I wasn't really looking forward to this post, mainly because I feel I've done very little in terms of library advocacy, and this makes me feel guilt and inadequacy. But just how much should I feel obliged to advocate? Shouldn't it be something that comes naturally from a passion for libraries? And if I feel I should be doing more but I'm not, then what exactly are my passions? What would get me going?
Johanna's excellent post on advocacy and activism provoked a lot of thought in me. I am also an academic librarian; I believe I advocate for libraries in all sectors, especially public libraries. I am not an activist.
I don't know if anyone else out there feels like this, but in actual fact I think that just by being a librarian I'm constantly called to advocate for libraries. Much of my professional role revolves around considering how the library adds value, and then talking, writing and emphasising it constantly. Talking about my job with my friends or introducing myself to strangers involves speaking up and speaking out - convincing people that what I do is valuable because libraries are indispensable houses of information relied on by everyone, even if they don't know it. And the fight public libraries are now having to undergo just to continue to exist under this coalition government can make me feel slightly desolate, and also, occasionally tweet in anger! I feel that my role demands I work as hard as I can to convince my academic colleagues, lapsed public library users, Google-devoted students and anyone else I can influence that the library is a place for all and access to information a right and not a privilege of the rich.
And that's as much as I can do. I am also a very busy professional librarian, as we all are, with limited time and energy, and a balance to strike between my work life, and my home life, and while I'll happily chatter away about the value of libraries to whoever will listen at some point I have to NOT think about libraries, just for a bit, and be myself.
Showing posts with label public. Show all posts
Showing posts with label public. Show all posts
Friday, 21 September 2012
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Thing 1!
So here I am writing my first (personal) blog post ever, having almost decided not to do cpd23 this year on account of feeling very self-conscious about what I write.
A strange reaction for a person who is more than happy to face a lecture hall full of bored looking students and enthuse at them about libraries until the cows come home.
So I changed my mind and decided to feel the fear and do it anyway.
The first major result of this decision was that I have logged into Google for the first time in AGES and opened my Google reader, only to be immediately and unavoidably sucked into the world of Unshelved for probably an unhealthy amount of work time. It is, of course, utterly wonderful and I'd recommend it to anyone who works in libraries, not just public libraries http://www.unshelved.com/. The second result was taking forever to make the agonising decision over the background and layout for my blog, which I'm still not sure I'm entirely satisfied with...
Actually, although I aspired to be a public librarian, I currently work as an Academic Liaison Librarian at the University of Worcester, a position I thoroughly enjoy, although it greatly saddens me that the coalition is so keen on shutting down our public libraries, making it impossible for those library service to afford to employ profressional librarians, and diluting a vastly popular and effective public service that has certainly changed my life, if not the lives of most of my friends. Excitingly, the University of Worcester and Worcestershire County Council are about to open the first joint university and public library called 'The Hive', which will happily make me both an academic and public librarian - the place of dreams! (Well, strange librarian dreams at least).
In terms of 23 things - I have done most, if not all of the 'things' in my professional career so far, although I'm sure I will learn new things about them as I progress through the course. Mostly I anticipate this course will allow me to reflect on my own practice and learn from others' experiences, and perhaps encourage me to share my own practice and thoughts with the library community as well! Happy cpd23 everyone.
A strange reaction for a person who is more than happy to face a lecture hall full of bored looking students and enthuse at them about libraries until the cows come home.
So I changed my mind and decided to feel the fear and do it anyway.
The first major result of this decision was that I have logged into Google for the first time in AGES and opened my Google reader, only to be immediately and unavoidably sucked into the world of Unshelved for probably an unhealthy amount of work time. It is, of course, utterly wonderful and I'd recommend it to anyone who works in libraries, not just public libraries http://www.unshelved.com/. The second result was taking forever to make the agonising decision over the background and layout for my blog, which I'm still not sure I'm entirely satisfied with...
Actually, although I aspired to be a public librarian, I currently work as an Academic Liaison Librarian at the University of Worcester, a position I thoroughly enjoy, although it greatly saddens me that the coalition is so keen on shutting down our public libraries, making it impossible for those library service to afford to employ profressional librarians, and diluting a vastly popular and effective public service that has certainly changed my life, if not the lives of most of my friends. Excitingly, the University of Worcester and Worcestershire County Council are about to open the first joint university and public library called 'The Hive', which will happily make me both an academic and public librarian - the place of dreams! (Well, strange librarian dreams at least).
In terms of 23 things - I have done most, if not all of the 'things' in my professional career so far, although I'm sure I will learn new things about them as I progress through the course. Mostly I anticipate this course will allow me to reflect on my own practice and learn from others' experiences, and perhaps encourage me to share my own practice and thoughts with the library community as well! Happy cpd23 everyone.
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