At the request of ceitfianna: "Talk to me about what being a librarian means for you and your journey to become one."

(If you'd like to suggest a topic to make me write about, comment on this post. Right now it's all Fi.)


I got my first job at my local public library when I turned 16. (I actually asked the circulation manager about jobs about half a year before that, but 16 is their minimum age.) I worked there as a shelver for the rest of high school and came back for most of my summer breaks during college, but for most of that time I didn't actually know what kind of career I wanted after graduation. At the time, what I really knew was that I didn't want to teach high school, which is what many of my fellow English majors were preparing to do. I think I only took one creative writing class, not because it didn't interest me, but because by college I was pretty convinced I had no realistic chance of success there. At some point it finally occurred to me that I could just keep working at the library, and if I got a Masters, I could do that professionally. I really don't know why it took so long to put that together.

It wasn't all smooth sailing from there, though. I applied to, I think, five different graduate programs. I ended up picking McGill because the university is well-respected, I liked the idea of living in Montreal, and the tuition was super cheap compared to American universities. (I'm a Canadian citizen, so I didn't have to pay international fees.) After a few months, I was feeling pretty disenchanted with the whole thing, so I withdrew, spent a month in Columbus, then moved to Kansas City where a worked in, you guessed it, a library, this time at a community college. I went back to grad school at Maryland in the fall, where I discovered that LIS programs just suck universally, but you have to jump through the hoops in order to get the professional qualification.

Between bogus LIS programs and the terrible job market, I've developed quite a bit of library related cynicism, but that's mostly concerning structural problems, not library-work itself. Because that? I still really enjoy. Almost all my jobs in the past decade plus have been in libraries, almost exclusively in public institutions, and at this point I really balk at the idea of working in the corporate world, presuming they'd even have me. I like providing a service that enriches people's lives, whether that translates as suggesting good books to read or teaching technology
skills.

Obviously right now, I'm open to a lot of things, but I would love to get back into a public library position. My ideal would be either working with teens or working with local history materials. (I took a lot of archives classes and worked in archives digitization for three years before I took the high school job.) Columbus is a smaller city, so there aren't as many openings, but there also aren't two competing grad programs in the city, so hopefully the market won't be as oversaturated as it was in D.C. Fingers crossed, you know.

Why helloooo. I have not, in fact, fallen off a cliff. I have simply been neglecting LJ due to being busy with things. Things being mainly working and hanging out with my boyfriend.

So what's new in the last month, you ask? Well, it's really freaking hot. I still don't have a job. I went to C-bus for a whirlwind weekend, during which my mom introduced me to petfinder.com, leading to many wasted hours looking at cute kittens. I drank some grog with bookwench31 and jumperkid and checked out Eastern Market with sagacious_c.

Right now I'm making blueberry buckle. I can smell it already... it's going to be soooo delicious. :)

This weekend is the big ALA conference. Basically a gajillion librarians will descend on DC. And I'm going for free! (Thank you, work!) The thing is big enough that it takes up the whole convention center, plus a whole bunch of other hotels. The conference program is over 300 pages long. Yeah. It's a little daunting. I really have no idea how I'm going to attack the conference. A few of my fellow grads are planning a strategy session at our fave Burmese restaurant... hopefully I can make myself an awesome schedule. Or at least one that won't leave me absolutely exhausted on Tuesday.

Ah, summer vacation. I love it. Finally, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, with no guilt. Not that I didn't still have an agenda for my day, it just doesn't involve school things!

• I went on a bike ride this afternoon, and when I got into town I discovered there's some sort of festival going on this weekend. Now that's fun and all, but it also meant that part of the bike trail was blocked, and the rest was very crowded with families and young children. My last big bike crash was caused by little kids veering left of center on a bike trail, so this was worrisome for me. There was one near miss when a kid swerved out in front of me, but I made it home okay. (And for once, I wasn't totally drained because I actually followed my own advice not to push myself past my limits.)


• We now have an official chore sheet at home, not that it makes much of a difference. Derelict housemate selected cleaning the bathroom from the list, but apparently his idea of "cleaning" means wiping down the countertop two days after making a mess cutting his hair. I decided I've had enough, so I spent some quality time scrubbing the floor, and basically anything else in sight, with bleach. It was a bit labor intensive, but there really is something satisfying about accomplishing a physical task.


• I need to stop watching Fringe while I'm eating, cause it grosses me out. Also, in the department of "Eeewwww," I am very lucky that I don't have a particularly sensitive stomach. Yesterday I decided to risk the sour smelling milk cause I was in a hurry and had already poured the Cheerios in the bowl... today I dumped out the rest and it was kinda chunky. Blech. I discovered earlier this week that the temperature in the fridge wasn't low enough, so at least now I know why everything has been going bad.


• I have time to read again! I went to the library (I had to hurry to get there before they closed for the weekend!) and checked out a stack of books, including a couple recs from friends before we got shooed out by some John Philip Sousa (there's some holiday spirit for ya!). I had my usual reaction of "Hey, I've played this!" And on more than one instrument, no less.


• There's an article about zambonis in the New York Times! :D

I'm trying to write my digital preservation exam, and I've got Britney Spears' "If U Seek Amy" stuck in my head. It is not helping!

ETA: Also not helpful is the seemingly endless stream of high school students tromping around up here, none of whom seem to understand that you can't have food or drinks in special collections. Why are you having a party in a library conference room? And didn't anybody tell you that cupcake-cakes are ugly?

First off, we have this gem from last week's Washington Post on how today's college students aren't reading the beat poets, and are therefore idiots. Basically. I think it's just yet another round of "kids these days" BS. Today's young adults aren't less involved in radical politics because they like the Twilight books; there are loads of other societal factors effecting that.

What you see at the next revolution is far more likely to be a well-designed Web site than a radical novel or a poem. Not to be a drag, but that's so uncool. For those of us who care about literature and think it still has a lot to offer, it's time to start chanting, "Hell, no! We won't go!"

Well, yes, literature does have plenty to author. But just cause I don't really care for Kerouac doesn't make me dumb. You have your classics, we have ours. Okay?

In better news, the New York Times reports that book sales are up in Europe thanks to the recession. Books make for inexpensive but high quality entertainment. (Even French translations of Twilight. If you couldn't tell, I don't like being judgey about what people read. Even if Twilight is kinda lulzy.)

And in the Guardian, "Librarians are necessarily heroes and warriors - albeit in disguise." I would so love to work at the British Library, even if they have misplaced some of their books. And can I just say that the Guardian has a much better books section than most U.S. papers? (Actually, many U.S. papers are ditching books all together. Sad.)

***

This has nothing to do with books, but the SciFi Channel rebrand? EPIC FAIL. SyFy? Seriously? I like io9's assement: "I mean, it's the same name! Just spelled stupidly!" Do they think people won't notice? For current science fiction fans, it's insulting. And for non-fans, well, what exactly has changed? I like some of the alternate options on io9, like "The Why Isn't Battlestar Galactica On Anymore Channel" or "The Look, Just Fuck Off Geeks, We Don't Want Your Kind Round Here Network."

Did anyone else catch this morning's NY Times article about the Biblioburro? The Biblioburro is like a bookmobile, only with donkeys. The service is run by Luis Soriano, a teacher in La Gloria, Colombia, who carries books to readers in nearby towns. I don't necessarily agree with the writer that the Biblioburro is "whimsical", because I think that downplays the fact that Soriano is providing an amazing service in an underprivileged area.

Anyway, check it out! I think it wins the coolest library of the day award.

(It's funny cause it's true.)

Good reminder that I should probably pack my AACR2, just in case.

My internet connection at home is very sketchy this week, which causes me much frustration. I am a whiny baby without internet access, especially on days when my short attention span gets the better of me. (There's only so many times I can stand to reread a paragraph about Coronado before I start going crazy!) Hopefully it will come back, or I will have muchas problemas watching Doctor Who on Saturday. And now, five completely unconnected thoughts:

( I'm rambling today. )

Our library tech genius is in the process of setting the student computers back up. (Maybe, finally, I won't be bombarded each day with the question "What happened to the computers?") She suggested that we needed a radio up here, and though we don't have that, we do have computers! :D

We discovered that all the audio drivers seem to have been removed from my machine, but we were able to turn the volume up on one of the others. So now we can sit here and listen to The Current at the circ desk. Perhaps the noise will drive away the killer shadows that are lurking in the stacks.

I am really, really bored today. And I have only been here for two hours. I'm getting a leeetle bit punchy.

Of course, any morning that starts out with a power outage during your shower is destined for epic failure.