I'm ashamed to say that, as a student, I never considered becoming a Librarian as a career choice. It just didn't occur to me. If I had thought about it, even a little, I might have seen how perfect a career it would be for me. When I did come into Librarianship, starting out in part-time work and moving into the Assistant Director's position, it quickly became clear how perfect a job it is for me.
If you've ever taken personality tests, you will know how many different categories people can be sorted into. One distinction that I find very interesting is that people, especially in the job market, are often sorted into Specialists and Generalists. A Specialist is someone who becomes an expert in their field, sometimes even a very narrow area within their field. They can be very good at what they do, but don't often venture beyond the borders of their expertise. A Generalist on the other hand is someone who's interests vary widely. They don't necessarily become experts in any one field, but can function well across many different types of work in many different areas. Both types of people make valuable contributions to a workplace.
It should come as a surprise to no one that I function well as a Generalist. When I was studying accounting in college and interning during the summers, I learned that I became bored very quickly. I still like accounting and business, but I don't want my work life to be solely focused on that. At the library, I can do all kinds of different things within the course of a week, and sometimes within a single day. Anything that I am interested in can be relevant at the library.
Over the course of the last few days, here are a few things I have done....
- Taught a one week seminar on Digital Living for Seniors. This class is geared towards Senior Adults and gives information about the myriad of different ways that technology can be helpful in daily life. I will try to offer it again early next year.
- Taught Kid Crochet. I've been doing this for several years now and am always delighted by the interest it gets. We've just started up again for this year and I have several students brand new to crochet. They are just learning their first chain and single crochet stitches. Another student has started learning the granny square and still another is making her first stuffed animal. One student's mother is also interested in learning, so as I have time, I am showing her the basics as well.
- I had a nice conversation with a gentleman just getting into raising chickens. I've had chickens for years, so it's nice when that hobby bleeds into the library.
- Attended the monthly meeting of our Plot Twist Book Club. We discussed non-fiction. Next month's topic is fantasy.
- Made many, many book recommendations. I do this across all areas of the library, but in conjunction with next month's book club topic, I was asked yesterday for several fantasy recommendations. My go-to's are anything by T. Kingfisher and assorted fairy-tale retellings!
- Shopped for books! Always a fun chore - I make recommendations to Lisa for books to purchase for our collection and I am in charge of maintaining our e-book collection for Libby.
- Offered tech help to patrons. You can make an appointment with me or any library staff for help with your phone or tablet or laptop. This week I have helped with organizing email, setting up new earbuds, figuring out why an iPad wasn't working, and connecting a phone to a vehicle via bluetooth.
- Held a newborn baby while her mother wrangled her three siblings. This was both duty and pleasure!
- Helped with patrons needing to print. So much printing!
- Facilitated our Creative Hands program. We meet weekly and people bring whatever project they are working on. We visit and help one another with our projects.
- Attended virtual trainings on a variety of topics from the Association for Rural and Small Libraries.
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