Wednesday, 4 July 2012

The future belongs to me

THING 10: ROUTES INTO LIBRARIANSHIP


I am not a fully fledged librarian yet.  Although I have been working in various libraries over the past seven (shocking) years I am still a Library Assistant so I'm only just starting out on my route into librarianship.  

As I have pretty substantial experience in a variety of positions and in various types of library I have never considered a graduate trainee position.  I have built up years of experience and a working knowledge of the role of the library assistant, mainly in public libraries until now where I have changed direction slightly and am working in a more specialised arena.  Contracted as a member of the library service support team (retrieval and stock management) I got seconded at the beginning of the year to library assistant where my role is much more customer-focused.  Technically, the role requires someone who is educated up to A-Level standard, a degree is desirable, and wouldn't require any additional qualifications on to of that; it's mainly soft skills like great customer service and a keen eye.

However, in order for me to progress within this profession I will need to, at some point, bite the bullet and study for a CILIP accredited course/professional qualification.  Ideally I would like to specialise in the future and hone my management skills - the courses offer so much in terms of an overall insight of what library and information work has to offer as a whole, and would help to fill in the blanks and allow me to have a professional voice...  It's a lot to think about (especially for the monetary investment) and I would need to weigh up full/part-time study and work, where to study and my main concern is whether it's more desirable to get an MA over a PGDip - please leave comments about this! 

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2 comments:

  1. The Library Bee20 July 2012 at 03:54

    Hi Nicola,

    I don't think the fact you don't have a qualification yet should take anything away from your seven years of work experience - that is a brilliant base and you will have learned so much without realising it probs.

    I'm halfway through my Masters p/t (only 1 day per week) and working p/t too - it's been hard (but not *that* hard) and only occasionally have I found myself wondering what on earth I'm doing! It certainly won't guarantee me a job but hopefully will offer a leg-up to being able to reach the next step. If you want to specialise it seems the MA/MSc/PGDip route is tailored for that. Particularly all the management stuff you are taught (the UWE course is v. managementy). A PGDip is still CILIP accredited so I reckon teamed with your work experience it would be just as desirable as the MA. Are employers really looking that closely at the exact qualification anymore?

    Hmm, so, I don't really know what this comment is trying to say. Just a kind of don't give up hope and you're clearly awesome at what you do so any decision you make will be the right one for you.

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    1. Nicola Cook21 July 2012 at 02:34

      Hey Hilary,

      Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a lovely comment!
      I did a bit of snooping round your blog and read about your first year at library school (http://beeinthelibrary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/library-school-1-year-down-1-to-go.html) and would have to agree with you, that one of the main reasons I would chose to do a profesh qual. would be to ensure that I wouldn't get stuck as a library assistant for the rest of my life... I guess I have a lot to think about, but I always feel a little bit more relieved to read others experiences doing part-time study alongside work relatively do-able - so I appreciate your honest words about it! And who really knows what employers are truly after anyway...

      Good luck with your second year and beyond!

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