Ooh, this is hard!
I know I like talking, and I think I'm quite a literate person (I've got a degree in English to prove it!), but when asked as part of the 23 Things for Professional Development programme to create a blog about why I'm doing it, well I'm at a bit of a loss. I tend to go on a bit, so I thought I'd just write down what comes in to my head and see whether it turns out to be a good thing or a bad thing.. or just really boring and uninteresting!
I have just returned to librarianship after about 7 years away from it. All I can say is I was young, and thought there was a wider, better world out there beyond the world of the library....I was wrong! Over the years I have mainly worked as a Communications Officer for the NHS Wales inspection body, and then for a section of the Welsh Government that promotes Wales overseas. I have returned to the Welsh Government library for a couple of reasons - I was beginning to question seriously about remaining in communications and where it would lead me, and I was having to be redeployed within the Welsh Government as my previous post was full time and I wanted to return part time.
It has been a brilliant move for me. After coming from a very stressful job, I find that I am thoroughly enjoying my job now, and I have remembered just how lovely fellow librarians usually are. I'd forgotten how much I actually enjoyed retrieving information, and even working on the enquiry desk (which I had been known to moan about). Part of my role is to look at how we can use social media to get information across to WG staff more effectively (hence doing the 23things) and I have thoroughly enjoyed being paid to explore all the different options as it is something I naturally enjoy anyway. I think the biggest thing that I had missed working outside the library profession is being a part of something bigger. When I worked in other sectors, I often felt as though I was struggling to be seen as a professional person in work. I recently attended a CILIP Wales Social media course in Cardiff university, and I felt at home again, in amongst people who were all professionals, and would give each other respect as being a librarian. It is something that I missed but hadn't quite realised what it was that I was missing.
I'm now looking to stay in this library, or move to another if I can't stay here (it is a temporary job until March). I don't think I will stray away again if I can help it. Having said that, the years were not wasted by any means. I have learned a lot of things that I may not have come across if I had stayed in this library - I have written press releases and published numerous reports and I have helped to organise events in France, Spain and even India. All of which will hopefully help me in the future as a librarian.
Well, I can obviously type more than I thought when I started! I always knew I could ramble on but I suspect I might get carried away. Especially if you ask me about being pregnant and having a bad broken leg - I can go on about that for quite a long time!!
