Thanks @kalgrl for starting this meme. See also @librarianhoi’s, @ksaunders0’s, and Geocaching Librarian’s first library jobs.
I started off as a trainee librarian in 2000, while finishing my Graduate Diploma in Library and Information Science. On one level it wasn’t really that long ago, but so much has changed since then: the technology, the information environment, me…
The job involved me sitting at the reference desk in a large university library, and answering questions ranging from “What time does the Library close?”, and “Where is building 400?” through to “Where are the management journals?” and “Can I download the latest Linux Ubuntu release here?”
It was a good job for a newbie librarian. For me in particular, it showed me that I could indeed do the job of a librarian. I don’t know why, but for the longest time I thought that I wasn’t knowledgeable enough, well read enough, or smart enough, to be a successful librarian.
Where do these bizarre, self-limiting ideas come from?? I’m just glad I’ve managed to put that one aside.
My first job was a good one for another reason – it led me to my first job immediately after graduation from library school. I have been working in uni libraries ever since.
What was your first library job?
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My first library job was as a shelver. I was a sophomore in high school. My parents told me I could continue at the Catholic high school I was attending if I paid the tuition so I got a job at the Bexley Public Library in Bexley, Ohio. I worked there for the next six years, paid for my high school and college tuition (Ohio State), then I ended up going to the University of Maryland for an MLS and PhD. I still enjoy the smell of books.