Something completely different to what I expected

Honestly, since I started year 10, work experience was one of the things I was dreading. I thought it would be two weeks of just doing nothing. However when I came to the Marshall Library I found myself quite surprised with the considerable amount of work to be done, with the varied tasks and jobs required to keep the library running.

On my first day of working in the Marshall Library I was kindly introduced to the staff team by Sue, whom all of which were welcoming. My first day proved to be the most difficult as I was getting into a new routine, as well as in a new place with people I didn’t really know. But as the days went on, work began to get easier and I feel like I made a closer connection with the staff.

Getting to work took me a while as I had to get the 8:11 train and then walk from the station, which took around 25 minutes. However, I soon realised that the library was reasonably close to the town centre, which gave me the opportunity to see my friends at lunch as I had a whole hour, which I took from 13:00-14:00 every day.

During the week my work varied with the tasks I was doing. Firstly I learnt how to issue and receive books to university students as well as collecting book references and checking where they are kept. On one particular day, I was introduced to Anita’s work and how she does cataloguing, which took me by surprise as to how much thorough work has to be done. I found that the work became easier as I became more confident, and it gave me a better understanding of the library environment as well as a work environment.

Aside from all the work, Sue was kind enough to organise visits to other libraries for me. The Cambridge University Library was astonishing; when I was told there were around 8 million books, I found this hard to believe. Finding one specific book which we needed for the Marshall Library was actually enjoyable, and something completely different to what I expected. Because of my particular interest in physics, specifically Cosmology and Astronomy, Sue organised a visit to the Moore Library and the Library of Astronomy. This was exciting for me as I hope to pursue a career in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, specialising in Cosmology.

Overall, working in the Marshall Library was, admittedly, quite intimidating at first as my knowledge of the library work environment was limited. However, as the days progressed I began to get more comfortable with working and found it easier to undertake any new challenges I was given. I was particularly enthusiastic when Clemens asked me if I would like to do a project which revolved around Economics, so I thought I would use my knowledge of the German Economy from 1919–1929 and apply it to the subject of Economics to create a display for the library.

Display at Marshall Library: 'German Economy from 1919-1929''

Even without any knowledge of working in a library, I still found my two weeks at the Marshall Library particularly enjoyable, and I now feel like I have a much clearer understanding of what work may entail in the near future.

Jodie (work experience 6 to 17 July 2015)

Surprisingly more interesting than it seemed...

My first thought of finding out my work experience was at Marshall Library made me think I was going to have a boring two weeks. Working from 9am to 5pm in a library sounded like a dull option but it was surprisingly more interesting than it seemed.

On my first day I met the library staff. They were welcoming about my arrival and the work atmosphere seemed relaxed and friendly. I was taught how they organised books and learnt to issue and return items to students. While I worked part-time doing a newspaper round, this was a new experience for me as I had never acquired the experience of doing a full-time job, nor have I worked in such an environment comparable to a library. The library system was efficient and coordinated; everything was precisely laid out making collecting books simple and easy. Since I am studying economics in school, I decided to take advantage of the resources around me; reading up on certain subjects and looking at the weekly The Economist news. During my stay here, I gained a good understanding of how a standardized library works, learning about the catalogue system and finding out about the extensive collection of dated books hidden away in the basement.

Going to work was quick and easy since I lived in Cambridge.  Travelling by bike, I could avoid most of the morning traffic, allowing me to get to work in roughly 20 minutes. I took a lunch break from 1pm-2pm, often going to meet up with my friends to have lunch on Parker's Piece.

During the week, Sue kindly organised for me to visit the Geography Library, and the Maps Department at the University Library. Andrew from the UL showed me one of the oldest atlases, and I saw the Map's basement, where I saw old maps of Cambridge. Geography is one of my GCSE subjects making it a good opportunity to understand what higher level geography is like. I was given a quick tour of the Geography Library and was shown example pieces of university dissertations.

It was interesting learning the catalogue system and how useful it is to the library. With a few words from the title of the book, we could find out the exact location of the book, alongside a description and publishing date etc. Before going to the University Library with Sue, we searched for a book in the catalogue  before finding its  physical location on the library shelf. It was impressive seeing how large the library was while still being able to home in on specific books easily.

Display case on Brazil: Poverty and Income Inequality

While most new experiences were fun, there was still a bit of repetitive data entry work to be completed, however I soon got used to the routine and became more efficient at it. That's what work is all about. Overall, I learnt a lot from my time at Marshall Library. It was a great experience which has benefited my understanding of work life. Not only have I gained an understanding of how a library works, it also increased my self-confidence and my appreciation of the work environment.

Garrett (work experience 15 to 26 June 2015)