Why Librarianship? by Matthew Trigg, CILIP North West Volunteer

Matthew is considering a career change into the Library and Information sector. In order to gain some experience before applying for a Masters, he kindly volunteered to help with CILIP North West Member Network. We thought it would be interesting to find out more about what has attracted Matthew to the sector.

It seems to me that Librarianship is a greatly under-esteemed profession. Rarely does a child aspire to being a Librarian - it simply doesn't seem to appear between ‘Astronaut’ and ‘Other Dream Professions.’ As a child, I always aspired to be a Dragon Tamer, but it never seemed to work out, what with the severe lack of dragons to tame...

Librarianship isn't very flashy or adventurous on first appearance and it easily slipped past me when I was initially choosing a profession in life. However, I’ve come to realise what an important profession it is. It seems to me that libraries are like a treasure hoard of knowledge, information and wisdom, and Librarians are the gatekeepers of this wealth.

Also, I love escaping into books; I enjoy the adventures they can take you on, providing you with experiences that are outside of your normal everyday life.

All this attracts me to the profession and I look forward to working with like-minded colleagues.

In terms of the sector I could see myself working in, I need to learn more about what options there are in order to make a proper decision. In the back of my mind I’d always kind of presumed that I would work in a public library. I think I’d enjoy helping people from all walks of life to find and achieve things they might otherwise struggle with. However, I’m keeping an open mind for now.

Whichever sector I decide to go into, I’m hopeful that Librarianship will be a fulfilling and rewarding career.

We would like to thank Matthew and wish him well for the future.

Comments

Careers Support Conversations Programme: Job Searches and Applications - additional resources

Thank you to everyone who attended our first Careers Conversations event - we hope it is the first of many and welcome any and all feedback on the programme. Please keep an eye on our newsletter , social media and website for upcoming events. Please find below a summary of the major points discussed during the session. Underneath this summary, please find links to useful resources for the job searching and application process for several library and information sectors; The session began with a discussion about where individuals typically look for job listings and analysis of some of the bigger providers. Along with the resources listed below, possible locations for job listings include noting listings on recruitment agencies and applying directly, looking at organisations that are being refurbished or expanded upon as they may account for new roles, and the information and archiving teams within unions. It was noted that it is worthwhile looking at roles outside of one's chosen ...

My experience of the CILIP Conference 2025 by Sarah Kaye

On Wednesday 2 nd July, I travelled from Cheshire to Birmingham for a day at the CILIP Conference 2025. After registering and being given a map and a timetable, I entered the exhibition room which was pulsing with excitement. People were hugging each other and shaking hands, waving from across the room and running to say hello with huge smiles on their faces. This was obviously an opportunity for colleagues and friends to come together and celebrate librarianship as well as for librarians like me to network and build new connections. After pouring myself a cup of coffee, I spoke to the people on the Better World Books stand and the BorrowBox stand. These were both brands I recognised due to Cheshire ELS working with them. Although I knew about what those companies did, it was lovely for me to ask questions, learn more about different project they were undertaking and some of the history of the companies. I walked away feeling more confident and uplifted. The opening comments by Lo...

“A Grand Day Out”

CILIP North West “A Grand Day Out” What Happened? Just before Covid hit in 2020, I began the process of working towards my Chartership. Lockdown gave me lots of opportunity to do all sort of online training and reading. But I struggled with reflective writing; I just couldn’t get my head around how to do it. So, I kept going with development activities and sort of hoped that if I ignored it, reflective writing would just go away. Needless to say, it didn’t. Finally, I felt I had done enough to submit my MCLIP but the pesky reflective writing was hanging over me. So when I saw there was a session on reflective writing at a forthcoming CILIP CPD day, I knew I had to attend and slay the demon! So What? To be honest, I hadn’t paid much attention to the programme for the day beyond the reflective writing session. So it all came as a bit of a surprise, and a very inspiring one. We started with a session about ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence, led by Tim Leonard, of B...

CILIP North West Member Network Blog

Search This Blog