It's a neat, new thing for me to do this. Heck, I've talked plenty of people's ears off about librarianship, but they tend to be my peers; this quasi-mentor/boss thing is a different role for me.
It was an interesting conversation, and I didn't expect that it would cause me to reflect on how much the past eleven months in this profession have changed me. Granted, many of those changes weren't specific to librarianship--they were more of the first-full-time-job variety, and a little of the "oh my gosh, I've just graduated and now I have to start my real life" type. But hearing CRS-wiz* talk about her desires and changes and frustrations brought it all back to me. I found myself telling her about finding myself a senior in Fine Art and English who didn't want to paint, write, or teach for a living--and escaped to grad school. I told her about then nearing the end of my Art History MA and realizing that I didn't want to teach, and my furious hunt for a career I'd love. I suddenly remembered that upon getting my dream job here, after graduation with my MLS, that I felt suddenly trapped and scared that my whole life would be the same from here on out. I told her that after about three months, I realized how mistaken I had been--that my life, and my job, would never be a boring "same-old, same-old" routine. That I had grown and changed so much not just professionally, but personally over the past year that I felt like a different, better person.
Then I remembered that she mostly wanted to know about librarianship and good schools and possible career paths, and I settled down. She had great, great questions, ones that resound all over our profession:
- Will the advancement of technology mean that fewer librarians are needed?
- Do you need to get a PhD?
- Are there many jobs out there?
- What do librarians make?
- What are my options?
*I'll call her "CRS-wiz" to protect the innocent.
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