Two years of effort culminates today: somewhere in Portland, all of my cohort mates are receiving their MLS degrees, and so, by extension, am I.
I am not in Portland, however. I moved to Boston back at the beginning of June in the hope of finding more opportunity than Oregon could provide. It was a hard decision. I adore Portland, and I love a lot of people there, but there was just nowhere to go in the librarian job market. Plus, I really didn't relish the idea of directly competing with so many friends for every position that did open up -- I want us all to be happy and prosperous, and not at each others' expense.
So I came to one of the librarianship capitals of the United States instead. I was giving up a certain amount of hard-earned professional credibility in exchange for more greater opportunity. I used a practicum at the WGBH Media Library and Archives to leapfrog into the Boston job market, and spent the summer there inventorying, assessing and cataloging tapes of old radio programming. I started applying for any position that seemed managable -- lots of paraprofessional work, and a few proper librarian jobs. I never heard a peep from any of them. Around the end of July I began to seriously worry that I had made the wrong decision in throwing myself headlong into an unfamiliar market. Boston is full of opportunity, but it's also full of library students and recent grads, and all from schools that are more highly regarded than mine.
At the very end of July I stumbled across a job posting for a librarian at a boarding school in central Massachusetts; it wasn't anything I'd ever imagined doing, but it sounded like an amazing job, so I submitted the best cover letter and resume I could muster. Early the next week they called me in for an interview; a week after that, they offered me the job. I got to attend my final capstone weekend with a job offer in hand. That was a pretty great feeling.
So a week from today, I'm moving to a tiny town near the New Hampshire state line to begin a real, honest-to-goodness librarian job. The setting and context is still a bit of a surprise to me, but I foresee a year of really exciting work. But more on that later.
For now, I'm closing the book on library school, and looking forward to everything that comes next. I am immensely grateful to the many people who helped me get to this point: my mom, for supporting me through yet another round of school; my best friend R. for taking me in while I made the transition to a new city; my friends and professional associates back in Portland; Pierina Parise for being the best den mother a bunch of library school students ever had; and all of my cohort at Emporia State University SLIM-Oregon.
Onward and upward, friends!
I am not in Portland, however. I moved to Boston back at the beginning of June in the hope of finding more opportunity than Oregon could provide. It was a hard decision. I adore Portland, and I love a lot of people there, but there was just nowhere to go in the librarian job market. Plus, I really didn't relish the idea of directly competing with so many friends for every position that did open up -- I want us all to be happy and prosperous, and not at each others' expense.
So I came to one of the librarianship capitals of the United States instead. I was giving up a certain amount of hard-earned professional credibility in exchange for more greater opportunity. I used a practicum at the WGBH Media Library and Archives to leapfrog into the Boston job market, and spent the summer there inventorying, assessing and cataloging tapes of old radio programming. I started applying for any position that seemed managable -- lots of paraprofessional work, and a few proper librarian jobs. I never heard a peep from any of them. Around the end of July I began to seriously worry that I had made the wrong decision in throwing myself headlong into an unfamiliar market. Boston is full of opportunity, but it's also full of library students and recent grads, and all from schools that are more highly regarded than mine.
At the very end of July I stumbled across a job posting for a librarian at a boarding school in central Massachusetts; it wasn't anything I'd ever imagined doing, but it sounded like an amazing job, so I submitted the best cover letter and resume I could muster. Early the next week they called me in for an interview; a week after that, they offered me the job. I got to attend my final capstone weekend with a job offer in hand. That was a pretty great feeling.
So a week from today, I'm moving to a tiny town near the New Hampshire state line to begin a real, honest-to-goodness librarian job. The setting and context is still a bit of a surprise to me, but I foresee a year of really exciting work. But more on that later.
For now, I'm closing the book on library school, and looking forward to everything that comes next. I am immensely grateful to the many people who helped me get to this point: my mom, for supporting me through yet another round of school; my best friend R. for taking me in while I made the transition to a new city; my friends and professional associates back in Portland; Pierina Parise for being the best den mother a bunch of library school students ever had; and all of my cohort at Emporia State University SLIM-Oregon.
Onward and upward, friends!
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