Where do I Come From, What am I, Where am I Going?

In order to achieve thing 5 I'm going to have to start my reflective practice a little bit further back than the start of this course. Not too far back, just eight years or so. Don't worry I wont bore you too much.

I've been working in Libraries for eight years now. I never really decided I wanted to be a librarian, I just kind of fell into it.

I love my job but I suppose it has taken me a while to see it as a serious career. Apart from going back to University to study a post-grad in Information Science I've done little else to push myself or challenge myself career-wise. I've always worked hard, but kept within the confines of what felt safe and what I knew I was good at.

In the past year and a half I've had the opportunity to work in a couple of different libraries to cover staff absences and maternity leave and this has been a real eye opener for me. It has given me the opportunity to try out new things that I would never have been able to do in the library I was officially based.

Every library is very different. In the past year I've worked in a library in a socially disadvantaged area and in a library more affluent area and in turn dealt with very different clientele with very different needs. Both libraries provide an excellent service to the public and are very respected in their communities. My work in each library has been very different and I've thoroughly enjoyed both experiences.

However, I have been getting a little restless lately. I needed something more, something new to learn, a chance to stretch my brain a bit. In both libraries I was fitting into someone else's slot, filling their shoes. In each instance I made the job my own, tried out new things and made changes if I felt they needed changing, but I needed something that was wholly mine.

Then I heard about this course. I had been toying with the idea of starting a blog, or doing something with my twitter account but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do exactly. This course seemed perfect! It was almost like destiny ( I don't believe in destiny but the darn thing keeps coming up).

And so here I am 4 weeks into an amazing course that I think every librarian should do. I'm learning so much as well as connecting with so many new people. I now love writing this blog. I'm constantly thinking of new posts that I want to write about. I'm finally getting some use out of my twitter account. Best of all, I'm excited about my job. I look forward to going to work every day. I didn't exactly dread going to work before this but I'm definitely more passionate about it now. But most of all I've met new people, albeit virtually for now. Hopefully I'll meet some of them in person some day. I cant wait for the virtual google+/twitter hangout.

I've learned lots of things about the variety of librarians that are out there along with the different types of technology that are at our disposal but if we are talking about reflective stuff then I've learned three things:

One: that I need to make opportunities happen myself rather than waiting for them to come to me. 

Two: I will never reach new heights unless I push a few boundaries.

Three: These boundaries are set by myself and nobody else. 

Hey this reflective practice stuff really works!

Roll on thing 6!