CPD23 -- Week 15 -- Career

I always say I fell into a library career by accident.

I always liked to read but never set foot in a public  library until I was probably a senior in high school. When I was a high school sophmore I started volunteering in the school library because too many study halls were too boring.  By the time I was a senior I'd read everything in the school library and branched out to the public library.....and found that the librarian (the proverbial little old lady) thought I should only be reading the juvenile books, which kind of turned me off.

After high school I didn't have the opportunity to attend college, my parents thought it was a waste of money---especially for a girl. So I spent a summer working as a clerk in the County Treasurer's office.  Later that fall I got married and started working as a waitress in a small town cafe for a while, followed by staying home for several years with my kids. By the time my youngest was about three I was thinking about finding a job. There weren't too many choices in this small town and I knew I didn't want to waitress, tend bar or drive a fertilizer truck. I also knew I didn't want to drive 25 miles to work in a nursing home. So when a job in the local library opened up I applied and got it.  And that is where I've been ever since.

Libraries and librarians have seen lots of changes since then and I have had to learn so much -- the introduction of computers, the Internet, computer circulation & catalog systems, supervising a library enlargement, writing grants to pay for the new things,  -- learn, learn, learn.  I guess it's a good thing I like to learn new things.