Please welcome our new First Year Academic Librarian Experience blogger Quetzalli Barrientos, Resident Librarian at American University.
I have been at my new job for two and half months as the current Resident Librarian at American University (located in Washington, DC). My main job duties consist of reference and instruction, with the freedom to pursue some of my own interests. Like a lot of you might be thinking, what is a residency position? Is it like an internship? What exactly does it entail? I’ll admit that before getting this position, I was also not familiar with the term “residency.” However, I’m getting ahead of myself. I have to go back to before I got this position.
As I began my last semester of library school in the Spring of 2015, I began to apply to jobs. A lot of jobs. To say that the job-hunting process is stressful is an understatement. While I was focusing on mostly reference and instruction positions in academic libraries, I also applied to outreach and community engagement positions. As anyone who has been on the library job-hunt (or starting) can tell you, the job description and requirements are a very important part. While applying, I saw a fair share of job descriptions. A lot of them were detailed and gave the applicant a good sense of what the job entailed…and there were some job descriptions that had three or four sentences.
One particular job announcement caught my eye. The position was for a Resident Librarian for American University in Washington, DC. By that time, I had been applying to jobs for about three months and this was the first time I had encountered a “residency” position. I’ll admit that I was a bit confused about the term “residency,”- but I am glad to say that the job description answered my questions. “American University Library invites early-career librarians to apply for its Resident Librarian Program. The program is a fixed-term appointment of three years and designed to provide an immersion into academic librarianship.”
As I read through the job posting, I saw that the responsibilities would include reference and instruction, just what I wanted! I quickly applied and waited. As you may now have realized, I got the job. However, I want to go more in depth about the residency position, its structure, and its place in the library.
My residency position is part of the Diversity Alliance Institute. The purpose of the program is to bring diverse set of entry-level librarians into academic librarianship. The Diversity Alliance has partnered with the University of Iowa, West Virginia University, and Virginia Tech (and obviously American University). By having the resident librarians immersed in academic librarianship, they are given the opportunity to explore their interests.
Recently, all the residents involved in the Diversity Alliance Program gathered at the campus of West Virginia University. I had the pleasure of meeting the other residents, their supervisors, and the people who made this event possible. This conference was meant to do a couple of things. First, it was meant for the residents to meet the people who came together to make the Diversity Institute possible. Second, it was meant for everyone, but especially the residents to network and interact with people from the various universities in attendance. Third, and this the most important in my opinion, is for the residents to meet each other and be able to exchange ideas and collaborate.
Having met the people who are in the same position, I feel like I am not alone. I was also able to get to know them, their backgrounds, what their interests are, and how their residencies are shaped and organized.
A little bit about my position. I am part of American University Library’s Research, Teaching, and Learning (RTL) Division. As a member of this division, I do reference at our Research Desk and help students, faculty, and staff with their research needs. I also do instruction for the College Writing Program at AU. This consists of communicating and reaching out to faculty members who teach these classes and organizing and planning a library instruction session for their class. I also have the opportunity to get involved in projects that reflect my interest. I participate in social media and marketing within the RTL Division and the AU Library.
Like some of the other residents, my job will have a “rotation” aspect to it. What does this mean? This means that I will be rotating around departments within the library. However, while I am doing the project or tasks within a certain department as part of the rotation, I still have my duties to reference, instruction, and anything else I might be involved with.
As I was talking to the rest of the residents, I was interested to see how their residency had been organized. For example, Virginia Tech University has their residency broken down by year.
“In the first year, the Resident will serve in three or four functional areas, determined mutually by the Resident’s interests and the needs of the Libraries.”
“In the second year, the resident will begin to specialize by contributing to one or two functional areas of his or her choosing, in consultation with the Library’s Resident Program Coordinator and directors in charge of the functional areas. The resident will then begin to formulate the basis for a capstone project.”
Among the choices were Learning Division, Data Curation, Assessment, and Scholarly Communications, to name a few.
“In the optional third and final year, the Resident will continue to specialize and will complete a capstone project, preferably suitable for publication, which incorporates the expertise and perspectives gained during the residency.”
I have recently started a project with Technical Services at the AU Library, but it feels good to have a home in the Research, Teaching, and Learning Division. Throughout my time as a blogger for ACRLog, I will be writing a bit about my residency job, adventures, and other cool things that might pop up. Most importantly, I want to hear from you and I look forward to getting to know you!