Responsibilities of my dream job include:
- CATALOGING! I have done both original and copy cataloging. I have posted several original MARC catalog records on my site. I have done copy cataloging where I downloaded records from OCLC Connexion and uploaded them into a Voyager ILS. I have also done batch processing of MARC records using MARCEdit and edited records in Voyager and Koha systems. Because cataloging is my passion, I would want at least some of my job responsibilities to be cataloging. While I have never done serials cataloging, I would be happy to learn how.
- Authority Control.
- Physical Processing.
- Web site design. My Bachelor's degree is in Computer Science, and that was where I learned web site design. I designed this web site myself. I would love to include this as a filler role if your library is small enough that I hade to have more roles than the top three listed.
- Database work. I know SQL and use the MySQL database for personal projects, and would be happy to work with databases as part of my duties.
- Ordering books. I ordered books using BibZ in one of my volunteer positions and I would be happy to have this as one of my roles.
- Delivering books to shut-ins and assisted living facilities. I would have to walk rather than drive.
- Shelving books.
Rewards: My mother lives with me. Because of this, any salary at or over the value given by MIT's Living Wage calculator for two adults living in Chittended County VT, one not working, would be especially enticing. I would also like to be able to put my mother on my insurance plan and take family leave to care for her if a situation comes up where I need to do so. A third incentive I would enjoy is free access to a walking or running track. A fourth would be free access to a shuttle service run by the college or library.
Location and Transportation: I cannot drive, so I need access to alternative forms of transportation. I will also be interested in finding out about any local apple orchards, miniature golf courses, town or community wide yard sales, craft supply stores, craft fairs, theaters, places that host live music performers, bookstores, farms that do pick your own produce, horse expos, and horse farms that welcome visitors. I would also love to be near a lake.
My Ideal Library: I am looking for a library where learning is encouraged with a calm, warm, relaxed, and quiet technical services department with minimal interruptions. I would like coworkers that are nonjudgmental, laid back, and accepting of differences but who do not wait to do things until the last minute or who give me deadlines less than a day away or expect instant answers to questions they ask. I would like a job environment where tasks and expectations are communicated clearly and where they go over each step in the process and more detailed information is given when asked for. I would prefer to have my own space partitioned off from the rest of the space, even if it is only big enough to fit my desk and a chair, and a window or at least the ability to have a desk lamp and turn off overhead lights. I also need a way to indicate that I don't want to be disturbed. It is not that I do not want to interact with others. I do, but doing so is exhausting and I will need my own space where I can go to recharge. I would prefer my supervisor not to constantly watch me, as it makes me flustered and more likely to make mistakes.
Due to my being neurodivergent, the following job duties would not be a good fit for me:
- Supervising. I am happy to having other people in my department ask me questions once I have been in a role for a while, but I cannot do things like hire, fire, evaluate, or tell people what to do.
- Talking on the telephone.
- Serving at the Circulation or reference desks, or other roles that require responding to strangers in real time. If I know an answer to a question someone asks, I can and will provide it, but when I don't know, I can't think in the moment how to find out. If there is a lot of noise, I find it hard to function, and I tend to slow down, which makes any job that you need to act quickly, like running a cash register, out. If a library had a way to answer Reference questions via email, I would be happy to have this be part of my duties, because I am an excellent researcher.
I also need the following accommodations:
- All meetings and activities must be scheduled ahead of time, and I need a clear, detailed agenda about what is going to happen. I don't do well with surprises.
- The ability to contribute my thoughts for meetings in writing either before or after.
- Extra time to understand and adjust to new information, complete tasks, and adjust to changes in schedule, tools, location, or supervisor.
- The ability to bring my own food and snacks from home. Between sensory sensitivities and medical dietary restrictions, it is next to impossinble for me to find foods I can eat that I did not bring from home.
- Activities other than standing or sitting around eating, drinking alcohol, and talking, and the ability to skip activities that are set up this way. I am not comfortable in these situations, and prefer to avoid them if I can. I do better when talking is not the main entertainment. For example, having everyone get together to play board games would be pretty much ideal. I would also be happy to be event photographer as long as I had enough time to make sure I had my camera.
- Typing rather than handwriting. My handwriting is slow and hurts my hand. I would not be able to keep up in meetings if i needed to use handwriting.
- Having all feedback, plans, checkpoints, deadlines, duties, rules, and expectations explicitly stated, preferrably in writing.
- Detailed written instructions that talks about how a process works and why it's done this way.
- All hidden agendas and unspoken rules must be explicitly stated. I'm not going to pick up on them otherwise.
- Having my area be hot desking free.
- Extra time to shift gears between tasks.