Narratives of Academic Librarians: Chapter 4: More Responsibility, More Trust, [library service leader]

Chapter 4: More Responsibility, More Trust,
[library service leader]

I was promoted to be [a library service leader], which means I [handle multiple library information services].

That's what I'm in charge of.

I make sure whatever technology there is working.

We have a desk, which is manned by [several employees with multiple classifications].

I'm [a supervisor].

I work very closely with [people I supervise].

I'm very hands-on to also help out [other library employees].

They all know who I am and I'm always out there helping in whatever ways I can, usually some kind of tech issue.

I took on that responsibility, which used to be [another employee’s] responsibility.

I don't know what it was.

It was like too much for them to have this other part, and they thought since it's mostly tech issues that occur out there, maybe it should be me in charge.

I thought, sure, I get the opportunity to supervise someone, but I had never done that before.

Of course, it came with more pay, so yes, I'll take on this role.

At that point, I had already been working on updating [employee training], since a lot of it was online.

I was remaking some videos, updating information, making new videos and tutorials on how to use technology out there or how to do their job.

In that way, I was already learning a lot about the job and it was more of a natural fit for me to take over.

I updated a lot [of information]. There were a lot of things to update at that time and to teach because there were some students who'd never been to the library.

Our student workers had to learn a lot of information really quickly in order to help others too. [I had] more responsibility in terms of supervising, but also it came with [developing information for our library employees and enhancing training materials.]

That was a good fit too, because as an [instructional technology/design librarian], whatever learning and wherever learning occurs, I can try to enhance it.