What should I do, and how do I do it without getting fired
I'm gonna order copies of A People's History of the United States, but what else?
What should I do, and how do I do it without getting fired
I'm gonna order copies of A People's History of the United States, but what else?
I work at a library, as well, but as a staff member. I do a lot of the same things a librarian does and understand to a degree the various roles and operations of the library where I work. It depends on your circumstance and what the needs of the population you serve are, i.e. is it academic, high school etc. Where I am at, one of the main issues we are working on is outreach. Letting patrons know we exist and the services we offer. This can take the form of social media advertising special displays or events (staff collaboration on book displays can be a lot of fun, and I recommend getting as many recs from staff for books as you can. People like to share what they read). Connect with teachers, and ask them to set time at the start of semesters to give library instruction to students. Get a sense of the research or course work, including and especially intensive or special assignments students will be working on so that you might craft libguides where necessary to aid them along the way. In terms of resources, if there are common queries you might consider making quick guides as aids (for printing, accessing computers, citation, etc.). There is always collections management, and ongoing deselection and weeding is recommended to avoid the need of emergency deselection hatchet jobs. It also makes room for the other necessary component which is collections development, where you get to select the cool new shit to populate the stacks. This all mandates effective management of the catalog, metadata retrieval and input, scanning labeling, etc. If academic, there is likely a greater need for database competency, being aware of the products to which the library subscribes and how to use them. This is all very broad and if you have any specific questions related to your role or anything I've suggested, please let me know.
When in doubt, or honestly just for due diligence and fun, look at what other libraries are doing, both nearby and all over. Visit their sites to get ideas, use their resources where applicable (librarians like to share and why reinvent the wheel? we've had other librarians reach out and ask to use a libguide in its entirety, and of course it was cool with us). Consider getting in the loop of ALA and regional library newsletters to stay up to date on trends etc. and get access to timely or relevant webinars.
And when at work, do not break copyright law. It would be a lame reason to lose your job and there are plenty of ways to skirt around shit and get what people need. If you absolutely need to suggest libgen or sci-hub, make sure you think they are cool and try to find a way to say it without saying it. Do not write it in email.
Just some thoughts. Congratulations on your new position, and best of luck in your endeavors, comrade! Wage labor sucks, but there are worse places to spend your hours than working at a library . Noble mission at its best, and still a magical space to me
*If you're not union, organize
Not a librarian but I loved reading this nonetheless.
Inter-library loan is one of the greatest technologies available for the betterment of humanity.