Education and route in:

I left school with several GCE’s, ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels. These were not all relevant to a career in a library. Initially I worked in bookshops and then started working as a library assistant. I worked in a wide variety of roles within public libraries – reference library, local studies, mobile library (loved this – out and about meeting people), branch libraries and the main library. Also worked as University library assistant.

Pam’s viewpoint:  

Having worked my way up to senior library assistant, I then decided to qualify as a librarian. My previous experience went towards allowing me to do the course. Over three years I completed a distance learning degree in Library and Information work at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, gaining a First Class degree. It is possible to progress to a Masters degree and Chartership after this if you wish. A study week each year is spent on campus, and is great for making friends and gaining support for the course when you are at home and need to speak to someone. It’s also a lot of fun!

Since qualifying I have worked as a Reader Development librarian in public libraries. This involved promoting books and reading to the local community through the establishment of reading/writing groups. I also talked to local schools, participated at events, and met the local ethnic minority groups, attempting to provide suitable materials for their needs, such as newspapers and books in different languages.

I now work as a Health librarian for NHS Direct, supporting the call centre with health related resources in the form of books, journals, leaflets and web resources. This is a very interesting and varied role, and includes some training, management of staff and attending meetings and conferences.

Things Pam’s learned along the way:

Librarianship, overall, is increasingly web based. You need a wide variety of transferable skills, especially the ability to communicate well. You need attention to detail and must like people. It can be quite physically demanding and a love of books (not just reading them!) is important.