Hi, I’m Laurel and I’m the trainee at Corpus Christi College Library. I came to Corpus straight after completing my degree in English Literature at Cardiff University. Before working at Corpus, I had done a little work experience in the main public library in Cardiff and before my degree I worked voluntarily for a year in a museum library in Dorset.
I am enjoying shelving, particularly with an organ, piano or singing in the background (the library is adjacent to the college chapel). I spend every afternoon on the issue desk helping readers. I also process new books and journals. Corpus is quite a small library which means I have a sense of the whole library and not just one part. There are only three of us in the team (the Librarian, the Assistant Librarian and the trainee) so I feel I have a real role to play in the running of the Library.
I am looking forward to undertaking a project after Christmas, as well as the chance to visit other libraries in Oxford and elsewhere.
I am currently deciding whether to study for an masters in Librarianship next year, and I think the Oxford traineeship is a really good way of gaining the experience with which to make such a decision.
