| Professional Profile: Julie Musselwhite-Childen's Services Librarian |
 What is your name? Julie Musselwhite What is your profession? Children’s Services Librarian What does it entail? Developing, promoting and implementing library services to children and young people in Poole How did you get into it? I did my schools work experience in Christchurch Library simply because I liked reading and wanted to be a writer, and from that I started working as a Saturday assistant and enjoyed the job, so went to University to study Information and Library Studies Did you need any qualifications? To be a librarian you need a degree and sometimes chartership (which is through our professional body CILIP). To be a library assistant or library manager you don’t need professional qualifications, but you will need GCSEs or A-levels. What tips would you give to someone interested in your profession? Work experience is the best key. The job is very different from the stereotypes that dog it, and so working in a library can show you how diverse and interesting the job can be. How competitive is it to get into your area of work? It’s very competitive if you have a particular area of interest. All librarians have different specialisms, and there aren’t very many library positions in local authorities. Bournemouth has more professional positions than Poole, and there are also librarian positions in Bournemouth University and Bournemouth & Poole College. What do you enjoy the most about your profession? As a children’s librarian, I like to think that I could really change people’s lives. I worked with a child a few years ago who had low literacy skills and low interest in school. She did the Summer Reading Challenge and enjoyed reading the required 6 books so much that she continued the challenge and read a further 10 books, and I was told by her mum that she had gone up a reading group when she went back to school. I’m not saying this is entirely due to me, but I do feel that if I’m enthusing a child about reading and books and they go on to do something like this, I can at least say I’ve had a big part in this. What do you enjoy the least about your profession? A lot of my job is working on strategies and service plans, or working with statistics and data. I’m also a treasurer for the Youth Libraries Group, which means a lot of maths, which has never been my strong point (I’m fine, but I get there very slowly!) What’s the most interesting thing you have done or the most interesting person you have met? I’m a member of the Youth Libraries Group, and through this I’ve been able to be a judge for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway book awards, which are very highly regarded in children’s books. As a judge, I had to read up to 70 books in a very short space of time, and meet with the other 11 judges to discuss the merits and failings of each of the book, put together the shortlist and ultimately decide on the winners. As a judge, I visited schools to talk about the books, I did a video for the website, I wrote the judge’s blog and I had to look after one of the illustrators at the awards ceremony. At the ceremony I met Chris Riddell, Kevin Brooks, Polly Dunbar, Emily Gravett and Shirley Hughes, amongst many other authors and illustrators. I also organise author events for the library, so regularly get to meet famous children’s authors and illustrators, which I always find really exciting!        |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
