Wow! It's been a while . . .

This blog was started on my journey to all things tech-savvy years ago, and since the quest has still not ended, I believe I'll start posting my thoughts as I wade through the scary world of graduate school. At the time, I was fresh to the library profession and have to prove my tech competency with a wonderful little program called "23 Things"(see more here - http://kdl.wetpaint.com/ ). When I first started my job, I didn't realize that I would have to handle many of the technical aspects of library land. Honestly, I thought I was simply becoming a "story lady". I really did not think they would make me learn about B&T ordering carts, Millenium Acquisitions, generating weed lists, etc, etc - I mean, come on, I was in charge of picture books and glitter! I did not need to know how to override the public PC interface when a patron became locked out of their computer. I had a hard-enough time when the Tonka truck game in the children's area froze up!

Well, the truth is I did learn, and learned some more, and I'm still learning with every question a patron asks. Experience is a wonderful teacher, and I am so grateful to have already had the chance to work in the field I now know is my true calling. And what an amazing field it is! Libraries are changing drastically. The effort to keep up with the ever-changing technology of today's society has us scrambling constantly to offer new services, new compatibility.

Over the years I have often been conflicted about calling myself the "children's librarian." Technically, I am a youth paraprofessional. Now that's a mouthful at any age, but when your average patron age is somewhere around the 4-6yr old phase, you tend to let it slide when everyone refers to you as a librarian. Soon you start referring to yourself as a librarian, and eventually, your brain says "Why not? Why not go back to school? Are you really going to leave me here in Elmo's World forever?" I realized that no matter how much I love my job right now, maybe someday I'll want to move on to bigger things, a new position in the library, full-time employment!. And just maybe, to get there, I'll need proof that I actually know what I'm talking about. So here goes, I'm on the road to becoming a real librarian.