Hi there, welcome to my site!

I’m Lucas, 26 years old, I’m into comics, card games, and classic fantasy, really classic, like Le Guin and Tolkien, and I’m currently completing the final year of my bachelors degree in Information Studies at Charles Sturt University.

Since the start of 2022 I’ve been working at a library, a small highschool library in the northern suburbs of Victoria, and it’s my first foray into the profession. This site is a documentation of the professional development I’ve completed since starting my bachelors degree, I’ve studied a lot of things both in and out of work and university, and I hope this can show you some of the things I’ve spent some time learning about.

I want these PD activities to help me achieve greater positions in this profession, at the moment I’m loving school libraries, especially highschool, but anything working with people and trying to get them to read sounds great to me.

CPD, Networking, and Me: My thoughts on getting better at the job

Continuing Professional Development was something that confused me: Wouldn’t I continue professional development and meet new people as I worked?

And after working my first year in the industry I have my answer:

No.

When working in a position you have duties and tasks you need to complete. My first year as a Library Assistant at a High school has me completing all of these, all of the time, resulting in an endless cycle of well… doing the job. My lack of experience means I’m still learning basics, but in order to reliably learn new skills and information that is relevant to the industry, Continued Professional Development is necessary. A concentrated and intentional effort to expand your skill set is something that I personally believe helps break the monotony of day to day work life, and the skills it brings can benefit current and future workplaces in ways that I didn’t realise, because I didn’t know about them.

I also work with one other person, so I don’t get a look into different ways libraries run and operate, and this is where professional networking comes in: connecting with professionals in the industry gives me new skills that I might not learn otherwise, and provides ways to further my career, both through professional development and employment opportunities.