I love it when I librarian gets noted on blogger. It's especially sweet when I don't know about the said librarian and I can add them to my reader. Congratulations Mr. Dupuis.

I'm sort of tentatively looking for a new position. The time has come to move on. I've been working at the public library I'm at now for nearly five years. It's been a wonderful experience. I've learned a great deal, been mentored by good people, supported by them both professionally and personally through the years so I'm sad to leave but ready for something new and challenging. When I first entered the library field I was determined to be a teen librarian. But I find myself drawn more and more to academic librarianship. I think it's because I've discovered that I really like to teach. So, I'm on the look out for positions that include Reference/Instructional librarian in it's description.

I'm not entirely sure how to navigate myself from the world of public librarianship to academic librarianship. I recently joined the LISJobs listerve in hopes of garnering more information. There seems to be a lot of library folks cris-crossing over fields these days. It appears to be rather difficult to get your foot in the door when it comes to academic libraries. One suggestion I've found so far is to buy a three-piece black suite for the interview. I've never even owned a two-piece suite.

So, does this mean public librarianship is totally out for me? Not entirely. The main thing is that I want to grow professionally, perfect the skills that I know I do best, practice the ones I don't.

One question that has been bothering me though. Something which I actually found on the listserve today concerning medical examinations and whether applicants might be discriminated against if they have a chronic condition like depression, or in my case, a husband who has crohn's disease. This is obviously not something that they can come right out and ask me during the interview process but they can easily find out by reading our personal blog, which is easily found when you google my name. I never considered this before, but one person made the remark that with the rising costs of insurance, employers might be looking at medical needs and pre-existing conditions when they hire. Has it really come to this?