Menu:
Reality Bites
by Larry Cooperman
One of my favorite quotes is from historian Will Durant: "Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." That ignorance, from my point of view, comes from knowing what our personal strengths and weaknesses are in our past occupations and throughout our lives. It can also encompass what we really want to do with our careers in librarianship. For many of us, such as myself, the work world can be a series of trials and errors to search for that elusively perfect job.
Rules For Work - and Life!
For what it is worth, I would like to propose a modest set of rules from my library (and non-library) life and experiences that other librarians may benefit from:
- Reality bites - there is no dream job.
This point took me a long time to figure out; it may even be a universal trait that people need to go thorough several jobs or take time to discover what they want to do with their lives. After a long stint in administrative work, I received a promotion in my company to plan and manage educational conferences - which I enjoyed doing very much. However, I was burned out on my stressful position after about three years. I had always liked to read and learn, though, and I had enjoyed doing research and found I was good at it.
Fortunately, I knew a good friend who suggested that librarianship would be a good fit for me... and the rest is history. But remember that, even in your dream profession, there is no dream job. It may take a while to figure out where in librarianship you fit in, but keep persevering: never stop learning!
I had always wanted to work in an educational setting, and, after four years as a librarian in various educational settings, I have found work as one of two media specialists in a large, regional high school. The students and teachers are great and the pace is relaxed - what more could you ask for?
- Seek and ye shall find... but set a time limit.
A corollary to point number 1; there is, in many ways, merit in seeking. Sometimes the search may take a long time. But (and I am guilty of this myself), people also tend to become complacent and let the search take over their lives. Or, they find steady work that can lead to complacency and tedium. Beware of this trap; it can be deadly. In retrospect, I should have acted a little faster in finding what I really wanted to do with my career, but wasn't motivated to do so because I had a safe job. I wasn't mature enough to break out and find what I really wanted to do with my career and with my life.
- Be patient - with yourself and others.
Learning new skills (and learning about yourself along the way) is always painful and difficult; change is too. But if you open yourself up to new experiences and skills, you will become more focused and aware of the world around you and what you want to do. Learning something new about yourself may be discouraging and difficult at first, but it is the only way to learn. I am still learning to be patient, to listen to others' advice, and not to go guns blazing into a new job. Sure, at my new job, I am the new kid on the block, but time and effort won't let me be a kid for long. Keeping an eye on the long view, not carping on petty job aspects, and learning job skills along the way help me retain my sanity!
- Volunteer, network - get yourself out there.
A big issue for many, whether they know what career they want or not, is feeling isolated both professionally and socially. It is hard to get yourself out there to meet other people, but, as Eleanor Roosevelt once said: "You must try to do the thing you think you cannot do." You never know what you can learn or who you can meet if you network, join a club, or go to a career open house.
In my old career life, I went to a library school open house and fell in love with the place. I didn't end up with the dream library career I originally thought I wanted, but I earned the degree - and along the way found what I wanted to do in librarianship. One of the best things I did when starting out was to join my local library consortium; I was able to learn job skills as well as meet other librarians and share ideas, learn from them, and just plain vent. Eventually I also served on a committee and presented a session on IT Resources for Librarians.
If you live in a state that doesn't have a local library consortium, attend as many professional conferences as you can, not only to learn, but to network with your peers. And, if you're petrified about going out and meeting people, I would suggest joining a local Toastmasters meeting; I did after a disastrous debut in public speaking, and joining boosted my confidence and skills immensely.
- Have fun and have a positive attitude.
I saved the most important point for last; everyone needs to like their work (although maybe not 100%, remembering point 1 above!) and look forward to coming to work everyday. Bringing a sense of fun to work with you not only helps your co-workers and yourself, but your library patrons - they will want to frequent a library with pleasant, helpful staff. Maintaining a positive attitude is not only beneficial for your work but for your health (mental and physical). Working in a library requires a healthy body and a healthy mind!
I am sure there are other points to add, and I challenge you to add more - I want to spur you to do just that. Perhaps every six months, every librarian needs to engage in this kind of reflection! I wish you all the best of luck in your library careers.
Larry Cooperman is media specialist at Seminole High School in Sanford, FL. He has previously worked as a librarian at Fidelity Investments and ITT Technical Institute, and reviews multimedia for School Library Journal.