Final Thoughts:
Me outside the Glasgow Cathedral. Taken by Valerie.
This was an amazing trip! For someone who has never traveled internationally, I feel like Scotland was a great place to start. Due to the landscape and the friendly people, it had a very mid-west feel. Throughout the trip, we had our class meetings and I think we were all amazed at how open and giving people were of their time. I think this is a universal trait for most librarians; they just want to share any information they can (good, bad, and ugly). They see the value in people receiving information, and I felt we were all part of a greater community. Perhaps they wanted to share everything because they knew we could be facing similar situations in our own libraries. Maybe they wanted to share their stories with people who cared about libraries, both their successes and trials, and who cares more about libraries than library students? In some instances, I felt like they just wanted to be heard by a sympathetic audience. Whatever their reasons, librarians just love to share and the more interest you show the more they will share, as we found out at Innerpeffray.
This experience will definitely help me become a better librarian. I love this community and every time I go to class or visit a new library, I feel a renewed sense of purpose. I know no matter where in the world I am someone somewhere is going through the same thing. I can rely on this community to provide helpful tips or new ideas. I also have a global sounding board to whom I can pose a question, and the world of librarians will help me formulate an answer or reassure my own conclusions.
Not only did I find this in the professionals we met, but I found this sense of community with my classmates. Even though we come from different parts of the US, we had a single goal: to be the best librarians ever. One night I was out to dinner (best chips and steak and ale pie) with the Portland girls, Helen and Emily, and also Angela from Utah and we were talking about past experiences working in schools. Helen and I had similar bad experiences, and I also told them about why I left a school library position (or how I took a stand against censorship!). Though I’m proud of my actions, I’m always nervous about mentioning it on job applications because I left, by choice, in the middle of the year. My dinner party all reassured me and said I should write it down so I know it by heart and can cater it to any interview. They gave me some great career and job-seeking advice and I feel better about sharing my negative experiences and turning them into positive antidotes for future interviews. I greatly enjoyed getting to know everyone on the trip.
Kelli was the best roommate ever! We fell into our routine by day two and in love with Weetabix by day three. She was so sweet that she even brought me tiramisu.
We both enjoyed staying together, but we could also strike out on our own without worrying about the other. I feel like I have made some real connections both professionally and personally. I wish we all lived slightly closer so we could get together and share our pictures and a drink, but maybe we can settle for sharing both online. Or at the very least virtual tea parties!