Library assistant placement: Chloe's experience

Tell us about your role...

"At the beginning of my final year I started the role of a library assistant at the Denis Arnold music library, which is located within the department of music on University Park campus.

This means that I staff the music library for weekday evenings and Saturday afternoons, when the library is not staffed by a full-time librarian. I knew that during my final year of my degree it was important for me to gain as much relevant workplace experience as possible, and this was a great opportunity to gain some new skills."

Did you get any training?

"At the start of the year, we were all given training by the full-time librarians, explaining how to use the relevant computer programmes, what the system for returning books was and general health and safety procedures.

I found being introduced to the computer system they use for scanning in and locating books useful as this is a very transferable skill for any job that may deal with music librarianship or copyright in the future. As I am interested in pursuing a career in arts admin, this is likely to come in handy!"

What are the main skills you have gained?

"I feel as though the role is helping to develop my communication skills as there is a lot of interacting with students from different departments, answering general queries and helping with tasks like locating books - even though I do still struggle locating historic scores with foreign names, my Italian isn’t that good!

There is a lot of assisting lecturers and staff members too, which enables opportunities to build a professional network. I have found myself being friendly with lecturers from theology and history who I never would’ve interacted with without being a library assistant.

This role has also given me a feeling of responsibility as I have had to correctly open or close the library each shift, following the correct procedures, I have had little responsibility in my previous work experience and so I thought this was a nice introduction to this."

How did you fit in work around your studies?

"I have been able to sign up for each shift on a weekly basis which has allowed me to take time off whenever my uni work schedule is getting a bit much. I have also been able to complete some of my uni work when the library is quiet and all my tasks are done – being paid to write your dissertation, what more could you want!"