Hello, I am Lauren, the second trainee at the SSL. I graduated this summer from Bristol University where I studied Archaeology and Anthropology so this is my first full-time job. I am really enjoying it so far and I am even beginning to get used to the early starts! Everyone has been really friendly and encouraging and I am very grateful to be working with Ruth as we are often able to tackle new problems together.
I have had no previous experience of working in a library so everything is very exciting and new at the moment! As Ruth said, our daily tasks are very varied including issue desk and shelving duties, as well as being responsible for the main email account, looking for missing books and claimed returns, sending out invoices, repairing damaged books and many other tasks which crop up on a daily basis. It certainly seems there will be no time to get bored this year!
I have really enjoyed the training sessions we have had so far and I think it will be great to be part of a training scheme where there are so many trainees with which to share the experience. I am looking forward to learning as much as I can about the library profession this year and hopefully this will help me to decide what I would like to do in the future.