In addition to being a BSW student, I also work part-time in the school library shelving books. I am in my glory on that second floor, all to myself, rolling around in all those books. As a youngster (and even now!) I was an avid reader and, as such, have spent a lot of times in libraries. I loathe the day when I graduate, as that means I will have to give up my shelving job and get a REAL job. Bleh.
Lo and behold, I'm looking at random blogs the other day and just so happened to come across what I can only describe as my total dream job!
In this blog, Dale McNeill is quoted as saying, "When they realized just how much social work librarians were doing, they asked themselves, “Do we really need librarians to do this work or could someone else do it better?” So they hired social workers to work in the libraries not as librarians, but as social workers. Some of them even do home counseling."
That would fulfill so many of desires for a job that I can't even describe how exciting this news is! Library social work! Whoda thunk it? And think of the implications for other areas. I can see many different organizations that could use a social worker. Office social worker, grocery store social worker, traffic jam social worker...the list is endless!
Whether I'd ever be able to find a job like this, I have no idea. At least I know there is one library doing this, though. If you hear of any others, put a good word in for me, eh?
I have a colleague who used to do airport social work - which sounded quite interesting to me. He has some great stories! My sister is a librarian and we often compare jobs. I tell her the difference between her job and mine is that people tend to go into libraries willingly and few people come to see me through choice..
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I don't think I'd fancy traffic jam social work - that sounds very hazardous!
Personally, I think every major employer should have social workers available. And every major public institution. Not sure about the library though, sooooo many books, so little time :-)
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