Guidance for librarians transitioning to a new environment (Routledge Guides to Practice in Libraries, Archives and Information Science)

Abstract

It’s a fairly well-accepted view nowadays that the ‘Job for life’ no longer exists. Even if a person was to spend their whole career working in one organisation, they can expect their duties to change over time – whether that be through promotion, secondment opportunities, organisational restructure, or technological change. Many other people will move between a number of different organisations during the course of their careers. In the library industry, this may involve a move between different types of libraries (public, special, academic, school, government), or different functional teams (technical services, lending services, information services). And then some people will move into the library sector from unrelated occupations. In each of these scenarios, some adjustment to a new workplace culture, new systems, and a new way of working, is necessary. Some people will handle this transition well, while others may not. In the words of the authors of Guidance for Librarians transitioning to a new environment: