living through budget cuts…

As I count down the days until the Unconference in Pasadena, I am getting ready for a commiseration session with my cohort of library school grads and soon-to-be-grads. I am particularly excited about a session titled, “I’ve got my MLIS, now what?” which was started by my very dear friend Kaitlin Waldron who is a public librarian down south. Though she and I both have jobs (I’m going to be on part-time status (hopefully somewhere)  in a couple of months) but the prospects for me finding a full time job in the place I call home is pretty low. On top of that, there seems to be a negativity storm hitting the profession as many “leaders” in the profession forecast a less than sunny picture for academic libraries.

With all the doom and gloom, it’s going to feel really good to see old friends and talk about strategies for the future. If you’re going to be in the LA area on Halloween weekend, come by the Uncon! It’s only $20, more than I would’ve liked but hey, can’t win ‘em all. I personally want to talk about how librarians should view themselves as masters of our discipline, and that we should be creating and promoting our work as such in our institutions. It all goes back to Michael Wesch. I wish I could be his research assistant! I need a little digital anthropology know-how as I think it would be a perfect complement to the study of information literacy and information seeking behavior (distinctly librarian fields of expertise).

Ahhhh (sigh, not scream). I already feel better about my future prospects. Imagine what venting to a whole group would feel like!

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