A Day In The Life … an MoJ librarian

After checking my emails (always something awaiting my attention every morning) I prepare for a meeting with my line manager regarding marketing the service. We discuss the new logo that we have designed and that we need Publications Branch to professionally produce. We have agreed a draft, but now Publications are suggesting that it may be contrary to the Departments’ communications policy… Ho hum … We will wait and see what the eventual response is and then argue our case.

After he has left – my line manager’s offices are across London – I have a meeting with our facilities and accommodation staff. We are due to move buildings from where we (not me personally I hasten to add!) have been for almost 40 years. This will entail moving from individual or small group offices into open plan – a major culture and working practices change for the organisation. There will be no separate Library, but the collection will be spread over the entire open plan area, across three floors. This is not a happy outcome for my team and myself and I discuss the latest plans provided by the space planners.

Following this is a meeting with a representative from a mobile racking company. We sit and watch a DVD of their products and are quite impressed. This all looks very positive. It is also explained to us why the robotic character in the DVD is called “Iris” instead of “Fred” or “Bert” or “Harry”, etc. I think the animated curves and expressive walk were explanation enough as to why it wasn’t given a male name.

After lunch I am asked for assistance by a colleague from another of the Department’s libraries. I had the pleasure (?) of being Library Systems Manager for several years and I am still asked for assistance when issues arise related to it. This time some detailed bibliographies of departmental publications with some specific parameters are required. I spend 20 minutes or so setting up the reports, running them, downloading them and emailing them to my colleague.

A request from a team lawyer recently came in for a new journal subscription for a project on community care. Budget reductions mean all such requests have to be routed through Team Managers to ensure that the request is supported and that there is a business case for it. In this instance the Team Manager has not supported the request and the lawyer is chasing me. I email the Team Manager to remind him and suggest the lawyer should also speak to him.

The day ends with the organisations’ Summer Party. After some concern over the weather it has turned into a sunny, warm late afternoon and evening. We spend a couple of pleasant hours in the garden behind the building; together with the wine, fruit juices and food, one of the secretaries has made a gorgeous punch – just the thing needed. This is a rather sad occasion as this will be the last Summer Party in this garden and at our current building. The Chairman makes a brief speech and we wonder what we shall do next year.