How did I end up as a librarian meme I was tagged by Jill - actually, this is probably the first meme I've been tagged for (so that I've noticed) in more than a year (or years?).

I've always used libraries. Growing up, my mom took me to the Kirkwood branch of the New Castle County (Delaware) library for story time and to check out books. I still remember my card - it was card stock and kind of an orangey yellow. And then when we moved to Maryland, we went to the Rising Sun branch of the Cecil County library - this is back when it was the size of a walk-in closet - it was right there in town and sharing a building with the police department. After I left it moved out to a new building. I also used the main branch in Elkton when I had a bigger report that I needed to do.

In college, I really didn't use the library - at all - except when I had to write a paper or the quiet study room. But when I was off on my own alone in New Port at Surface Warfare Officer School Division Officer Course, I was a heavy user of the New Port (town? county? township? borough?) library - which I could walk to from my apartment and where I discovered a reference book that was a guide to historical fiction...

In Jacksonville, I was a heavy user of the libraries - I remember calling from Curacao on liberty to renew books :) (ok, I shouldn't have taken library books underway, but it was just a 6week deal). That was the first library I ever saw that had a security guard - very off-putting right by the front door. Once again, back in Maryland, I headed out to the Long Branch branch of Montgomery County...

So there I was, getting out of the military with a physics degree - by the skin of my teeth and 4 years old so anything I had learned was rusty - experience driving a ship, shooting some guns, .... I talked to some defense contractors, and it was more of what I was trying to get away from. So I took the Strong type indicator and the MBTI... and as I recall, I came up either librarian or priest. Since I'd just converted to Catholicism and gotten married (neither of which is up for discussion on this blog!) ...

My husband was very supportive - he told me this would be perfect and that I would love it. I interviewed my mom's college roommate who was a chemistry librarian and through Jean Hort who headed the Navy Department Library, Brenda Corbin who was head of the Naval Observatory Library. These women are great role models.

I applied, got in, and the rest is history.... long story.

I'd like Mark (even though I think we discussed this already), Randy, Joe, and Ruth to answer this -but only if they feel like it, no pressure.  ¶ 11:45 PM| |cites (technorati) |