As of today I am no longer a librarian.
Well, at least it's no longer in my job title, the end of an era of eleven years with some variation of 'librarian' on my CV. But there's a kind of professional pride so deeply rooted that it becomes self-identification: once a librarian, always a librarian, even when you release us into the wild to use our information skills in different ways.
My new role is as an information specialist (I'll probably talk lots more about what that involves in other posts), but before charging ahead into the unknown I thought I would look back and take stock of the skills and dispositions being a librarian has given me. I'd also like to express my gratitude for these lessons and the people I worked with from whom I learned them.
Librarians are a fierce bunch, leading charges for critical thinking, media literacy and access to information in a climate where the power of fact is waning. In some ways this democratisation is a good thing - no longer do people accept the opinions of experts simply because they have a degree - and in others it's extremely dangerous. When the vacuum left by experts is filled with demagogues and Twitter bots, critical thinking becomes an endangered species. I hope I always work toward radical, inclusive information literacy, no matter what my job title is.
Librarians are also service-minded in a way that I hope stays with me. There's a willingness to take on other people's challenges, puzzles and problems, try to solve them and if not, point people to someone else who might be able to help. The phrase "I don't know, but..." is an essential part of a librarian's toolbox, usually followed by "... I can find out and let you know." With so much information at our fingertips, not many people are willing to stick at the work it takes to find the right resource, but librarians are the calm, diligent puzzle-solvers of the digital world. But librarians are not just people who find information and bring it to you, they're informational cartographers and cataloguers. How information is organised and described matters. It matters a lot. Knowledge is power and the easier it is for people to access knowledge the more democratic it is. I am so glad that librarianship instilled that in me.
Finally, I got to work with a team that was creative, experimental and driven, who taught me that innovation is a matter of having a supportive culture. I hope I continue to work in places where the phrase, "We've always done it this way" is an anathema because it's been exciting, challenging, and has led me to wonder what else I'm capable of. I'm incredibly grateful to them for that.
As an avid hiker (and a person who enjoys breathing oxygen) I care a lot about the natural environment. Eventually I'd like to have a career where I use my information skills to help the planet; maybe grant writing for non profits, maybe consulting with businesses on corporate sustainability and social responsibility practices, maybe helping research groups who are working on climate related projects. For now, I'm an information professional in the wild, unsure of how my background will help and unsure of how I will be able to help the environment. I want use this blog to record my journey in both respects. I want to share what I learn about conservation, rewilding and corporate sustainability, as well as what I learn about report writing, knowledge management and life after librarianship.
Bye for now, and stay curious!
