Library Student a week in the life of

Having managed to get through the whole week without writing even one character, I thought I’d better catch up now! I’m a part-time student on the MA Library and Information Studies course at University College London as well as part-time library assistant in public libraries in two north London boroughs, Haringey and Islington.

My week so far:

Monday: in the morning had a lecture on medical information/libraries as part of the Information Sources and Retrieval module. I enjoy the module, but every so often I feel like I’m teetering on the edge of a bottomless abyss, OVERWHELMED by the amount of information out there and that we’re NEVER going to be able to get hold of it ALL and WHAT IS THE POINT OF IT ALL? That’s when I have to say to myself, ‘Amanda, just take it one index card/byte/tweet at a time and you’ll be OK’, and then I stop hyperventilating…

After lunch I went to see one of my tutors about my dissertation. She pointed out – quite rightly – that while I have an interesting premise I need to find focus: ‘ask yourself what question you actually want to answer here.’ Hmm.

Off to work in the afternoon: my part-time job in Haringey is Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon. I do what most people outside the library profession think being a librarian is all about, ie stamp books and say, ‘this is due back in three weeks’, and shelve stuff that’s been returned, and pick up the empty styrofoam coffee cups and colouring-in sheets visitors have left behind. At the moment I’m on the bottom rung, so according to my employment contract I’m not allowed to do much more.

Tuesday: in the morning I started working on an article for Opticon 1826, a peer-reviewed magazine for and by UCL postgraduates. I’m one of the copy editors, which means I don’t actually write anything, and my job in this particular article is to sort out the references, which were written in a completely different style. As well as library assistant I also do some freelance work as translator (from German to English: I’m bilingual in English and German, thanks to a childhood spent in Vienna) and copy editor, so the work at Opticon 1826 is nothing new for me. It’s all part of that pedantic attention to detail – sorting out those two spaces or 849.21 filed before 849.206 or an apostrophe where it’s not needed – that I love. Really. But my reverie was interrupted by a workman coming to check out my skylight, the pane of which needs replacing and a new blind fitting – so I didn’t get to finish the work.

In the afternoon I’ was  at another lecture/seminar, Publishing Today. It’s quite an interesting course, a different angle on the world of books. We had an enjoyable talk from the Managing Director of Hachette, a leading children’s publisher, and then a couple of practical exercises which involved working out some estimates. Somewhere along the way I must have tapped in the wrong amounts into the calculator, because I came up with a profit margin of zero when everybody else had worked out 57,000 pounds. I may have been a whizz at differentiation and calculus in my Maths A-level, but maybe it’s a good thing that I’m not aiming to be an accountant?!?

Wednesday: Finished the article, then did a bit of reading and staring at the title of one of my assignments hoping that somehow ideas will just fall in abundance upon my desk (yeah right). Afternoon spent being one of the nice ladies behind the library counter.

Thursday: in the morning I went to see a Content Management Specialist at the law firm where my cousin works (and who set up the connection). This was not an interview: I’m just trying to find out as much as I can about different jobs/careers in the library and information sector, as I have no intention of remaining a part-time library assistant for the rest of my working life, and public libraries are not great places to get ahead in in the current economic climate. Initially gobsmacked by the astonishing super-corporate environment and the amazing view over the City from the 15th floor, I soon realised that working in law isn’t right for me – but I’m glad I came to find that out now.

On my way home I thought of what my tutor said on Monday and realised that I’m not asking the right question(s) at all and that I’ve somehow sidetracked myself into attempting to write a dissertation on a subject that I’m not really interested in. AAAARRRRGGGHHH – we’re supposed to submit a dissertation proposal next Friday (15 March)!!!!!! Tried to calm myself down by practising some music; I sing in a choir, and most of the time singing keeps me focused, but this afternoon/evening it just didn’t work.

Friday: wrote 5 postcards before breakfast. I belong to an online organisation called postcrossing, and all you do is send and receive postcards from other members on a random basis. It’s great, it’s free (apart from the costs of the postcards and postage – but it’s up to you how many postcards a week/month/year you send out) and it reminds me of haikus/tweets in that there’s actually only so much information you can cram onto a postcard.

Morning was taken up with my volunteer job: I contribute to a literacy support programme at my local secondary school, helping Y7 kids (11-12-year-olds) who have below-average reading skills. This is my third year of doing it, and even though it’s very simple – all I do is that once a week I sit with a couple of kids and listen to them read, correct their mistakes, answer questions and suggest alternatives (sometimes what they’re reading is too hard or boring, so I encourage them to choose something else in the school library) – I really enjoy it. This year I’ve been reading with Greek-Albanian twin brothers who only came to this country last summer so needed some help with learning English. Today was really great: one of the boys and I got so gripped by the spooky story he was reading that we both misssed the time when he was due to go to his next lesson. I mean, as a librarian, what more could you want?

Afternoon same as Wednesday… and tomorrow I’m Saturday Library Assistant at another public library. I’m not going to go into details – but it’s not my favourite job… and not just because it’s on a Saturday. ‘Nuff said. And I’m planning to spend Sunday in the UCL library. I love being a library assistant studying library stuff in a library. I might have to extend the course somehow…