{"id":68120,"date":"2014-04-11T11:30:36","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T16:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=68120"},"modified":"2014-04-11T11:46:17","modified_gmt":"2014-04-11T16:46:17","slug":"why-co-op-libraries-are-the-greatest-gift-to-your-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=68120","title":{"rendered":"Why Co-op Libraries Are the Greatest Gift to Your Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Aimee Graham, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ New York State<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Co-op Libraries Are the Greatest Gift to Your Career<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"15093_133739483442688_1289912329_n\"<\/a>One of the most important questions I was asked during my time at the University at Albany in the MSIS\u00a0program was \u201cwhat type of library do you want to work for?\u201d<\/strong> Not having much experience in the field\u00a0to begin with, I was uncertain: I knew academic libraries generally paid better but there was an appeal\u00a0to working with the public. From that point out I always answered that question with \u201cI just hope to be\u00a0employed\u201d.<\/p>\n

I was fortunate enough to secure a position with a small liberal arts Catholic institution four months\u00a0after graduation; I know not everyone is as lucky to have this stroke of luck and I count my blessings,\u00a0however the catch was that the position was only part time (and that does not pay the bills, especially\u00a0the student loans).<\/p>\n

Several months after gaining my bearings I found myself applying for other part time positions to\u00a0supplement my income and heighten my experience\/skills.<\/strong> A position for a part time reference\u00a0librarian at a major state institution in my area opened up and I jumped on the opportunity. It was only\u00a0temporary, an interim during while the permanent search was being conducted, but something was\u00a0better than nothing. During the interview I learned that the library was a co-op, a combination of public\u00a0and two academic libraries, in addition to having once been the law library of the county. Needless to\u00a0say, I jumped on the offer when extended.<\/p>\n

Having never worked in a public library before, I was a bit unfamiliar with the types of questions I\u00a0received; although my title was as an academic reference librarian, most of my patrons were public.\u00a0I learned the ins and outs of public and law policies, a feel for the different environment including\u00a0working with children and teens, all while still conducting my academic duties as necessary (such as\u00a0scheduled one on one research consultations). I was astonished the wealth of questions I received\u00a0at the reference desk from the public, and in many ways I felt as though I was contributing greater\u00a0to society by holding this position.<\/strong> The biggest lesson learned: librarians are not social workers\/accountants\/lawyers\/any other public or services administration. Coming from an environment in which\u00a0I helped or found students resource for assignments, I could only instruct public patrons on how to find\u00a0the information they were looking for, many times for public services.<\/p>\n

When the time came to leave that position I felt a sense of whimsy \u2013 I loved working with the public,\u00a0feeling as though the skills I learned during my Masters genuinely helped the greater community. But\u00a0it also gave me the overall experience to EXPAND<\/strong> my employment search; no longer is my experience\u00a0limited to that of solely academic institutions. Although still on the hunt, I have had prospective\u00a0employers in both public and academic (and one law) libraries.<\/p>\n

So the point I\u2019m trying to make: if a position at a co-op library (even volunteer or temporary\u00a0opportunities) open up, jump on them, especially if you\u2019ve been searching for a while or are about\u00a0to finish grad school.<\/strong> The wealth of experienced gain is hitting \u201ctwo birds with one stone\u201d and your\u00a0resume, wallet, and sense of worth will thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Aimee Graham, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ New York State Why Co-op Libraries Are the Greatest Gift to Your Career One of the most important questions I was asked during my time at the University at Albany in the MSIS\u00a0program was \u201cwhat type of library do you want to work for?\u201d Not having much experience in the…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":63144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[4192,69,3592,3137,6114,6115,3665],"class_list":["post-68120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-aimee-graham","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-career-builder","tag-co-op-libraries","tag-cooperative-library","tag-inalj-new-york-state"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/15093_133739483442688_1289912329_n.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-hII","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/63144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}