More from the life of a Librarian working in Malaysia (most of the time)

I am in the UK at present, for the summer holidays - we are selling our house and buying a new one. If we exchange whilst I am here then I shall do as much of the packing as I can - at least my books which I always feel happier packing myself. So I am rather busy as I also have to select and order books for most of next year for the Library. Annoyingly I am having problems with my Amazon wish lists which I use to co-ordinate my wants so the order is going nowhere in a hurry. 

I also want to do the Rudai 23 course - time is far too short but somehow I will fit it in, as it has plus go and visit various friends and family. I really need to do the SLA EPQ course as there is a chance I might be an EPQ tutor this coming academic year.

Malaysia seems far away right now, but as the book selection shows I am not ignoring it. I am also picking up a few books to take back with me and posters (thanks to Heaths for posters they are including with the order). 

Being a new school we are taking on a significant number of new teachers for the new academic year and want to make sure that the resources are as suitable as possible for them as well as the existing teachers. I will be returning to Malaysia on 22nd August. A day off and back to work. Two weeks induction and then term begins. The excitement of meeting new students and staff is very real as we grow and develop into one of the foremost international schools in Malaysia.

Interview with a Librarian

I often became bored and dissatisfied with most of my jobs prior to becoming a School Librarian, nearly 14 years ago. School Librarianship has given me an ever changing backdrop to work against and I am never bored or dissatisfied with the work. There is so much variety and always something new to learn or to try as well as the satisfaction that no knowledge is ever wasted - everything you learn can be applied sooner or later. I love having access to so many good books, although I can barely discuss books written for adults!

I have a regularly changing population of users in my school library, they usually stay long enough to get to know them and to learn about their lives and dislikes. The ever changing population is one of the variables that keeps me thinking of new ideas and new solutions to sometimes new challenges and sometimes the same old challenges.

I decided to become a Librarian in 2000. I needed something to immerse myself in after years at home with my two youngest children and had initially decided to train as a teacher - so glad I didn't as I would not have been a good one. I discovered a City and Guilds Library and Information Professionals' course about to start at a local college that fitted in with my other obligations; my son's school agreed to let me do the practical part of the course in their library - they had no Librarian, two of the teachers ran it between them and they were very happy to let me take over and two months later I was employed, initially on a very part time basis but gradually the hours grew. Such a good decision for them and me. So a love of books, reading and computers and the wish to share my loves meant I was in the right place at the right time.

My husband has always supported me, it is very difficult to have a career without family support. I realised almost straight away that this is the career I should have chosen when I left school. I have always loved it and I am happy to put in however much effort is required to do the best job I can.

Before becoming a Librarian I worked as a desktop publisher both self employed and initially for a large software company where I learnt all my computer skills and picked up a knowledge and real enthusiasm for databases and the use and manipulation of information.

My degree helped me as it taught me to think critically - it was in Modern History, a subject I continue to be enthusiastic about to this day, it also taught me to apply myself in a prolonged and concentrated way. I did it as a mature student as an evening degree whilst working full time and being a one parent family - thank goodness for my mother! Not a traditional route into the profession but it has proved to be the right route for me.
Marion Prickett

My summer holidays began at the end of last week and now is a great opportunity to start the 23 Things course. This is the first time I have used Blogger so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I have a very busy summer ahead so this is unlikely to contain very long posts. I also have to fit in an EPQ course and a trip back to the UK for a few weeks, including a visit to Heath's for some book buying. Of course there is also more personal stuff but that belongs elsewhere.

Tomorrow if I finish the Library Lesson Schedule I will try to find time to play with this some more and do some editing of the look and feel of it. The WCBW heading does not work properly at the moment and I may try and add my logo too. Anyway it is late here and so this is it for now.