a library student intern from ucla recently asked me if i had any words of advice for someone young in the profession. i told her that the wisest thing i could advise her to do was to be considerate to every librarian she meets, because she’ll be seeing them for the rest of her professional life. this came true for me at the american library association (ala) conference this year, where i bumped into old colleagues from florida, when i was just a paraprofessional thinking about librarianship. i loved the people there and it was a joy to reconnect with them, but how unexpected it seemed! as big as ala is, to casually run into people i knew was a surprise. it got me thinking though, about how small the world of librarianship really is, especially when you decide which area of librarianship you focus on.
as a young librarian i think it would serve our intern well to network the heck out of any opportunity she has and to stay informally connected to the people she hits it off with.
have you found this to be true also, or would you have offered different words of advice for someone young in the field?
To “be considerate to every librarian she meets” is good advice for life in general, not just librarians! It IS a small world, after all and people talk. I also happen to believe that when you discover/set and maintain/adhere to your professional standards, work hard, maintain some priorities and frequently offer a helping hand to others, people eventually will take notice. Sometimes they’re the people who write the paychecks!