#CPD23 Thing 20: My Library Roots

For Thing 20 of the 23 Things for Professional Development program, we're supposed to talk a bit about our roots and how we came to librarianship.

I have always been a library user for as long as I can remember. I remember my mom taking me to summer reading programs and reading gobs and gobs of books in order to win prizes. I remember my mom telling me to put the books away in the car because she wanted to have conversations with me instead of seeing my head in a book. To this day she doesn't like me to read in the car... she'd rather talk.

Fast forward to High School and I was still a voracious reader! I had an amazing English teacher that continued to keep me reading good literature. My favorites were Rebecca (my all-time fav), The Outsiders, Jane Eyre, and The Hobbit.

So as you can see, my love for books carried me through my adolescent, pre-teen, and teen years - but it never crossed my mind that I might want to be a librarian one day.

It wasn't until I was married and was working as a substitute teacher that the seed was planted in my mind. I subbed for an entire week for a middle school library - and essentially, that's what I thought I wanted to do. I was searching at the time. You see, I have 120+ credit hours towards a piano performance degree. In reality, I was a senior recital and a conducting class short of that degree when I realized one day that I was tired of waking up nervous. I was tired of the out-of-control feeling that everyday brought because of the pressure of performing (both solo and collaboratively). Health concerns also played a part in my decision to "quit" (I hate using that word) - I was suffering from severe debilitating tension headaches. I was planning a wedding by myself with my husband-to-be away in Connecticut for his Masters degree. In short, it was too much for 1 person to handle all at once and I just shut down. I crawled into a hole ... and just.... shut down.

My wedding was a bright point amidst the craziness. I was able to marry my best friend, and shortly after tying the knot, we moved to Indiana for him to start his Doctorate at IU. That's where the substitute teaching began. I was still in a very fragile state - not really knowing what direction I wanted to go in life... but that week in the library sparked something within me.

It wasn't until a year later that I decided to tell my husband about my idea. Part of me kept it to myself for so long because I was scared. I knew I would have to finish my undergrad degree somehow in order to begin the Masters in Library Science. I didn't want to finish in music (I hadn't touched a piano for a year - which later turned into 3 years), and I was afraid of the time it would take to finish in a different area.

Long story short, I found an adult ed program that would allow me to finish in 2 years. I began that journey in 2006, finished in 2008, and started my Masters degree that same Fall. I was fortunate enough to get my foot in the door as a Page with a public library while finishing the undergrad degree. This led to higher positions... and now after completing my Masters, I am working as a College Librarian for a community business college.

While my initial thought of going the school library media route didn't come to fruition, I am pleased with my Academic track and hope to one day be in a traditional University setting as a Reference and Instruction Librarian.

As part of this "thing," I have added this post to the Library Routes Project. More 23 Things to come (we're almost done!).

Edited to add:
I have also completed two Library Day in the Life rounds. Fun times!