Another day, another search

The job hunt continues, as ever. There are still a lot of jobs being listed for libraries, but a lot of them are not for me. These usually ask for experience, skills and/or coursework that I don’t have at the moment. I am, however, applying for anything I come across that I think is worth it, even if it does list one or two things I don’t have. Over the past week, I’ve applied to jobs with Quinnipiac University, the College of Coastal Georgia, and the Army. I have full respect for the men and women in this country’s armed services, and I would love to support them as a civilian librarian.

I’ve also been applying to retail positions. If I am to get stuck in the retail world, I would ideally like to wind up in a book store. It’s tough getting work in those, I know from experience, but I’ve also applied to stores like Teavana, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Trader Joe’s. I’m doing my best to keep my chin up and continue plugging, and hoping something comes through soon. It’s rather stressful being out of good work this long after graduation.

Aside from reading, I’m volunteering with a science-fiction convention to help ward off the cabin fever. It’s called Lunacon, and it’s taking place in the Rye Town Hilton in New York’s Westchester County this coming March 19-21. The convention is in its 53d year. The guests of honor this year are Tanya Huff (author), Theresa Mather (artist), Allison Lonsdale (music), and Dominick Corrado (fan). There will be a dealer’s room, an art show, gaming, a Masquerade, and lots of other fun activities. I’m working with the Book Exhibit and Raffle table, the proceeds from which go to support the Donald A. and Elise B. Wollheim Scholarship Fund for young science-fiction and fantasy writers. The Wollheims founded DAW, which publishes an excellent variety of SFF. 
http://2010.lunacon.org/

Still searching … and searching …

I’m doing the best I can with the job hunt, but there still haven’t been any good leads. I had applied for a Librarian I position in San Francisco, and they sent me a letter asking me to come take their civil service test. I was unable to make it to the date specified, and they weren’t able to let me re-schedule for this week (I’m in town for a family event). I would have loved to have a shot at this job because I’d be in a library and living near some family I don’t get to see very often, but such is life. The same thing has happened for the same position that I applied for in the Milwaukee, WI, library system – they want me to take their test on-site, but I won’t be able to make it out there. I’m going to continue plugging, and hopefully I’ll be able to land an interview for a job that either does not require a civil service exam, or wants me to come to them in a place that’s easier for me to get to than San Francisco or Milwaukee.

I’m still working my way through House of Leaves. It’s rather slow going for me because of the format, and while I’m not finding myself getting into it enough that I need to know what happens next, I’m still almost morbidly curious. I’ll admit I’m having more fun with Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series. I read the Book of Dreams collection of short stories a year or two ago, but I finally started reading the graphic novels this week. I’m starting at the beginning, of course, with Preludes and Nocturnes. I think I read some graphic novels based on Mozart’s The Magic Flute many years ago, and this is my first foray into that format since then. I expected high quality storytelling as a fan of Gaiman’s non-graphic books, and I’m not disappointed. I’ll probably keep going out of order with the Sandman series because I’ve got Dream County (#3?) at home. That one will be next, and I’ll read the others as I get my ink- and chocolate-stained li’l mitts on them.

Still searching.

My apologies for another late post – I was traveling yesterday and trying to get my act back together today.

I believe I mentioned in a previous post that I’d been hoping to hear from the Newton Free Library about a position that I had applied for with them. They never called me in for an interview, so I’ll continue my search and offer my congratulations to the unknown successful candidate. I did get a nibble from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL. I had applied to them for a full-time Librarian position, and they e-mailed me back asking if I’d be interested in a temporary position lasting a few months. I said yes, of course, but I’m not going to hold my breath. There’s no point in maybe turning blue and falling over when I could maybe find a library that definitely wants me, even though it would be nice to be an hour away from the Kennedy Space Center.

I’ve been watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies from Vancouver, Canada. RIP Nodar Kumaritashvili. I’ve been enjoying all the tricks they’ve been doing with the graphics and projectors, and seeing everybody waving their flashlights and candles is more awesome than any rock concert I’ve ever seen, but my favorite segment has to have been the fiddle-and-tap segment. I missed the name of the man singing “Hallelujah,” but he’s pretty good. I will try to post on time next week. Until then, I’ll keep on plugging and dreaming about working at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

The search goes on … and on …

I’m still in Boston looking for jobs. I’ll hopefully be hearing back from the Newton Free Library about an interview tomorrow or early next week, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I actually experienced some happenstance networking yesterday, but I don’t know if it’s going to lead anywhere. The tip was that there might be some library-type job openings at Wellesley College, but such positions weren’t listed on the website. I left a voicemail for one of the librarians, and if she’s still looking for candidates then hopefully she’ll get back to me.

I might go out again tomorrow looking for potential retail jobs that could hold me over until the library market opens up, and of course I’ll do some searching online as usual. I’ve got a good-sized folder of job search links in my Internet Favorites. In addition to various states’ library job boards, my other regular search sites (mainly library) include:

Indeed                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
http://www.indeed.com
                                                                                                                                                                                                ALA JobList                                                                                                                                                                                                             
http://joblist.ala.org
                                                                                                                                                                                                 USAJobs                                                                                                                                                                                                 
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov
                                                                                                                                                                             New England Higher Education Recruitment Consortium                                                                                                               
http://www.newenglandherc.org/
                                                                                                                                                                           The Rutgers School of Communication and Information Job Board                                                                                            
http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/placement/
                                                                                                                                                           The Drexel University College of Information Science and Technology Job Search                                                      
http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/APF/JobPlacement/Search/JobPostings
                                                                                          The University of Texas Graduate School of Library and Information Science Job Board                                             
http://fiat.gslis.utexas.edu/jobweb/Search.php
                                                                                                                                              The Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science Job Blog                                                     
http://gslis.simmons.edu/blogs/jobs/

I’m also slowly working my way through Mark Z. Danielewski’s novel House of Leaves. It’s one funky book. It claims three separate author/contributors, one of whom could have his own book just from his almost epically tangential footnotes, and it reads more like a non-fiction study than a novel. It’s fascinating in an odd way, and I have yet to get to the sections where blocks of text are turned on their side and inset, or there are small and shrinking blocks of text on following sections of pages. I heard about this book from a friend, and at this point I think I can safely recommend it for anyone who enjoys things out of the ordinary that make them think.