As a fairly new graduate, I have found myself in a surprising job position – that of the Company Librarian. It’s a strange one. Public Librarians work in Libraries with other Librarians. Academic Librarians work in Libraries with other Librarians. Company Librarians work in…in my case a Facilities Dept and an abandoned basement with no other Librarians! It’s definitely a library job with a distinct lack of ‘libraryness’!
I certainly feel less like a librarian, which is part of the reason I’ve started this blog. It’s led me to consider the implications of working largely on your own, as many Librarians do, and the consequent importance of keeping in touch with other members of your profession via alternative means – like blogging. The Internet has been an invaluable tool for librarians in sharing knowledge and experience, pooling ideas, or even just having a moan to someone that understands!
It’s a unique challenge to the Company Librarian to retain her ‘libraryness’ (and her sanity!) when working alone in what is often a hostile environment. Funding and recognition has to be fought for – in terms of business sense, guarding archives is much more important than new toilets surely?! Why would your boss tell you you can use a room for an archive space if they knew the roof leaked?! A bunch of legal boxes narrowly missed being reduced to a pulpy mess just a few weeks ago. Having a virtual community of Librarians is of key importance as it allows the isolated Librarian to see how fellow professionals deal with problems – and to know that you’re not going mad when your colleagues are looking at you like you’re batty because you’re annoyed about a few boxes getting wet!
