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.

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