Libraries and me: How I got to where I am.

When I was a child, the library was my friend.

When I was a teen, the library was my escape.

When I was in University, the library was my study companion.

Now, as an adult, the library is my future.

Libraries mean different things to different people and as we age, our perceptions of libraries change. The way that I view and treat libraries is much developed from the way I did in my childhood years, and it is this change that makes the bond that I have with libraries feel like an old friendship.

It is this bond and friendship which explains the wonderful warm feeling that I felt when first I considered changing my career path from Primary teaching to library work. When my best friend suggested I consider joining her in library work, I giggled with joy at the thought of making such a wonderful industry my own career. The world that had started as a doorway to my imagination had become a doorway to a lifetime of learning and educating possibilities, surrounding myself with books and creative pathways and allowing me to open doors for others, from intuitive children, to solitary teens, to enthusiastic students, to interested adults like myself.

When entering the teaching industry, during an interview, I stated that I saw teaching as a gift. That, to be a teacher would be a privilege. That to be the person responsible for introducing pathways of learning to children would be a pleasure that I would strive to earn. But now I look back and realise, to be a librarian is a greater gift, for as a librarian, you open those pathways to children, but also to people of all ages and walks of life. That is the true privilege.