Becoming an active voice in the library community is my primary career goal. Over the last several years I have endeavored to form a strong foundation of experience to support myself as an active scholar, speaker and above all an ambitious librarian ready to contribute to the community. Librarianship demands dedication to learning and requires librarians to actively seek educational opportunities. Learning and the exchange of ideas define the role of the librarian.

Students seeking a career in library science should spend time working in various library settings. Each position that I have held has been a valuable opportunity for me to explore my personal strengths and gain an inside perspective on the nature of librarianship before committing to a graduate program. For example, while working at the University of Louisville I discovered the rewards of research and presenting at library conferences. Teaching and sharing knowledge with others is a central aspect of a professional librarian's career and I found that I enjoyed presenting posters and providing training sessions. Much of my desire to pursue librarianship revolves around the sharing of information and the satisfaction that accompanies the exchange of ideas.

As a graduate student in library science I am preparing myself for the traditional roles of librarians while seeking to acquire skills that will ensure the continued relevance of the profession in the 21st century. The next generation librarian is expected to actively pursue new technologies to support information needs. This past summer I attended the 2007 NASIG conference as the Fritz Schwartz scholarship winner. There, I met the director of the LOCKSS program and agreed to produce a video about setting up a LOCKSS digital preservation system to be posted on YouTube. When I first started working in a library I had no idea that I would have the opportunity to learn about digital video recording and editing. That is the exciting part about librarianship; you never know what you'll need to learn in order to reach the community. This may mean creating a blog, a Facebook page or attending a virtual conference in Second Life. I'll have to admit that some of the "current" trends in Web 2.0 seem strange, but librarianship is also about understanding and responding to the needs of our patrons. There is no better way to do this than jumping into Web 2.0 with an open mind and a sense of adventure.

I am drawn to the library profession by the constant need for exploration of information. Reference professionals have daily opportunities to guide patrons to specific resources and help those who are looking, but don't know exactly what they seek. Catalogers provide the metadata needed to map access points, and our systems professionals maintain the technical requirements to deliver information. We all work together to provide services that enhance quality of life for many people and provide opportunity to push the boundaries of human knowledge.

I often think about the barriers to finding information in our current environment. As a future librarian, I hope to someday be part of a movement to bridge the gap between traditional cataloging and non-MARC metadata creation. I was recently awarded a Sage/ALCTS grant to attend ALA this summer in Anaheim. This grant is providing me an opportunity to attend a workshop that aims to introduce practicing catalogers to metadata creation in a digital library setting. I am hopeful that this experience will help me achieve my personal goals and in turn help the library community provide comprehensive access to information resources.

Every position in a library would suit my desire to share information and guide discovery. My personal strengths and aptitudes are well suited to metadata creation. I have excelled in cataloging class and have learned valuable skills as a serials cataloger at the Herman B. Wells Library. These experiences have laid a strong foundation that will help me enter the profession well prepared for today's information environment. I'm excited about the endless possibilities in the library profession and I am eager to call myself a librarian.