Seem to be flying through the things so far so a bit of reflection is no harm. From reading the different blog posts, a lot of us seemed to fall into the profession though we're all book lovers. Librarianship doesn't seem to present itself as a career option earlier in life so the paths we've followed have been diverse. I'm glad I became a librarian - working with books makes me happy. Working with the public can be challenging at times, it's not always rosy but good times definitely outweigh the bad.
I like the variety of the job - I deal with every age group from babies in buggies to pensioners - helping someone get their Mills and Boon fix, reading aloud to a creche group (even try my hand at singing 'Smartest Giant in Town' and I cannot sing), recommending a book club title, discussing a title with our own book club, Leaving Cert students doing history projects, local history devotees, little old ladies borrowing the most gruesome crime fiction, people reading the papers, those on Internet PCs, tourists, teenagers just hanging out, lifelong learners getting reacquainted with education and the list goes on... Space for all.
Glad to have the opportunity to upskill by learning more about social media, spend so much time at work on email and using LMS that opportunity to diversify doesn't happen too often, nice to be able to follow Rudaí23 at my own pace too. Having said that, holidays today so pace might slow a bit!
Friday 31 July 2015
Wednesday 29 July 2015
#Thing5 Online Networks
Wow, lot to take in on this Thing - seem to have spent the morning moving between Facebook, Gmail and Twitter, how modern am I! Found loads of interesting sites to follow on Twitter, looking forward to reading their tweets. Sent my first tweet - have been curious about Twitter for a while, like its currency and idea of being able to follow breaking news. Will I now become one of those people I've heard about who watch telly and tweet simultaneously? May not go that far, seems like too much work, will continue to veg out with a biscuit and a cuppa. Joined Rudai23 Facebook group too so nice to broaden the circle, had only followed 4 people before this though had account for a year, might actually make a few contributions now. Enjoying the course.
Wow, lot to take in on this Thing - seem to have spent the morning moving between Facebook, Gmail and Twitter, how modern am I! Found loads of interesting sites to follow on Twitter, looking forward to reading their tweets. Sent my first tweet - have been curious about Twitter for a while, like its currency and idea of being able to follow breaking news. Will I now become one of those people I've heard about who watch telly and tweet simultaneously? May not go that far, seems like too much work, will continue to veg out with a biscuit and a cuppa. Joined Rudai23 Facebook group too so nice to broaden the circle, had only followed 4 people before this though had account for a year, might actually make a few contributions now. Enjoying the course.
Saturday 25 July 2015
#Thing4 Google
Have used Yahoo Mail up to now (for no particular reason). I do have a Gmail account which I set up because we have public Internet PCs in the branch so needed to have some familiarity with it. Always daunting when you're not familiar with sites the public are using so I've tended to dip into things. Seems to be my pattern with online tools so far - on Facebook too but have never posted anything so have only tentatively tested out tools until now. I hadn't heard about Hangouts and it seems a great idea, lack of buddies so thanks to Niamh for her chat! Am definitely becoming more comfortable already, love this Blog now, have happily spent a while honing its look, methinks these social media tools are addictive...
Wednesday 22 July 2015
Trying out Linked-In
Have been a member of Linked-In for a few years, joined when a public libraries group was being set up. I've tuned into the discussions over the years but never actually contributed anything. Have added my photo today so feel I'm taking more ownership. Hope our Rudaí23 community will lead to some interesting discussions down the line - always good to talk to colleagues from other libraries.
Tuesday 14 July 2015
How I became a librarian...
I loved reading as a child, loved the imaginary worlds of Anne of Green Gables, the Chalet School, Jo of Little Women, Enid Blyton's Five Find-Outers, Heidi. Read everything I could get my hands on. Enjoyed history at school so studied it in Uni with archaeology. Temped, travelled, spent my twenties wandering and wondering. Tried to figure out a job I would like - settled on being a librarian. Started in a research library and loved the variety of requests. Thought public libraries might suit - the varied clientele means I can talk about history occasionally and share my thoughts on books with strangers! Also, get pleasure in the sheer handling of books, I'm one of the library's best customers.
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