Articles

A Year at INALJ

by Shelley Macon, former Head Editor, INALJ Florida

A Year at INALJ

shelleym1A year ago I was scrolling through facebook and noticed a shout out for volunteers to be state editors of INALJ.  And truthfully, I noticed it, but I just kept right on scrolling and didn’t give it another thought.  Then I went on with my life.  But then it happened again.  And yet again.  And I thought, maybe I should check it out.  So I emailed Naomi and I soon found myself installed as the first Head Editor of Florida.  That is how my time at INALJ began.

The past year has, at times, run the gamut from frustrating (mostly with technical issues) to amazing and fulfilling, not to mention eye opening.  As with any new and expanding venture, there have been growing pains but these have been more than tempered by amazing successes.

I have also learned a lot this year.  I have learned that information professionals are a creative, hardworking, and extraordinary group and I am fortunate to count myself among them.  I have learned that volunteering is not for the mildly interested or for those with commitment or perseverance issues.   I have learned that volunteering should also be a labor of love.  So find something that you think is worthwhile and volunteer.  It can and will open up personal and professional doors.  But if you have the time, the passion, and the drive INALJ is a place you can thrive, make a difference, and make your mark.

And as this year comes to a close I want to thank all my lovely fellow volunteers that make INALJ work – all the editors, managers, volunteers, coordinators, and most especially our fearless founder and leader, Naomi House, for having the tireless energy and drive to making this the huge success it has become.  Congratulations one and all.

Here is looking forward to an even more wonderful year ahead!

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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