Monday 19 September 2011

Introducing your subject librarian...

Welcome to the first in a series of posts in which we will introduce you to the SMU librarians who are here to support your subject areas. First of all, we have Philippa Price who supports Swansea School of Education on the Townhill campus.

Philippa
I have been an Assistant Librarian at SMU for nearly six years now. This is my first librarian position, but not my first job in a library. I spent a brief time as a library assistant at Swindon College, a further education college in, wait for it, Swindon. Before that, I was a library assistant on Five Valleys Mobile Library, based in Stroud. This was an idyllic job that involved being driven round the Cotswolds area and drinking cups of tea provided by our lovely patrons while I helped them choose their books. As wonderful as it was though, overall I prefer working in the higher education sector. Townhill Library is certainly much busier than the mobile library ever was!

To become a librarian, I gained a Masters in Information and Library Studies at Aberystwyth University. Aberystwyth is something of a home from home for me as I also read American Studies there as an undergraduate. It's wet and windy in the winter, but it's a lovely town and I try to go back for visits when I can. Aber gave me a taste for living by the sea, so I'm very pleased to have ended up in Swansea, especially with such a stunning view of Mumbles from work!

Outside of work, I am, of course, an avid reader. (What kind of librarian would I be if I didn't like books?) I've just finished The little stranger by Sarah Waters, which I very much enjoyed. Aside from books, I go swimming a couple of times a week and go to the cinema fairly regularly. In the evenings, when I'm not swimming or at the pictures, I tend to veg out in front of the TV. I'm very excited about the return of Strictly Come Dancing and will be rooting for Jason Donovan to win!

That's me in a nutshell. I've already met some PGCE students at their library inductions and am looking forward to meeting many more Education students over the next month or so. I hope you've enjoyed this little insight into my life. Don't judge me too harshly for being a Jason Donovan fan!

No comments:

Post a Comment