Thing 20.... the Library Roots Project

Thing 20     The Library Roots Project

I left university knowing I did not want to go in the area I had studied for 3 years. I spent a lot of my time reading books I should not have even found time to read, and decided that my best possible route for employment was in libraries.

I began working as a temporary register assistant with one of my local councils, and covered hours when needed in all the branches in my area. I learned valuable experience in the day to day life of how a public library service runs, and then one day I noticed on the local council website there was a vacancy at the local prison. I knew the council provided a library service there, and this was one of the areas temporary register never provide cover for. In need of a permanent position I contacted the head of the service and asked if I could have a visit to the establishment before I decided to apply for the post.

On visiting the prison, it was an eye opener to firstly be on the wrong side of the wall, but once inside the library it was unlike a branch library I had worked in previously. It had new book covers advertised on the walls, of course local prison information, but it was homely and had well stocked shelves, and the staff I met was lovely. So I applied!

I have been at the prison library for 3 years now. We have had a major refit, and we have doubled in floor space. We look better than we did before, and our borrowers are keen to use the space. The library is open from 8.30 in the morning till 4.30, and each visitor is allowed 30 minutes visiting time each week. We are well used, and on a whole we are an invaluable, but often over shadowed service. Working in a prison library can be very isolating and is at times quite frustrating, and although we do provide a wonderful library service, we are at the mercy of prison politics and regime.

From going to a Prison Library training day in 2010 I have started my ACLIP qualification, which brings you into contact with other wonderful library sectors and provides brilliant networking opportunities. It is also, depending on how curious you are a great way to find skills like using 23 Things for Career Development, which I don’t need to use in my current job, but is a way to learn new skills to take to your next job. I am a member of CILIP Northeast and I am a committee member for the Special Interest Group of Prison Libraries.

If I was to give any advice to anyone new in the job, it would be, be prepared to get frustrated, so long as you are there providing your service, that is all that matters. DO get involved in CILIP groups; it is good for one’s moral and future professional development to get involved with different courses, events and training days. You never stop learning in this career! Enrol onto JISCmail as this provides an email service to activities currently going on and you get contacted when things are happening. Use Facebook, it isn’t just there for social networking, many library sectors have a page on there, and it is an easy way to get involved.

I guess to sum up my Thing 20, I fell in to my job I guess by accident, been there at the right time, but still knowing what I wanted. My advice to new professional would be: try and get as much out of yourself as well as your job. Don’t stand still, be curious and be brave enough to want to venture out in to new things. All library sectors have a lot to offer, and you can learn a lot from talking to other professionals. Good luck in library world, it’s a wondrous place!