{"id":1660,"date":"2026-05-31T19:35:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T00:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/?p=1660"},"modified":"2026-05-31T19:35:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T00:35:51","slug":"looking-ahead-navigating-my-first-few-years-of-librarianship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/looking-ahead-navigating-my-first-few-years-of-librarianship\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Ahead…Navigating My First Few Years of Librarianship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Celeste Leeds-Laliberte, Assistant Librarian<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went to get my MLIS on a whim at the recommendation of a professor I admired and respected. I had never worked in a library and had no idea what I was getting myself into. After two years and a graduate assistantship in a fine arts library, I fell in love with the job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I soon found my first full-time librarian job as a First-Year Experience Librarian. However, it took a long time to fully understand both my position and how best to be a librarian. I was often scared I didn\u2019t belong or that I wouldn\u2019t live up to my co-worker\u2019s expectations. With over a year in my current position, I still sometimes feel like I have no idea what I\u2019m doing, but I\u2019m now able to piece together what I\u2019m doing, what my job demands, and how best to accomplish it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you settle into your jobs, I\u2019d like to share some things that have been the most helpful on my journey as a librarian.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Reflect Back on Your Accomplishments: <\/strong>Think about what you did or didn\u2019t do. What did you like about how you did a certain event, meeting, or interaction? What didn\u2019t you like? How would you do it differently knowing what you know now? Keep in mind what you\u2019d like to do differently for next time and make notes so you don\u2019t forget. However, don\u2019t be afraid to celebrate a job well done either. It\u2019s easy to focus only on what we did wrong or what we can do better, but it is just as important to acknowledge whether we did something well.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    1. Don\u2019t Be Scared to Ask Questions: <\/strong>Where can I find the branding kit? Why do we use this form for study room checkouts? Can I include a video on a TV with my exhibit? I can\u2019t count how many questions I asked in my first month alone at my new job. I often felt like I was driving my supervisor crazy; however, these questions often helped me (and often others) understand library culture, procedures, and expectations. Even if a question feels ridiculous, it can sometimes spark interesting conversations about why a certain procedure is in place, providing insight into the students or the university.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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      1. Meet with your Supervisor: <\/strong>Whether you\u2019re meeting monthly or weekly, it\u2019s helpful to touch base with your supervisor. In these meetings, you can discuss current projects and expectations. If you\u2019re expected to turn in performance reports, these are great opportunities to make sure you\u2019re on track for your performance reports and self-correct if you need more research or service opportunities.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        The New Member Round Table has membership opportunities<\/a> that can provide extra support in these areas if needed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        1. Connect with Campus Community: <\/strong>My first few weeks in my job, I was hesitant to reach out to people outside of my library, but since then, I\u2019ve found that getting involved is one of the most important things I\u2019ve accomplished. Whether this means making connections with your liaison department\u2019s faculty or getting involved in committees, these connections are important in getting connected and understanding your campus and community. Try collaborating with different departments and get involved in campus initiatives and committees!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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          1. Keep Learning; Be Curious: <\/strong>Sign up for webinars, learning communities, and other learning opportunities. Think about what questions you have and seek answers. Remember that you\u2019re not supposed to have all the answers. Accepting that I didn\u2019t always know the answer was a particularly hard concept to come to terms with; however, learning the answers to the questions I didn\u2019t know was an aspect of my job I enjoy. Don\u2019t be afraid to keep learning and keep asking questions!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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            1. Be Creative; Start Projects You\u2019re Interested In: <\/strong>Burnout in Libraries is prevalent, and one way I\u2019ve found to combat it is by making sure I\u2019m working on at least a couple of projects I\u2019m excited about. Whether these are research projects, outreach events, or collaborations with faculty, having something you\u2019re excited about when coming to work is always important. Be creative when you\u2019re brainstorming things to do. What are you interested in? What do you want to get done? How can you do it differently from those before you?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              By: Celeste Leeds-Laliberte, Assistant Librarian I went to get my MLIS on a whim at the recommendation of a professor I admired and respected. I had never worked in a library and had no idea what I was getting myself … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[282],"tags":[6,110,165,56,12],"class_list":["post-1660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-perspectives","tag-ala","tag-ala-nmrt","tag-librarianship","tag-new-members-round-table","tag-nmrt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbhMj7-qM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1660\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nmrt.ala.org\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}