Week of Takeover: May 30, 2022
Jillian Eslami (she/her) is a First Year Experience Librarian at Texas A&M University, Texas, US.
I had a BLAST sharing my week with you all on @LifeofLibrarians! I was able to show you a pretty basic week for me, especially during the summer. Our outreach season really gears up in the summer, but outreach in our libraries is year round. During the fall I teach a first year experience course, as well as one shot instruction for first year English classes, and that keeps me extra busy on top of some of the standing fall outreach we do. We have a pretty set agenda for what each semester looks like in terms of outreach, but by no means does that mean there aren’t events or programs that pop up here and there. Basically, doing outreach is the best part of structured and unstructured planning (to me at least!) because you can assess and grow from semester to semester, event to event, but also have opportunities to try new things and see how it goes with events or collaborators that are new and create new relationships that can then turn into thost consistent, long standing events and programs!
Personally, the toughest part of my job, especially coming out of the pandemic, is saying yes to everything. Outreach during the pandemic was really hard and to be honest, not the most fulfilling. So now that we are back fully in person at Texas A&M, I almost want to make up for lost time and do everything! This includes building new relationships and partnerships, expanding on existing programs or redesigning, etc. Outreach is a big part of my job as an FYE librarian, but it is not the only part of my job, so I am truly working on saying no and not overwhelming myself or my team with too much. I just get excited about it all and am always ready and willing to try something new and different. But also realize that sometimes it’s just not the right time.
If I had to give new and prospective librarians a tip, it would be to look for jobs that are YOU. And by that I mean, jobs that align with not only skill sets, but personality and values and what makes you happy.I remember when I saw the job posting for this position in 2019 and thinking, wow, this looks like the perfect job for me! And it pretty much is! Of course it is work, and work is not always going to be 100% awesome every single day, but I love my job. I think the best part is being part of New Student Conferences, teaching first year experience classes, and, well, the whole first year experience in general, because it creates an opportunity to build the library into these student’s college experience from very early on and help them see the library as more than a place with books. We offer so many resources and services, and being able to present these to them before they start their first semester, as well as during, I like to think creates a positive, warm, welcoming perception of the libraries. At least that is what I try to do!
-Jillian Eslami
Life of Librarians 