Although I wrote a post for Thing 10 about my path to librarianship, I did not post the link on the Library Roots/Routes page until today.
I then lost a few hours reading others' posts! I had to tear myself away in order to actually write my reflection for this Thing. I might go back tomorrow; people and their experiences are fascinating!
Some of my experience overlaps with others'. I did not know that I wanted to go into librarianship early on, but I also did not fall into it as others have. As with most people, some of my path has been due to sheer luck. For example, I was offered one of my current positions because I happened to stop at the right table at the right time at a library-themed job fair. I lived near the library and had visited recently enough that the librarian recognized me. One of her employees had just been offered a position elsewhere. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with all wonderful people I have met in this position and in others. Like Iris, I have had the support of friends and contacts; networking has been helpful in finding out about librarianship as well as open positions. Many of my supervisors and colleagues have been wonderful mentors. Like Paul Tovell, I misunderstood one detail for one of my jobs, although my misunderstanding was with the timeframe, rather than the location. (It turns out the "until [this date]" applied to the library's Saturday hours, not the entire position. It worked out fine for me!). I wholeheartedly agree with everything Iris said about why she continues to be a librarian. In spite of differences in interests, geographic locations, and backgrounds, I have had similar experiences as other librarians.
Some of the differences I found were also encouraging. Ned Potter, Sarah Ison, and James Mullen all mentioned applying for one position and being offered a different position. If something similar happened to me, I am sure I would be briefly disappointed about not being offered the position I wanted. The pleasure of being offered something else, something I had not even applied for, would quickly cheer me up. Along those same lines, I find hope in Ned Potter and Sarah Ison's stories about applying for a position and not being hired, but then later being offered that position. The entire process can be worth it!
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