No, it has proved to be a challenging area to work, with many opportunities and I have achieved things I would never have dreamed of in my library school days. How did I get in to government libraries? With an academic background strong in town planning a post in the Depart of Environment was ideal so I when I saw one advertised I applied and was successful.
I started in cataloguing, as every new entrant did, but my background made me the ideal choice to be sent off to work as an indexer on a major planning enquiry in the wilds of Lincolnshire, some 100 miles away from any professional support. This job taught me very quickly that what I did had to work for the business I was supporting and the importance of this has stayed with me throughout my career. It also gave me the opportunity to go down a coal mine, which I took and have never forgotten.
My next 2 posts involved running small sub-libraries. These posts offered a little bit of everything so were ideal for gaining an understanding how the different parts of a library service inter-relate, plus some basic management things such as budgeting. A move to HQ to run the inquiry service allowed me to gain more depth of knowledge plus increased exposure to management issues, and to senior staff.
My promotion to the management team came at almost the same time as the announced privatization so I not only had to learn to operate at this higher level I had to do so while changing the way we operated, with no mentor to hand to help. My ability to relate to the business meant the library service eventually went into the privatized company at twice the size of the original estimate, but without a job for me.
A sideways move to a major policy department gave me a new perspective and another opportunity, this time to contract out the publications supply service, another first in government. I was also the finance officer so I gained greater understanding how that side of the library resources worked, and I had to go and justify my budget against tough competition. Promotion to Head of library services followed with the responsibility for several restructurings that paved the way for the virtual service now provided. It also brought responsibility for the personnel management of librarians so I added another competency to my CV. Like the financial skills it is one that has stood me in good stead ever since.
Implementation of electronic records & document management offered me a chance to apply my skills in a new environment and I took it. It has allowed me to broaden my awareness of how professional skills can support the organization and allowed me to work closely with the business, as I said something that has been of great importance throughout my career. As a librarian I was supplying external information to support the business, now my role is about helping people manage their information and work flows and identify the associated risks and minimize them. The various legal requirements have to be considered, public record acts, FoI etc, and factored in to my advice.
Beyond my own organization I chair a cross government group managing competencies, advertising, and professional development, and I am a member of a CILIP committee. I have also achieved something I never dreamed of when I set out on my career; I am a Fellow of CILIP.
Government libraries are a great place to work!