Hello, I’m Joanne and I’m the trainee in St John’s College Library. I graduated from Southampton University with a BA in English in July, and started my traineeship in August, so I’ve had a fairly quick transition from education to work. Arriving in Oxford a month before training began was a little daunting, but I soon settled into the library routine. One of my first tasks was to help with the annual stock take, meaning that I learnt the layout of the library much quicker than I had expected!
As well as scanning books, I spent a large part of my first month receiving training in some of the general activities involved in the day-to-day running of the library, such as working on the issue desk and processing new books. The Librarian has also given me some more specialised tasks such as copyediting the library’s manuscript catalogue (so it can ultimately be digitally accessible), and redesigning the library information guide and signage, so I’m really enjoying the variety of the work.
The library is a fascinating space historically – one of the artefacts on display is a chest which once belonged to Sir Thomas White, the founder of St John’s, and I’m looking forward to being able to share some of this history with the public at Oxford Open Doors this weekend. There is also a wide range of Special Collections, which I have a particular interest in after doing some voluntary work in an archive last year, and I’m hoping to have many opportunities to work with these manuscripts and early printed books throughout the year.
