lesson from the
night was that the phoenix truly can rise up from the ashes in life.
Russell's current major project is working on the development of a
new library for Davoren Park School after the library was destroyed
in an arson attack. Rather than focus on the devasting loss of the
library Russell focused on the opportunity to develop a new library
that better meets the school community's requirements. He spoke of
the joy of filling the library with the smell of new books. He has a
team of parent volunteers around him who he works so hard that the
parents created a sign called "Russell's Sweat Shop" for their
workroom, even more amusing is that when the kids see the sign they
think it says "Russell's Sweet Shop".
It's clear that Russell's passionate about his
role and a natural school librarian, despite the fact that being
young and male he doesn't fit the stereotype of school librarian.
Russell became a school librarian because grew up with positive
experiences of libraries and accompanied with his interests in child
development and learning he wanted to work with young people and
provide a positive early library experience for them. Russell and
another school librarian encouraged other librarians to consider
becoming school librarians. Even though it involves adding a Diploma
or Bachelor of Education to the library degree, they expect that
there will be plenty of employment opportunities for qualified
school librarians in the near future.
Finally, there was no typical day in the life
for any of these librarians as there is too much diversity in the
information needs of their customers for this. Each day however
offers opportunities to make a positive difference in the lives of
library customers, staff and volunteers. The passion and enthuiasm
of Kate, Marty, Russell and Janiece was contagious as I went home
feeling a sense of renewed enthusiasm and positivity for my own
work. If you weren't at the event and want to know more seek these
people out and speak to them - you'll be inspired too!
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