RSSA New Season, A New Guest Blogger
Sep 05
From Our Guest Bloggers 1 Comment
Hello Desk Setters, My name is Mary Curren and I will be your guest blogger for the month of September!
Eleven years ago I was Parker Posey in Party Girl looking for an easy part-time job to fund my debaucherous weekend activities. While browsing through the collection of my local library, I thought, “This would be an amazing place to work! I love reading, helping people, and it’s quiet so I can suffer through my post-warehouse party hangover in peace!” I picked up an application and a few weeks later I was hired as an information desk clerk. My first day of work I asked the librarian what the call number was for fiction. Fortunately he didn’t fire me on the spot!
My how times have changed! What started out as a part-time job turned into a passion and a career. I discovered that I loved helping the public, even the weirdos! Heck, especially the weirdos!
I received my MLS at Wayne State University in Detroit in 2006 with a concentration in children and YA services and never looked back! A year later I moved to NYC to begin my career as an urban public librarian, briefly at the Queens Library and for the past five years, the Brooklyn Public Library. I have served the diverse populations of Brooklyn in Williamsburg, Ditmas Park, and Bedford Stuyvesant, first as a children’s librarian and eventually as a Library Information Supervisor. Being an urban librarian has been rewarding (dancing around with cherub-faced cuties at Toddler Time really makes life worth living!) and at times, infuriating (budget cuts, anyone?). Despite yearly cuts to our funding and being understaffed, we public librarians keep fighting the good fight, serving our public who need us now more than ever, despite the odds.
Most recently, I am on an educational journey looking for ways to acquire new skills and challenge myself professionally. In three weeks, I will be starting Drexel University’s online Digital Libraries certification program. I’m not sure if I will use my newly acquired skills in a public library or make the career switch to special libraries, academic libraries, or even the corporate world. Right now I’m just excited to be learning new skills in the field.
I look forward to being your September guest blogger. Thanks for reading!
Sep 10, 2012 @ 18:03:49
Hello Mary
I really enjoyed this post. I am currently in my first year of my MLS program. Ultimately I want to work in an urban library. I saw on twitter that you are interested in literacy in developing countries and services to the incarcerated. I would love to interview you for a school project. Its 4 questions and can be done via email. I think your perspective would be a good one for myself and classmates to hear from. Let me know if you are interested. My email is teenstar78insf@gmail.com.
Warmest regards,
Todd