Moving around...

Further to my earlier musings on career paths, this struck a chord in LINT's LINTerview with Roxanne Missingham, the president of ALIA.

5. What advice would you give to new librarians starting out today?

Move around and see as much as you can and think. Every library (and manager and colleagues) has good and not so good points. The best way to figure out what is good from your point of view is to be exposed to as many of these as is possible (but you don’t have to move every month).

Of course, for most new librarians, this is a luxury. The fact is that many new librarians are into their second or third career-change in their life, with children and a mortgage to think about, and therefore can't go swanning off to distant reaches of the country, trying out different jobs, and taking risks by going out of their comfort zone.

And I also realise how lucky I am to have these opportunities. If I hadn't moved interstate, I'd probably be still working for the same organisation that I was then. Which isn't a bad thing, but the reality is that I'd be going nowhere pretty fast. I probably wouldn't have gotten involved in ALIA - not to the extent that I am, now. I wouldn't have gotten solo performance experience playing at gigs. I'd probably be comfortable, but bored.

It's all a learning experience. As Roxanne says, everywhere has its pros and cons. Each obstacle provides a challenge to learn to overcome, and each positive is a opportunity to add to my support base.