Camberwell Primary School is a specialist bilingual immersion school, in which lessons are conducted in both French and English.  Between 2020 and 2022 the school library has undergone major efforts to improve student and teacher engagement with the French language collection, including acquisition of new materials, catalogue refinement, visual merchandising of the collection, and collaboration with classroom teachers and school leadership. The positive results so far have lead to greater investment in the library, and future collection development plans.

This lightning talk will summarise the actions taken, lessons learned, outcomes, and future plans for continual development.

Starting a new role -- let alone a new career -- is an often daunting prospect, and having a peer network where skills, knowledge, and experiences can be exchanged makes all the difference. In the health library sector, new and emerging librarians are well supported by associations such as ALIA Health Libraries Australia (HLA). HLA runs regular professional development events, webinars, and conferences for the wider health library sector. The sector itself consists of academic libraries as well as specialised libraries, such as those within hospitals and research institutions.  

Hospital libraries present librarians with unique opportunities and challenges which are reflective of the clinical setting and the needs of time-poor healthcare professionals. Those new to hospital libraries must navigate an unfamiliar world with its own terminology, demands, and practices -- often at the same time as they are establishing their career in librarianship. To further support emerging librarians working in this unique setting, a dedicated professional development and networking space was required.  

To address this gap, in 2021 the authors founded the Hospital Librarians' Community of Practice (CoP). This presentation highlights the importance of communities of practice within librarianship, offering as they do an informal space for peers to come together and openly ask questions, share experiences, explore solutions, and expand their professional networks. It also follows the journey of the authors' experiences as two new graduate librarians building a CoP from the ground up: the challenges and lessons learnt along the way, and the impact it has had on their careers... so far.

Moving to the country can be daunting, especially to small towns, but working in smaller towns can provide a lot more opportunities for professional growth in the Library sector.  Smaller libraries mean taking on more roles, and not just customer service.  Cataloguing, collection maintenance, family history and reference queries all become par for the course.  Plus you learn more about the community you are part of because you see your library patrons outside of the library and you are more a hub for the community.  

There are challenges with moving to the country, such as distance to your support network and other services, but this also provides a chance to explore other opportunities, and taking advantage of the in-person events when you get them.  Physical distance also doesn't stop you being involved in professional development and the industry, through taking part in mentoring programs, virtual support networks and joining committees.  The availability of online courses also means that you are able to participate in learning new skills and connecting with others in the industry while being located in different areas of the country.  This creates the opportunity to grow your virtual network and have people you can reach out to.

Living in the country can also provide lifestyle advantages such as a shorter commute to work and getting involved in the community through other organisations and attending events.

In 2019 at the New Librarians' Symposium in Adelaide we were invited to consider international opportunities in librarianship. At the time it seemed like a nice dream, but due to where I was at in my life it was an idea I considered "Not for me". 

Then, some Very Big Things happened, including the start of the COVID pandemic. And I realised that actually, this was something that I not only wanted to do, but could do. Once the dust settled, of course.

Follow along in this lightning presentation as I reflect on how to make a working trip to Canada into an experience of international librarianship. I will also discuss the tips and advice laid out by previous NLS9 presenters...and how I, as my mum would say, "chose the most difficult possible way to do it". 

Three years ago, I was 25, working in retail, dreaming of being a librarian. Fast forward to today, and I have a library degree, I’m leading a library team and applying the same customer service skills that I gained in my retail job.
My experience in retail delivered so many transferable skills that have proven valuable in my career as a librarian so far. At the completion of my Graduate Diploma in Information Management at the end of 2021, I felt that I had to start from scratch. I believed that my time as a retail supervisor would mean nothing to recruiters and subsequently did not put these skills on display when applying for librarian roles.

As a young person, entry level jobs are often just seen as the thing to do when you are trying to find your real job. I want to use this lightning talk to encourage all new graduates to think carefully about their previous roles in retail and hospitality. The experience that is gained in these jobs is valuable in libraries, you just need to outline why in applications. For me it all came together when I joined the ALIA mentoring scheme in 2022 and my mentor helped to identify these skills.

In my presentation I will explain how to read key selection criteria and how to map across transferable skills. I’ll also detail the key skills most ex-retail workers have that are valuable in a public library. New graduates should know how to map transferable skills across industries and be confident that they have the right skills and experience for the role. Just because you don’t have library experience does not mean you can’t get the job. 

 

Olivia Larobina, Deakin University and Emilia Bell, University of Southern Queensland 

This presentation will share the perspectives of three academic librarians (Annette Messell, JCU; Crystal Brunyee CDU; Thomas Reeson, ACU) who made the decision to move to regional universities as part of their career development. They will share reasons why they chose to move regionally for work, along with advice, cautions, and other helpful tips.

Each individual will be interviewed prior to the conference and their responses will be drawn together in themes to be presented and discussed. The interview questions will explore personal reasons for choosing regional work, the biggest challenges faced when moving  to a regional area, the career benefits of moving to a regional university for work, and advice for new librarians thinking about applying for these types of jobs.

This presentation is also an opportunity for those in management to reflect on ways for attracting staff to regional locations.

Sample interview questions:

What made you apply to a regional job?
What advice would you give to someone thinking about applying to a regional job?
What are the pros of applying to a regional job? Personal/Professional
What are the cons of applying to a regional job? Personal/Professional
How can regional libraries support librarians thinking about taking a job in the bush?