Deborah Hamilton …In Six

My interview with success story, Deborah

Naomi: How did you find your current job?
Deborah: I originally found the posting for my current job on the website for the Texas Library Association’s Jobline, which I learned about from INALJ.

Naomi: Favorite library you have been to?
Deborah: My favorite library is the Central Branch of the Seattle Public Library. It demonstrates the city’s commitment to their library system. The building is both futuristic and welcoming. It is always full of activity, while still having a few quiet corners with great views of the city.

Naomi: Favorite book?
Deborah: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I read a lot of non-fiction, and this work really captures the best of non-fiction with a narrative that is as gripping as any well-written fiction novel. Additionally, I think Capote does an excellent job of describing the humanity of all involved in this tragedy.

Naomi: Favorite thing about libraries/ library technology?
Deborah: Everyday you learn something new either about the world, yourself, or your community.

Naomi: Any websites or feeds or blogs we should be following?
Deborah: The Chronicle for Higher Education and School Library Journal are two of my favorites.

Naomi: Best piece of job hunting advice?
Deborah: Be patient, don’t take rejection personally, and be confident that the right job for you will come along at the right time. Don’t be afraid to try new formats for cover letters. If you can, get involved with any local professional groups and volunteer to eliminate gaps in your resume.

Deborah Hamilton is the newly hired Learning Technologies Librarian at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She grew up in Coeur d’Alene, ID and now lives in Austin, TX. Deborah holds a BA in English from Pacific Lutheran University, a MA in English from the University of Maryland, a MA in education from Antioch University Seattle, and a MLIS from the University of Washington.

Naomi House

Naomi House, MLIS, is the founder and publisher of the popular webzine and jobs list INALJ.com (formerly I Need a Library Job) and former CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of T160K.org, a crowdfunding platform focused on African patrimony, heritage and cultural projects. INALJ was founded in October 2010 with the assistance of her fellow Rutgers classmate, Elizabeth Leonard. Its social media presence has grown to include Facebook (retired in 2016), Twitter and a LinkedIn group, in addition to the interviews, articles and jobs found on INALJ. INALJ has had over 21 Million page hits and helped many, many thousands of librarians find employment! Through grassroots marketing, word of mouth and a real focus on exploring unconventional resources for job leads, INALJ grew from a subscription base of 20 friends to a website with over 500,000 visits in one month. Naomi believes that well-sourced quantity is quality in this narrow job market and INALJ reflects this with many new jobs published daily. She has also written for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 LexisNexis Government Info Pro and many other publications in the past decade. She presents whenever she can, including serving on three panels at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Las Vegas; as breakout presenter at OCLC EMEA in Cape Town, South Africa; as a keynote speaker at the Virginia Library Association annual meeting; at the National Press Club in Washington DC; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; the University of the Emirates, Dubai, MLIS program and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Naomi was a Reference, Marketing and Acquisitions Librarian for a contractor at a federal library outside Washington, DC, and has been living and working in Budapest, Hungary and Western New York State. She spent years running her husband’s moving labor website, fixed and sold old houses and assisted her husband cooking delicious Pakistani food. She is preparing to re-enter the workforce and is job hunting. Her husband is now the co-editor of INALJ, a true support!  She has heard of spare time but hasn’t encountered it lately. She pronounces INALJ as eye-na-elle-jay. 

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