Dring this week's staff training institute I was often reminded of where I have been in my nearly sixteen years here at MPOW. It has been a long and winding road, and one with few regrets. I began working in academic libraries as an undergraduate and returned as a staff member following a less-than-satisfactory trip through the world of retail management.
I came to MPOW as a result of marrying and needing and wanting a job in proximity to my husband. The first academic library fit I found and matched was here, and after two years in a branch support position I was moved into desktop technology support. I should mention here I lack any sort of formal technology training, or did at the time. I believe that my penchant for troubleshooting and curiosity about how things work contributed to my success as a technical support analyst.
I was fortunate to have arrived where growing into a position was acceptable. I moved again to a client management position. This is a double entendre. I managed the desktop client software for our client-server integrated library system as well as the clients receiving service support from our department. I became known for patience and ability to translate technical information to borderline technophobes or at the very least, technoresisters.
My ability to analyze needs and documentation grew exponentially in this position. I grew a bit burned out though. I had no technology degree, had taken a programming class to see if I could move up in that Direction (it did not interest me), so I did what I should and returned to library school for my Master of Library Science. I was eight years invested in MPOW by this time and not likely to move. librarianship had been a good fit for me so far, and so I applied. I sincerely thought I would move into Collection Development, but was recruited for an internal job heading up an acquisitions department. Back into management went I.
The work was transformative and worked well for an introduction to technical services and developments in that area. I stayed three and a half years and moved into a more focused job as gifts acquisition librarians. Working with donors who had curated their own collections over time or who had inherited collections from family members touched and opened my heart. I knew we would not acquire all materials and I used my voice and heart to help donors understand our collection needs and space limitations. I talked with them about the need for charitable donations of all kinds, and helped to find other institutions who might be a better match for the onations. I worked with the development staff as well to sharpen policies and procedures that had been honed by tradition and ran close to infringement possibility, in the end I moved on from this position as a result of library reorganization. Looking back, that is a wealth of experience in the course of fifteen years.
I benefit greatly from the knowledge I gained in my current role providing outreach and instruction to graduate students. I am able to think broadly across our library services and technology needs when considering new implementations of service or outreach design. I am happy in this role and privileged to work with dynamic, forward thinking team members.
I encourage professional development and embracing change for anyone who works in a service or outreach role. Our world changes rapidly and the needs of users and ourselves changes too. Aptitude for change, placcing a premium on professional development and finding tools to maintain current and trend awareness is essential to success. Embrace it. Give it a try. You may find things that dont fit, that feel uncomfortable and that are outright wrong for you, and yet you may also have that moment, that moment so fittingly characterized by artist Bob Ross: a happy accident.
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