Like Laura on CPD23 I'm a nosy so-and-so and have enjoyed reading through all the posts about roots. I've also been looking through other responses to Thing 20. Like many I didn't decide upon libraries for a career until the first choice of career fell apart and then discovered librarianship, not really knowing that it was a professional career for which you could get qualifications.
A lot of us seem to have a fondness for books, although I'm not sure if this will be as important in the future with so much technology around. Maybe a fondness for reading, but books to me mean a tangible object made of paper - no Kindle for me if I can help it, I can't rescue it if it falls in the bath!!
There's also quite a lot of us, who somehow "fell" into libraries, Auntie Daniel, Laura's CDLC, and the Hobbit Hole, basically by helping out or doing some work for someone, or myself by doing some quiz in the university library during my final year of my undergrad course!
I certainly agree with Palely Loitering, I honestly don't think that going straight into a librarianship degree at at undergraduate level is best. I think we can bring so much more to the profession from our previous experiences and knowledge, ie Jan Learns 2.0 is using her teaching background, very much as I do given the chance to deliver training sessions.
I don't think careers advisers (possibly along with 90% of the population) know what a librarian does, but then our profession is so varied and different depending on the sector we work in, how can they?? As the Hobbit Hole suggests, we do need to market ourselves at careers fairs, but in doing this we need to make sure we have a representative from the major sectors to give a fuller picture.
So yes, I think all in all my route into the world of librarianship has been typical. My recommendation to anyone entering the career is get some experience behind you before doing the qualification. It makes so much more sense. I am lucky to have worked in both a public library, an academic library and even three weeks voluntary work in a special library before I did my MA and it broadened my mind considerably. I actually enjoyed going back to uni to do the Masters. For me personally, studying for the qualification there gave me the chance to discuss experiences with my peers, which I certainly wouldn't have got if ACLIP had been around then.
I think Paulamarie sums up the profession in her last few paragraphs, illustrating what a rewarding career we actually have the privilege to work in. Libraries are certainly not on their way out, we'll just be working in a different way. There will always be a need for organising information in a way in which it can be found when the certain person asks that certain question. I know from experience that many have not a clue how to search and cannot find the information they need. Who can show them how to do this?? Yep, it's us, those with hair in a bun, glasses, twinset and two piece... (And don't get me started on the image...)
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