It seems like only yesterday that I was packing my backpack to go for a wander. And yet, nearly three years later, here I am, back in Libraryland! I spent eight months travelling through Asia, followed by two years working a series of random temporary jobs in Australia (have you ever stood at a conveyor belt picking out manky onions for twelve hours? Or hand-wrapped luxury chocolate brownies in gold foil at a rate of eighty brownies per every thirty minutes? I have!). I arrived back in the UK one month ago, via a whistlestop three-week tour of New Zealand, and was lucky enough to quickly end up in a three-month contract working as a Senior Subject Librarian at Leeds Arts University.
I've been welcomed back into the community with open arms, and after my first few days at work I'm happy to discover that everything is coming back to me quickly! My priority over the next few weeks is going to be getting up to speed with my daily duties and making some progress on some projects which need to be done. It's my first experience of working in a small specialist institution so it's a different environment to what I'm used to, but there are definitely parallels with my first professional role where I was working in a small campus library doing a bit of everything, so I am confident in getting settled in to my new role.
I am also keen to Revalidate my Chartership within the next couple of months too. This actually goes nicely hand-in-hand with being in a new role after a career break, as reflecting on the tasks that I am doing and how I am developing professionally will help me to ensure that I am on the right track at work.
It's lovely to be back, and I look forward to seeing you all again when our paths cross!
