30 June 2016

Connecting with new librarians

Well, there is five minutes of #blogjune left and this is my fifth post for the month - I knew there was no way I could commit to a post a day and was aiming for a post a week, so I feel like I achieved a goal of sorts! I have really enjoyed writing some posts, engaging on Twitter and checking out and commenting on other people's blogs too.

It's been a day for me of connecting with new librarians, which is always a treat. The 2016 QULOC Graduate Librarian, Eleanor Colla, finished today after spending three months at Griffith University; prior to this she spent January to March at the University of Queensland and is moving on to further stints at the University of Southern Queensland (July to September) and Queensland University of Technology (October to December). The QULOC Graduate Library Program offers a new graduate a year-long paid contract working across a number of uni libraries in Queensland (and sometimes NT and northern NSW). If you are a student or a new grad, it is worth checking out this scheme as it offers a lot of different experiences and great networking opportunities.

It's always a breath of fresh air having a new graduate to talk to, and so when a call came out for session proposals for the New Librarians Symposium 8 in 2017, I started thinking about attending. Although at forty-four with fifteen years in the profession I am far from a new librarian (is it just me, or is the term 'mid-career' really depressing, like one foot in the grave?), I still feel like a new librarian most days; perhaps because I have changed jobs regularly and am always learning new things.

I gave a talk on building a career in project-focused librarianship at NLS6 in Brisbane in 2013 and I found it to be a well organised and energising event, up there with the best library conferences I have ever attended. So I rang Amy Walduck today, who is one of the NLS co-convenors (and our local Queensland ALIA manager) and as a result of that conversation I think I will try to pull together both a panel session and another talk focused on technical skills and careers - stay tuned!