Seeking out professional networking opportunities is essential to growing a valuable community of information colleagues across institutions.
Networking with other professionals is important to me as an aspiring Children’s Librarian and Teacher Librarian, as it enables me to gain insights into new ideas and perspectives through collaborative work, so that I can provide the best services for my community (Hoffman & Bournoutian, 2021).
I believe in the importance of sharing and utilising resources from across the industry, so that myself and other professionals can work together to provide high quality programs, collections, and experiences for library patrons.
As Iuliona (2012) highlights, networking includes “listening and both giving and taking advice” (para. 2). Combining knowledge and expertise with other professionals enables our profession to cultivate wisdom, data and innovations to ensure all information seekers and library users’ needs are met and exceeded.
References:
Hoffman, A. T., & Bournoutian, N. (2021). Tips for networking. Core. https://alacorenews.org/2021/12/07/tips-for-networking/
Iuliona, A. (2012). Recap of professional networking for new librarians: Annual webinar on online networking. New Members Round Table: Your Path to ALA, 42 (1). https://www.ala.org/nmrt/news/footnotes/august2012/recap-professional-networking-new-librarians-annual-webinar-online-networking