There comes a time when an unemployed librarian has to ask himself, would you accept a paraprofessional position as a stop gap measure, a chance to get back in the game?
Actually, I answered that question the day after I left my last professional job with a resounding "Hell yeah!" and have been applying left and right for professional as well as paraprofessional jobs alike. My only differentiation was that I did not apply outside Texas for paraprofessional jobs while I did for librarian jobs.
I had thought maybe I needed to re-invent myself as a Reference person, that I'd just gotten off to a bad start in Tech Services, that my Asperger's syndrome (not recognized until this year) had undone me in two library jobs but now I that I knew I was an "Aspie", there was something I could do about it.
As of this morning, I'm happy to report that I'm climbing back onto the Tech Services horse that threw me. Sort of. Yesterday I interviewed for a paraprofessional position in a local county-level public library system. In truth, I'd sent in so many applications to this system over the past few months, each time getting passed over, that I'd kind of lost track which position it was that I was now being called in to interview for. I went to the library prepared to sell myself as a born-again Reference assistant, but my librarian interviewer began by telling about her past and her experience and it was all technical services, so I quickly put two and two together and realized I was now interviewing for a paraprofessional job in Technical Services (they use a different term in this library, which is what threw me at first). I did a quick mental "game change" in my head and I was ready.
The interview went well, I thought, followed by the mandatory tour of Tech Services, which looked the way a Tech Services workspace should look...in the basement, with high cubicles for everyone. Lots of people busy with their appointed, self-directed tasks, etc.
When the tour was finished, I expected a handshake and a "well, thank you for coming in and we'll let you know, yada yada yada."
Instead my future boss turned to me and said "So, I'd like to offer you the position. You don't have to give an answer right away." After processing what she'd said, and recovering from the initial shock, I said "I accept!"
The job will entail working 1/2 of my time doing Interlibrary loan requests (outgoing, from our library to requesting libraries), while 1/2 the time will be spent on copy cataloging. My future boss also comes from an Academic library background; she lost her last Academic library posting owing to a reduction-in-force layoff, so I think she maybe sympathized with my plight. She also went out of her way to talk about having had bad library managers herself and learning a lot about what NOT to do...which this morning makes me wonder if she knows my previous bosses reputations better than I first thought. She also lamented how Cataloging is not required by Library schools anymore and how important mentoring within the profession must become to make up for this deficit. All of this was definitely music to my ears, as I've had such a rough time with finding *anyone* to properly mentor me as a budding Cataloger.
I definitely welcome the chance to learn ILL, as well, as that's such an important part of library work. I will also be in a position to learn DDC22 & WebDewey up close and personal, which I've never been exposed to before.
The best thing about this position is the potential for promotion from within, which this county library system definitely endorses. There are a few key retirements coming up and once those are processed my future boss intends to one day upgrade my position to Librarian I, and since I already have the MLS in-hand, I would be first in line for the job if I wanted it. So it's not a dead-end job at all but one with room to fully recover as a professional, working librarian. The pay will be similar to my old AIG payscale, which I can live with. I plan on continuing to live with my parents, who are getting up there in age. They're not elderly yet, but they're not far from that age bracket, either. I'm an only child and feel obligated to look after them, and a job that lets me stay in this area is for the best. I had been looking to join the local metro police department if this job come through. Looks like that won't be necessary now. Staying at home means I'll continue to eat healthy, have minimal expenses as far as room & board, and can devote most of my first year's salary to massively paying down my student loan obligation(s). It would sure be nice to be frugal and clear my remaining student debt in a single work year, have that final debt burden lifted from my shoulders finally.
I was getting pretty desperate and had even taken the LSAT recently in Shreveport, Louisiana. I got my scores back; they were not great but better than I thought. I scored high enough to probably get into at least 2 of Houston's 3 major ABA-accredited Law schools, namely South Texas and Texas Southern. I was a bit under the mark for the best school here, namely the UH Law Center. I had also been toying with the idea of a Paralegal certificate through Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies either in lieu of or as a prelude to law school. Now instead I will be focusing on being the very best paraprofessional I can be and rehabilitating myself as a Catalog librarian once again. Seems I've been typecast as a Tech Services person, so you gotta play the part the director gives you, and once the house lights come up, stand and deliver.
I'm deliberately not naming this public library system, just suffice it to say it's geographically convenient. And my new boss seems so much more approachable than my old bosses. She wants me to come to her for mentoring, and I plan to take her up on that offer. My new boss believes in the value of good cataloging, even in public libraries where so much of it comes in the door pre-cataloged by vendors. She's been effective at convincing the system director that vendor cataloging quality is not up to local standards and that it pays to have in-house professional cataloging to edit and tweak and maximize the local database's effectiveness, etc. I definitely aim to support this mission in any way I can.
It's a bright new day for my renewing library career.
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