#but I did an insane background dammit and that was the goal

[nosnexus]

Daughters of the Crown

[blindrapture]

MONDAY AUGUST 1ST, 2011 (Don't Speak Its True Name I: Peace)

1:03 AM Along the forest road, we walk at an uneven pace. There's five of us now, each with different understandings and different speeds. Danny's excited to have more boys to talk to. Donnie's looking nervously around and finding any excuse to not have to talk. Fentzy and I are leading the pack, or trying to. We don't really know where we're going now? Whether we encounter zombies, wild wolves, or cloning shadows from worlds beyond, there's too many of us now for any idle threats. And Donnie and I still have our hammer and sword, still stained with alien blood. Of all the adventures we've had, that last one feels the most like a dream.

1:39 AM Bones came up to the front, with us. "Hey, so. Next time we find a Door, I wanna show you something." Oh, sure. Like, a house, or a rabbit hole door? "Right, you call them 'rabbit holes.' Yeah, those." What do you call them? o: "Doors of Oblivion." Fentzy looked at him in surprise and then tripped over a tree root NOTHING HAPPENED, I DID NOT GET PUNCHED IN THE ARM

2:00 AM "There! Between those trees! It's a Sears!" dammit Danny we're not looking for a Sears we're looking for a-- oh between those trees is a well-lit superstore aisle of kitchen appliances Yeah, that's a rabbit hole. derek "By the Nine, it's Oblivion."

2:02 AM He set one foot in the rabbit hole, and now we’re surrounded by shifting swirly purple. How the hell did he do that? :D

2:03 AM I can feel faces looking down on us with what I hope is sympathy. 85858588855855558558588885558588855855558555885885585885885888888585888885585885855855888555855885585885885888888558585885588885885888888555888885558585855855588558888585585885855855588558858585585558885888888555888885588585855855888558585585585555:85585888855885858858888885585558555885888555588585558588855585885558858885558558555885888555858888588888855588558558588585585558855585858558558885585588855885858858888885558585855855588558555585585888855885888555858585585855855588558558858585585558 AM dawn, I still wait for my god despite the self-help of my faith I see the Final Battle of good and evil. The Lamb versus the Beast. In one corner, standing tall and thin, is one contender, scarf of blood and hat of shadow. His sanity dissipated long ago along with what some would call a soul. would you, Jordan? call it a soul? In the other corner, standing everywhere at once with strange headgear and a weapon crafted from the bowels of the Planck level itself, stands another contender. I sense great evil buried deep within. Only one contender still waits for his God. Both contenders have drawn their stairway, and some of us may go up one and some down the other. Our souls may separate from us as we do so. As the movements flow, as John Petrucci paves the background way, as the Harlot suffers a fate unimaginable, the Beast nears his goal. The Lamb lies down on Broadway, the Eldritch's Broadway, where puppets dance for the sake of the Harlot’s trance. No man can save us from the world’s two apocalypses. Cloud’s Rebirth and its Red Repercussions will have come and gone, leaving a dying dawn on the lawn of Babylon. All that remains is the untrue spawn; insanity’s fawn fades with its pawn. Something like feeling leaving your nerves trembling in their cosmically hard battered scream. Ready to end, ready to dissolve into atoms that are no longer your own.

2:13 AM Purple cave. A mirror figure leads me on. It is Bones. Behind me are Fentzy, Donnie, and Danny. We unearth back on Earth in yet more woods, but at least the trees are a different sort here.

2:39 AM Fentzy was wise enough to get a flashlight in Los Angeles, so we're not entirely in the dark here. Plus the moon's pretty, seen through the canopy! But every so often, there's laughter from afar, and from up above.

2:45 AM There's birds up above. They're the ones laughing. But it's just like birdsong. Danny says maybe they're lyre birds or something. Where the hell are we?

3:03 AM One by one, houses crept into our environment, until we were undeniably in a suburban setting. The road came after, and we stepped onto the sidewalk pavement, cracked in places and sometimes wobbly. This is a town. a bevelled caution draws each foreigner, ground high, into jurisdiction:

"DOMINIERE : Sweet clearing abode!"

The buildings look like a beautiful mixture between European and American. Reminds me of Savannah, but this isn't Georgia. Where are we?

3:08 AM A scattering of houses have lights on inside, which only draws attention to the most that do not. It's three in the morning. This is normal behaviour for a normal suburb. The sky is still red. Derek insists we're not in a rabbit hole. Why is this place untouched?

3:27 AM A long walk past residences, and now we can see different architecture ahead. A town centre. We'll cut through a cemetery to reach it.

3:30 AM "Why is there a grave for a guitar?" What "FRIEND OF JORDAN GAVE HIM GOOD THINGS TO REMEMBER HIS ISOLATION BY HERE LIES TIGER STRIPES, PROOF OF THE VALUE IN INANIMATE PLASTIC." What??? Who did.. how did??? And why do I.. need a minute now?

3:32 AM Good game, Tiger Stripes. Six Guitar Heroes together. So much DragonForce, so much Megadeth. “2112.” Three Rock Bands together, DLC to the heavens and beyond. The Epic Symphony in A Flat Minor, “Obfuscation,” Ten, Rust in Peace, “Free Bird,” “Roundabout,” “Antibodies,” “Panic Attack,” “Visions,” and everything in between. Two and a half months of Hell, it took. You were strong, you were sturdy. You kept going through the fire and the flames, you killed so many spidercats. We made it across the Atlantic together, we made it across the Divided Countries together. Now we have to end our playthrough. We couldn’t FC this one, friend, but I’m sure we passed. .w. And I’m sure we could never do it without you. Cold figures laugh at themselves The ultimate practical joke They see skies fading Their faces regret nothing at all tonight Still, they think once of The last sunset bitter. September 2010 - July 2011.

3:48 AM On we go. Walking into a land of normal here where it shouldn't be, What can it mean but the return of the shambling dead? Jordan leads the pack this time, gangly teens on the prowl, and he Summons wit he never had, someone's grit he's always said. Through Hapsburg Court, his friends keep up. Treasure Street, Danny starts to trail behind. "Does he know where he's going? What's up? "I'm feeling doubts creep into my mind."

3:58 AM Striding into this land of normal here, what a shouldn't-be! Fentzy wouldn't worry, but Derek looks at her with furrowed brow. Donnie slows down to catch up with Danny, And Jordan starts-- what?-- to dance down Pine Avenue-- how? How does he not notice? He's making a fool. But Donnie's seen it before. She's the first to put it a name: "Guys, wherever we are," she says, "and 'wherever's' the rule, "We're not safe here. He's being led. I've seen it. This is the same."

4:03 AM Into the George. It's a bar! Or, a pub. We're in Canada. I worked it out! (There were posters on the way.) The George isn't normally open this late, but with the Rapture, it helps to have a nightwatch. Oh hey, the others have caught up! Hey guys! Check it out, it's a pub! ...they're winded. :3 Let 'em sit down, let 'em chill a bit. I'll talk to the locals.

4:10 AM Stumbled on a land of normal, narrated by an unknown voice, What can it mean but bless us our daily bread? Fentzy wants someone to investigate on their own, but her choice-- Herself-- isn't even raised before Danny volunteers his head, Running out the door, telling Derek to cover him. But those kids don't even know about me, The music in the background, the voice of the cherubim, And I think we'll keep it that way for a while, wait and see. Bait in sea.

4:32 AM Okay, so! I've gathered my friends, let me tell you what I've learned! This is Dominiere, a township in Alberta! Established in 1953 by the Social Credits or something! It's a fairly big town! The apocalypse didn't really hit them, but they send money to their neighbours where they can! Neighbouring towns and. What. Donnie "Are you okay?" Yeah, I'm fine! Bones "Hey, uh, Danny's gone out to check out the town." Oh shit! Good on him! So anyway, these guys know what's up, they have their heads on their shoulders, this looks like a place where we can settle and not worry. … So yeah! We're here! Let's go!

6:50 AM [donnie] Donnie here. Someone ought to update the journal, and Jordan's not going to since he went to sleep. Danny went off on his own to check out the area two hours ago and never came back. I asked Derek why he took us here, and he said that he doesn't really have control over the purple faces, that he just follows where they take him. As if to prove this, he tried to return to the rabbit hole and get us a path out of here, to keep our options open, and.. we couldn't even find the Door, honestly. Whenever we went far enough out into the forest, we'd hit a crowd of zombies in a line, holding hands, blocking our path. I don't like it. I don't trust it. I think Derek just led us into a trap. And Jordan's not even recognizing any of it. He found a bed, first chance he could, and went to sleep. We're gathered in the same hotel he picked. The Coach Motel. The others are going to wait up for Danny to come back, but I'm going to join Jordan and talk to him in the morning.

11:49 AM [jordan] Woke up next to Donnie. :) My journal next to my bed. The birds are singing, someone's mowing a lawn, the sky is a peaceful red, and I feel... safe.

11:55 AM Hi Donnie. "Mngh.. baby, are you okay?" Yeah! I'm grand. I'm happy today. "Did you read my entry in your journal?" Yeah. I think you guys have this one covered. "..baby, I don't trust this place. And I don't know what's happening to you." Nothing's happening! Hey, do you want to take a walk with me? We can see what's here in Dominiere. "...yeah. Yeah, let me put some pants on." :)

12:03 PM Outside our room, sitting in chairs in the hallway, are Bones and Fentzy! Bones was asleep but Fentzy woke him up when we came out. Hey guys! fentzy "So you've had some sleep. Are you gonna help us look for Danny?" Oh, is he still out? Sure, we can have a look. Donnie and I were gonna have a look at the area anyway! "Then we're coming too." Great! :D

12:08 PM They've been filling me in on stuff. They see people coming in and out of the hotel, in and out of rooms, and it all looks totally normal. They say it's like there's no apocalypse outside, but I think it's more like this is a town that's gotten used to it and thrived! This is humanity, man! This is what we can do! And a circle of zombies on the outskirts of town? Sounds to me like the townsfolk have pushed the zombies out.

12:10 PM The barkeep saw me and waved! Asked if I slept okay. Like a light! I love this place!

12:21 PM Immediately outside the Coach Motel are vendors in stalls selling sausages, selling bedding and pillows, selling hard candies, selling coasters with all kinds of popular fictional characters on them, selling CDs, selling fresh strawberries and grapes! We're not far from a square where the real market is out, where there's a hairdresser, a keyfob, a watch repair shop, an antique store, and some cafes! Such a charming little town!

12:35 PM Farther out from the town square are furniture stores, with moving vans coming to and fro, and there are small shops selling fresh produce and tins, and.. donnie "No sign of Danny anywhere…" fentzy "God, where did he go? How does he just vanish?" donnie "Did he ever go out on his own before? When you were traveling with him?" fentzy "He's a bit of a bonehead and does this, yeah, but he only ever takes this long if there's trouble." Oh man, there's a model railway? … fentzy "What the fuck?"

12:38 PM Donnie's pulled me aside. "Jordan." Yes? "Jordan, you're being really weird right now." I am? "You're not even.. I mean, these are your friends, not mine. Why am I more concerned about Danny than you are?" He's out seeing the town! Like I want to be! He's fine! "Jordan, we don't want to stay, we want to get out of here." What? Really? This place is exactly what you and I have been looking for! It's precisely a place to stay! "What?" Do you.. not think so? Is this place really so suspicious? "It's surrounded by zombies! Where are the people getting all their produce from? What's the economy? Are they using Z?" These are things we can just ask, Donnie! "..."

12:39 PM Donnie's asked Fentzy and Bones to go on ahead. She's sat us down on a bench. "Please help me understand something." Okay. "You.. remember the last few days, right?" You mean. Do I remember the writhing nightmare world that was King Real's castle, blood and faces awakening my every phobia? Do I remember the fight that threatened your life and got me to feel grief and adrenaline that sucked my stomach out of my throat? Or do you mean the sheer tragedy that was San Francisco? "..yeah. You still remember, you're not having some kind of memory trouble." We've seen a lot of Hell. I feel like I've found somewhere more peaceful, and all that distress is leaking out the back of my head. "But, honey. We don't want you to lose your distress. You clung to this town as soon as we got in here. You didn't have any doubt whatsoever. And I don't think you've earned the trust you have in this place." ..okay. "Yeah?" Can I.. ask something? "Please do." Can I.. go back to my room? "...are you.. sure? That's what you want?" Maybe I'm just.. feeling the exhaustion catch up with me? Maybe I just need some more time. "Well. Alright. I'll tell the others you just need more rest." Thanks, Donnie. .w. "But can I ask something?" Yeah? "Give me your journal?" .......yeah, sure.

12:41 PM [donnie] He's gone back to the hotel. I think he was being honest with me. That conversation was the most "normal" he's sounded today. I don't know if he's aware of the change happening to himself.

12:44 PM I've caught back up with Rauri and Derek. They're confused by Jordan's behaviour, and even if they were his online friends or whatever, they've still only really just met him, so I have to assure them that he's not normally like this. I mean, Christ, we wouldn't have gotten this far if this is what he was like. But I can't.. worry about this now. We've got to get to the bottom of this fucking town.

12:57 PM It's so strange. There's cars, there's traffic. There's a postman. There's police officers. Dominiere has everything but the blue sky, so at least we're not dealing with Ants. It's a regular Canadian town, but just with a red sky.

2:23 PM We stopped a policeman and asked him some questions. "How does Dominiere stay safe from monsters?" "We don't let them in." "What about the Fears?" "They don't mess with us." "Don't you fear the coming of Rapture?" "We don't fear many things here." All rather vague, noncommittal answers. Much like anyone else we ask. No one had seen Danny either. We were making such little progress that Rauri started losing her temper, and I suggested we all get a little more rest. As Rauri stubbornly refused this, I just.. asked her to come and have a drink of tea with me instead. Derek came along, not wanting anyone else to go off on their own. We found a cafe, I don't remember the fucking name, it doesn't matter, but they were decent enough to let us make the tea ourselves (as we still don't know what to trust). I agreed to wash up after, in lieu of payment. I want to be able to say here that we found some staggering evidence, something out of place, but, no, everything has been completely normal. The cafe owners were put upon and polite. The seats were slightly dirty, not spotless. The tea was.. just... tea. A store brand, Safeway brand. And Rauri and I just.. talked. Derek was there too, drinking silently, but he had nothing to add.

I've learned that Rauri is sixteen, she was raised in Connecticut, before all this she wanted to grow up to be a digital artist, she loves PaintTool SAI and Wacom tablets, and she had the most to say about video games, and something called Homestar Runner. She knows Jordan from their web chat client, where she started talking to him.. actually almost a year ago? And she spoke highly of his Sonic... chao... fanfic thing. She cares deeply about Sonic. And Zelda. And something called Ar Tonelico. When she started talking about anime, she lost me a lot more. I grew up with Cowboy Bebop and FLCL, not much more than that. She was telling me about this new one that had only just finished before the Rapture happened, Pulla... um, something about Magical Girls and Witches. I tried to find out more about what happened to her sister, but she's the most guarded about that. She's mad at a lot of Fears more than she's scared of them. Only when I mentioned the slender man did she get evasive. I found that interesting. After a point, I was able to get Derek to talk too. I think he feels guilty for leading us here, even though it doesn't sound like he has control over his strange rabbit hole travel. (What did he call them? Oblivion...? What Fear is that?) These two are warming up to me. Maybe they already were okay with me, but.. I wasn't sure. I don't do too well with new people.

2:30 PM After we had finished our teas, and after I had washed up after ourselves, Rauri allowed herself to feel vulnerable, feel the bags under her eyes. So I took her back to the hotel and got her a room next to ours. Now I'm going back out into town. Derek thinks he can still try something. I want to back him up.

4:44 PM We found our way back to the forest surrounding the town. Harlequin Forest, it's apparently called. When we reached the layer of zombies, I pulled out my hammer. I'll clear a path.

4:47 PM It.. was trivial. Equally trivial was finding the Door where we came in, leading right back to the purple bioluminescent cave. Derek is walking in, swirls of wisps flowing around his legs. I'm following behind.

4:49 PM Hanging above us were hollow glowing faces imprinted in the void, eerily large and subtly expressive. We had seen them on our way in, and Derek is much more familiar with them, as this is the process he uses to navigate the Earth via rabbit hole. But on this occasion, the faces frowned on us, shadowed from the eyes up. Derek says that's new. It's never happened before. And it means we can't go back out this way.

4:50 PM "I'm sorry. I trusted the faces, and they brought us here. Me, I'm used to traveling alone, and if I'd have ended up here, I'd.. probably just bypass the zombies and keep walking? Go until I found another Door. But this was my first time traveling this way with others. I wanted to be of use to all of you, and instead I've made things more difficult." It's not your fault. You were useful, you moved us hundreds of miles. This isn't the first time we've found a town that's tried to trap us, either. We'll make it through this. I'm not too worried. "Evidently, we can get through the zombies. So we're not really all that trapped in that sense." Yeah. It's just… "Jordan." Yeah.

7:11 PM On the way into town this time, we noticed several trucks, all identically labelled ("Genera Transit"), parked in the square in a circle. No one was coming in or out of the trucks, they were all shut, just idling there.

7:15 PM I half-expected to find Jordan seated on a stool in the George, drinking pints of beer. Instead I found him in our hotel room, playing on an N64 that was hooked up to the TV. A "hotel model," apparently. Paper Mario. He had made it to Chapter 3.

7:18 PM Baby, do you want to stop for a moment? "What's up?" I want to fill you in on what I've been up to. And I'd.. kind of.. like to...

10:02 PM [jordan] We had sex! :D Until Derek came in WITHOUT KNOCKING "Sorry. Didn't mean to disturb you two. I just wanted to tell you that I found a blacksmith in town who was interested in making you a new weapon." What's wrong with my sword? "Oh, nothing, like literally nothing, it's a fine sword. Just, you only picked that thing up out of an armory, yeah? It might not be.. uh... tailored? To your specifications. Whereas a blacksmith can... look, sorry, this is really weird, you're not wearing pants." Sorry!

10:03 PM He's gone. He delivered the message, at least. I mean. Having a weapon that's completely my own is really nice. And I do like the businesses around here… Okay! Yeah. A cool thought. Maybe I'll check that out sometime. donnie "But not tonight, right?" Of course not. :3 It's just you and me tonight, the way it should be.

(Attached: “Dominiere, a place by any other name. I remember coming to Jordan with the blacksmith news. Honestly, it was a long shot, I was trying to see if I could get him to come for a walk with me and I chose a really passive way of communicating that. And it was actually on the way out of the hotel then, by myself, that I discovered the strangest damn thing. Everything else about the town so far had been at least harmless, and maybe Jordan was just having a freak episode, nothing pointed to Dominiere literally being a dangerous place. But then I stood in the street, at 10 PM, a wind threatening to blow my hat off my head, when a group of drinkers walked past me. They stepped out onto the road, and one said, and I remember his exact words even now: ---It's such a good night, not even Candle Jack could scare me! Followed by his group trying to shush him. And then a figure, in the night, bashed in his skull with a steel baseball bat. And the rest of his group ran away, screaming, as Genera officers came to move his dead body into a truck.”)

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[forestwater87]

How did you become a university Librarian? Did you do an English degree? Sorry if this is a weird question it just really interests me as I’m not sure what to do when I’m older

Eeee I got really excited about this question! 

Okay, the fun thing about librarianship is that all roads can lead to it: as long as you get an ALA-approved (assuming you’re American; if you aren’t I cannot help you) graduate degree you can do just about anything for undergrad. English majors are extremely common, just by the nature of who’s into the job, but literally it doesn’t matter; in fact, weirder and more specialized degrees can actually help in certain jobs, because they give you a ton of background info and qualifications than most of your contemporaries have.

I fell into it because I worked at a library in high school and fell in love with the environment, and when I realized I’d rather die than work in publishing (my previous life’s goal) I gravitated toward library school. I knew from the beginning that I’d need a Master’s -- and a very specific one at that -- so mostly my undergrad was just “grab a foundational degree and have fun with it.” That was really freeing, honestly. I had a ton of fun in undergrad.

Now, if you, Anon, were interested in getting into librarianship I’d have a handful of recommendations. These are all based on my very American experience, and there are probably smarter people than me with better advice but I’m the only one on this blog so heeeeerrreeeee we goooooooooo!

Undergrad

You need a 4-year degree. Full-stop. It doesn’t matter what kind, but you gotta have one to get into grad school.

Like I said, you can do just about anything for an undergraduate degree. Most of the time English is the BA of choice, because librarians love them some books, but some far less common ones that I think would be hugely helpful to a hopeful librarian would be:

Computer Science: Oh my god you need at least a baseline competency in computers/technology please you don’t have to code but you need to be able to turn a computer on and navigate just about any website/office application on just about any device at the very least you need to know how to Google

Business/Marketing: Particularly if you want to work in public libraries, where a bunch of your funding comes from begging politicians and convincing taxpayers to donate/vote to give you money

Law: If you want to be a law librarian

Medical . . . whatever, I don’t know what fields of medicine there are: If you want to work in a hospital or other medical library

History or Art History: If you’re interested in archives or museum librarianship

Education: School librarians in my state require you to be a certified teacher, and no matter what kind of library you end up in, you’ll end up teaching someone something a decent amount of the time

Communications: You’ll be doing a lot of it. Public speaking, too

Spanish/ASL/any not-the-common language: Hey, you never know what your patrons speak

Literally fucking anything I promise it doesn’t matter what you major in you will use it in a library at some point

Just be aware that you will need more than an undergrad degree. You’ll need probably 2 years of postsecondary schooling (more for certain types of librarianship), so get yourself comfortable with the idea of college.

If you’re like me (please don’t be like me), you might toy with the idea of getting a minor or two/double majoring to round out your skill set. Honestly I’d encourage it if you’re comfortable with the workload and have the time or money; like I said, there are no skills or educational background that won’t come in handy at some point. I promise. We see it all.

Along those lines, a wide expanse of hobbies can be hugely helpful too! You never know when your encyclopedic knowledge of Minecraft will be useful to a patron, but it absolutely will be.

Graduate School

All right, you’ve got your lovely little Bachelor’s Degree, maybe in something weird and esoteric for the fun of it . . . now you’re off to do more school!

It’s a bit complicated, because there are a handful of different titles an appropriate degree could have; my school called it “a Master of Science in Information Science” (MSIS), but other schools might just go with “Master’s of Information Science” (MIS), “Master’s of Library Science” (MLS), “Master’s of Library and Information Science” (MLIS) . . . it’s a mess. 

What you need to do is make sure the degree is approved by the American Library Association, who decides if a program is good enough to make you a librarian in the States. (Again, if you’re not American, good luck.)

Here’s a list of ALA-accredited programs and the schools that offer them.

The nice thing is accreditation has to be renewed at least every few years, so that means your program is always updated to make sure it’s in line with national standards. I’m not promising you’ll learn everything you need to be a librarian in grad school (oh my god you so won’t not even close hahahaha), but at least in theory you’ll be learning the most up-to-date information and methods.

(I’m curious to see how things have changed; when I was in school from 2015-17, the hot topics in library science were makerspaces (especially 3D printing), turning the library into the community’s “third space,” and learning how to incorporate video games into library cataloging and programming. No idea if those are still the main hot-button issues or if we’ve moved on to something else; I imagine information literacy and fake news are a pretty big one for current library students.)

Anyway! You pick a school, you might have to take a test or two to get in -- I had to take the GRE, which is like the SATs but longer -- almost certainly have to do all that annoying stuff like references and cover letters and all that, but assuming you’re in: now what?

There are a couple options depending on the school and the program, but I’m going to base my discussion around the way my school organized their program at the time, because that’s what I know dammit and I will share my outdated information because I want to.

My school broke the degree down into 5 specializations, which you chose upon application to the program:

Archives & Records Administration: For working in archives! I took some classes here when I was flirting with the idea, and it’s a lot of book preservation, organizing and caring for old documents and non-book media, and digitization. Dovetails nicely into museum work. It’s a very specific skillset, which means there will be jobs that absolutely need what you specifically can do but also means there aren’t as many of them. It makes you whatever the opposite of a “jack of all trades” is. You’re likely to be pretty isolated, so if you want to spend all your time with books this might be a good call; it’s actually one of the few library-related options that doesn’t require a significant amount of public-facing work. 

Library & Information Services: For preparation to work in public or academic (college) libraries. Lots of focus on reference services, some cataloging, and general interacting-with-the-public. You have to like people to go into library services in general, heads up.

Information Management & Technology: Essentially meaningless, but you could in theory work as like a business consultant or otherwise do information-related things with corporations or other organizations.

Information Storage & Retrieval: Data analytics, database . . . stuff. I don’t really know. Computers or something. Numbers 3 and 4 really have nothing to do with libraries, but our school was attempting to branch out into more tech-friendly directions. That being said, both this and #3 could definitely be useful in a library! Libraries have a lot of tech, and in some ways business acumen could be helpful. All roads lead to libraries; remember that.

Library & Information Services / School Library Media Specialist: This was the big kahuna. To be a school librarian -- at least in my state -- you need to be both a certified librarian and a certified teacher, which means Master’s degrees in both fields. What our school did was basically smushed them together into a combined degree; you took a slightly expanded, insanely rigorous 2-2.5 years (instead of the traditional 1.5-2) and you came out of it with two degrees and two certifications, ready to throw your butt into an elementary, middle/junior high, or high school library. Lots of focus on education. I started here before realizing I don’t like kids at all, then panicked and left. Back in 2017 this was the best one for job security, because our state had just passed a law requiring all school librarians to be certified with a MSIS/MLS/whatever degree. So lots of people already in school libraries were desperately flinging themselves at this program, and every school was looking for someone that was qualified. No idea if that’s changed in time.

No matter what concentration you went in with, you automatically graduated with a state certification to be a librarian, which was neat. You didn’t automatically get civil service status, though; for some public libraries you need to be put on a civil service list, which means . . . something, I’m not entirely sure. It involves taking exams that are only available at certain times of the year and I gave up on it because it looked hard. 

No one did more than 1 concentration, which is dumb because I wanted to do them all, but it takes a lot of time and money to take all the classes associated with all of them so I personally did #2, which was on the upper end of mid-tier popularity. School library and database services were far and away the most popular, and literally no one did the business one because it was basically useless, so library and archives were the middle children of which the library one was prettier.

THAT BEING SAID! Some forms of librarianship require a lot more education. A few of those are:

Law librarians: At least in my state, you gotta be a certified librarian and have a J.D. This is where the “big bucks” are -- though let’s be real, if you want to be a librarian you have zero interest in big bucks; reconcile yourself to being solidly middle-class and living paycheck-to-paycheck for the rest of your life or marrying rich -- which I guess is why it requires the most work.

School librarians: Like I mentioned, depending on the state you might need two degrees, and not all schools smush them into one. You might need to get a separate Master’s in education.

College librarians: Now, this depends on the college and the job; some colleges just need an all-access librarian, like mine. I didn’t need to specialize in anything, I just showed up with my degree and they took me. (Note: these sorts of entry-level positions tend to pay piss. Like, even more piss than most library gigs. Just a heads-up.) However, if you’re looking to get into a library of a higher-end university, you might be asked to have a second Master’s-level or higher degree just to prove you’re academic enough to party at their school. (Let’s be real, Harvard is almost certainly gonna want someone with a Ph.D. at the very least. That’s just how they roll.) Alternatively, the position might be for a specialty librarian, someone in charge of a field-specific library or field-specific reference services; if you’re being asked to head up the Science & Engineering Library at Masshole University, it’s reasonable to expect that you’ll be bringing a degree in engineering or some sort of science to the table. Colleges have so many different needs that predicting what kind of experience/education you should get is a bit of a challenge. Good luck. Some schools will help you out a bit with this; my grad school had dual degree programs where you could share credits between the MSIS and either an English or History Master’s so you could graduate with both in less time. I . . . started this, and then panicked at the thought of more school/writing a thesis and bailed, but it’s great if you’re into that idea!

What’s the point of the Information/Library Science degree?

You have to have the degree. If you don’t have the degree, you don’t get the job and you don’t make-a the money. Resign yourself to getting a Master’s degree or you’re gonna be bummed out and unemployed.

In terms of what you learn? Well, obviously it depends on the program, but I found that a lot of what I learned was only theoretically related to what I do on a daily basis. My instructors were lovely (well, the adjuncts anyway; the full-timers really didn’t want to be there and wanted to be off doing research and shit), but every library is so idiosyncratic and there’s such a massive umbrella of jobs you could get in one -- god, I didn’t even get into things like metadata services, which I learned basically nothing about in grad school but are super important to some positions -- that it’s hard to learn anything practical in a classroom.

However, besides the piece of paper that lets you make-a the money, there are two important things you should get from your grad school education:

Research skills: My god, you’re going to be doing so much research. If you’re a public librarian, you need to know how to Google just about anything. And if you’re a college librarian, being able to navigate a library database and find, evaluate, and cite sources . . . I mean, you’re going to be doing so much of that, showing students how to do that. Like a ridiculous amount of my day is showing students how to find articles in the virtual library. Get good at finding things, because much like Hufflepuffs, librarians need to be great finders.

Internship(s): Just about every library program will require an internship -- usually but not always in replacement of a thesis -- and if the one you’re looking at doesn’t, dump it like James Marsden in a romantic comedy. Internships are hugely important not only because they look good on a resume and give you some of those delicious, delicious references, but they are a snapshot of what your job is going to look like on a day-in, day-out basis; if nothing else, you’ll learn really fast what does and doesn’t appeal to you. As I mentioned, I wanted to be a school librarian for about half a semester. You know what changed my mind? My class required like 40 hours of interning at schools of each level. Being plopped into that environment like a play you’re suddenly acting in? Super helpful in determining whether or not this shit is for you.

What else should I learn, then?

Besides how to research basically anything? Here are some useful skills in just about any library:

Copyright law. Holy shit, do yourself a favor and learn about publishing/distribution laws in your state. Do you wanna show a movie as a fun program? You need to buy a license and follow super specific rules or it’s illegal! Does an instructor want to make copies of their textbook to give to the students? Make sure you know how much they can copy before it’s no longer fair use! Everything in my life would be easier if I’d taken the time to learn anything about copyright. I did not, and now I’m sad. (I lost out on a job opportunity because they wanted the librarian to be particularly knowledgeable in that kinda thing, and I was very not.)

Metadata and cataloging. In theory, you should learn this in grad school, but I was only given the bare basics and it wasn’t enough. Dublin Core, MARC-21, RDF -- there are so many different kinds of metadata schema, and I took a 6-week class in this and still don’t understand any of the words I just used in this sentence. But basically, to add items to a library catalog you often need to know how to input them into your library’s system; to an extent that’ll be idiosyncratic to your library’s software, but some of it will be based on a larger cataloging framework, so familiarity with those is very useful.

Public speaking and education. You’re gonna do a lot of it. Learn how to deal.

General tech savviness. Again, we’re not talking about coding but if you can navigate a WordPress website? If you know how to troubleshoot just about any issue with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, etc.? If you can unjam printers and install software and use social media you’re going to be a much happier person. At the very least, know how to google tutorials and fake your way through; your IT person can only do so much, and a lot of it is probably going to fall on you.

Social work, diplomacy, general human relations kinda stuff. You’re going to be dealing with all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, with every political view, personal problem, and life experience under the sun. You need to get very good at being respectful of diversity -- even diversity you don’t like* -- and besides separating your own personal views and biases from your work, you’ll be much better equipped to roll with the punches if you have, for example, conflict resolution training. Shit’s gonna get weird sometimes, I promise. (Once a student came in swinging around butterfly knives and making ninja noises. You know who knew how to deal with that? Not me!)

Standard English writing and mechanics. It’s not fair, but in general librarians are expected to have a competent grasp on the Standard English dialect, and others are less likely to be appreciated by the general populace. Obviously this differs based on your community and environment, and colloquialisms are sometimes useful or even necessary, but as a rule of thumb it’s a good call to be able to write “properly,” even if that concept is imperialist bullshit.

*I don’t mean Nazis. Obviously I don’t mean Nazis. Though there is a robust debate in the library community about whether Nazis or TERFs or whatever should be allowed to like, use library facilities for their own group meetings or whatever. I tend to fall on the “I don’t think so” side of the conversation, but there’s a valid argument to be made about not impeding people’s access to information -- even wrong or harmful information. 

Any other advice?

Of course! I love to talk. Let’s see . . .

Get really passionate about freedom of information and access: A library’s main reason for existing is to help people get ahold of information (including fiction) that they couldn’t otherwise access. If you’re a public librarian, you have to care a lot about making sure people can access information you probably hate. (If you’re an academic librarian it’s a little more tricky, because the resources should meet a certain scholarly threshold, and if you’re a school librarian there are issues of appropriateness to deal with, but in general more info to more people is always the direction to push.) Get ready to defend your library purchases to angry patrons or even coworkers; get ready to defend your refusal to purchase something, if that’s necessary. Get ready to hold your nose and cringe while you add American Sniper to your library collection, because damn it, your patrons deserve access to the damn stupid book. Get really excited about finding new perspectives and minority representation, because that’s also something your patrons deserve access to. Get really excited about how technology can make access easier for certain patrons, and figure out how to make it happen in your library. Care about this; it’s essential that you’re passionate about information -- helping your patrons find it, making sure they can access it, evaluating it, citing it . . . all of it. Get ranty about it. Just do it.

Be prepared to move if necessary: One of my professors told us that there was one thing that would always guarantee you a job that paid well -- this was in 2016 but still -- that as long as you had it you could do whatever you wanted. And that was a suitcase. Maybe where you live is an oversaturated market (thanks for having 6 library schools in a 4-hour radius, my state). Maybe something something economic factors I don’t really understand; the point is that going into this field, you should probably make peace with the idea that you’ll probably either end up taking a job that doesn’t make enough money or struggle a lot to even find one . . . or you’re going to have to go where the jobs are. It’s a small field. Just know that might be a compromise you have to make, unless you can get a strictly remote job.

Read: This sounds stupidly obvious but it’s true! Read things that aren’t your genre, aren’t your age range; patrons are going to ask you for reading advice all the goddamn time, especially if you’re a public librarian, so the more you can be knowledgeable about whatever your patrons might ask you about, the easier your life will be. If you’re considering librarianship you probably love to read anyway, so just ride that pony as hard as you possibly can.

Learn to be okay with weeding -- even things you don’t think deserve it: You are going to have to recycle books. You’re going to have to throw away books. You’re going to have to take books out of the collection and make them disappear in some fashion or another. There are a lot of reasons -- damage and lack of readership are big ones -- and there’s no bigger red flag to a librarian than someone saying “I could never destroy a book.” That kind of nonsense is said by people who’ve never had to fit 500 books onto a shelf built for 450. Archivists are different, of course, as are historians, and everyone should have a healthy respect for books both as physical objects and as sources of information, but you’re going to have to get rid of them sometimes, and you’re just going to have to learn how to do that dispassionately.

Have fun! No one gets into this because they want money; if you want to be a librarian, or work in any library-adjacent field, it’s because you really care about the values of librarianship, or the people in your community, or preserving and sharing as great a wealth of information as possible. Your job will often be thankless and it’ll sometimes be exhausting. There will be times where it’s actually scary. And unless you’re rich as balls, it will make you stare at your student loans and sigh with despair. (You may be living in your parents’ basement while you sigh at your loans because you can’t afford to live on your own, for an example that has zero relevance to any authors of this blog, living or dead.)  I can’t tell you if it’s worth it -- though you’ll probably find out pretty quickly during your internship, because that’s what internships are for. All I can say is that I love it, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

[stanbangttan]

THE DOOR GUY // Drabble // Yoongi x Reader

Summary: You are in Seoul, because of the job opportunity, stumbling upon your favorite producer, Yoongi in front of a restaurant.

Warning: fluff, angst, 

A/N: I hope you love this. I am a little late. But still. Happy birthday to you Nicole. You deserve the world ❤️ @nmmthings  Try to find the song. COMMENT. Requests are still open. Hop on.

Word count: 2k

We were in the foreign country and still my sister got more guys than me. She got one for now, or she accepted one, and as it goes for me I got zero, as per usual. She was gorgeous, of course, but did she have to say yes? I will dare to say I am cute too, it’s just that I am an introvert and she is an extrovert.  And the fuck, why am I the one who needs to drive her. This car is rented. If we even make a small dent, we’re doomed, and I am not so confident I ride well. I even take the metro to my studio. I am a good driver but still I am not comfortable driving in the new town. Especially where I don’t understand the signs or even what drivers are yelling at me. I love this city. I love everything about it. I couldn’t even imagine we would ever go to Seoul. Not when I was told I have a job opportunity of going, and even for a month. And with my sister. Visiting it and even get paid to live there. Did I save a country in my last life? However there were those bad sides of my trip. Not knowing the language entirely. Managing to find a translator in Korea was a plus, but getting my company to pay him as well was a long shot, that somehow worked out. I was a working on a project with SM entertainment for upcoming comeback of Red Velvet. I wrote and produced some of the songs with their producing team. I was chosen to help them to create new sound of their songs. Which I am pretty excited for. But that was not my goal. The one I would love to work with was actually Big Hit. Because I heard the idols produced their own songs which is something that blew me off. No one had that kind of freedom in Korean discography and succeeded at that. Made that money, became uprising star. So I got into it more. Starting following their work. I really am amazed how they put they all into the music. I love the actual freedom of making, artistic freedom and lyric writing they have. And they actually rock it really well. They got big. So I have entered Kpop market, hoping I will work with them one day. It’s a wish of mine to see the masterpiece in the making, live.

 I worked, while my sister enjoyed Seoul life. It’s an understatement to tell I was really jealous of her. She could enjoy life, meet boys and explore the town. Not that I couldn’t but still it was working. And I wouldn’t even hit on a guy or flirt in any way. But it would be nice to have a day off and explore the city. Namsan tower, Han river, maybe going to brunch in Gangnam. Feeling and acting boujee. Living a Kdrama? Maybe.. “You trust that tinder or whateveriscalled dating apps too much..”  I told Ana, as I drove her. She had full glam makeup, putting more lipstick in the passenger seat mirror. “Can you like chill.. It’s just for a coffee..” “Can we have a like safe word or text if you’re not feeling well or if he’s a creep or a dork so you can text me and I’ll call you to get you out and pick you up? At least do that for me, Ana. That is the least you can do.” I pleaded her. She is to naïve when it comes to internet. “Nicole, chill please.” I looked at her with piercing eyes, so she’ll understand this is no joke. I don’t really know why did I even accepted to drive her. “Okaay, listen, I will text you S.O.S. and you call me telling me something like I need to feed the cat, I don’t know..Is that okay?” She said with bored tone.

“Enough for me..” I smiled, as I put my eyes on the road. I dropped her off at this nice ass looking restaurant, and she kissed me saying goodbye. Maybe this is the last time I will see her, Korean mafia drawing her into prostitution… I watch too many kdramas, she’ll be fine. And this is too nice of a place for “just coffee”.. And she is too dressed up for “just coffee”. She lied again. I drove myself back to my studio, and worked a little more, so I won’t sit a home worrying about Ana.

 An hour passed and I lost track of time. My phone buzzed. Screen light fell onto my face, as I saw a text “S.O.S”.. I KNEW IT ANA. I TOLD YOU SO! HER BODY IS NOW BEING DRAGGED IN A ALLY, AND SHE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO TEXT ME. SNEAKY LITTLE BITCH. I dialed her number, hoping she’s not in the same room, at the same table with a serial killer. Oh please, pick up. “Hello?” , she askes like she doesn’t have my number ID. Good she’s alive and her mouth doesn’t have old sock to shut her up. “Are you in trouble, or just bored at the date? Say Oh hello if you’re in trouble.”, this isn’t the fist time she needed the way out. This is a constant routine for me and her.

“No, no, you’re not bothering. I don’t think I can. I am busy now.”, Oh, she’s just bored, she continued, “Kyungsoo, don’t you mind I take this call?” “No, not a problem.”, I heard male the voice in the background. He is quite polite. I know now why she is bored. She likes bad boys. She hates polite, mommy sons, that will hold the door for her, or tell her how beautiful she looks tonight. She will rather fall for the egoistic, full of himself guy, that will not pay attention to her whatsoever. “GET ME OUT OF HERE.” She fucking yelled, while in the bathroom, I suppose, because of the echo,” He is so boring, Nic. He talks all about his work, how beautiful I look or how he is really glad to meet me. He tells me we can explore city together and he will be my guide. Ugh.. I can’t.” “Maybe I won’t pick you up, maybe you deserve to bore yourself to death. Make him take you home. Know where you live. And bore you some more.” “Thank you so much. FUCK YOUR SAFE WORD, IF IT DOESN’T WORK.” She hissed. “It works for serious situations. Not when a guy is a gem and wanna take it slow with you. Would you rather him to take you to bed and not call you tomorrow?” “Well with his body, maybe I would like that more than this.” “Then tell him that.” I hung up. My phone buzzed again. A call. “ARE YOU INSANE? COME TO SAVE ME” “Me? New phone who dis?” “Will you please pick me up? I will do anything!” “Ok, I like this. I’m there in fifteen.” I would pick her up anyways. This is just a plus.

 I picked up my keys, well rented car keys, phone and a wallet. I don’t need anything else. I parked in front of the restaurant. I got my phone and keys with me. Ready to act out a scene. I didn’t watch all those kdramas for nothing. As I go closer to the door I inhale and exhale. I am not good in public speaking, or dealing with strangers. To be honest, I am horrible at that. And I do all of this because of Ana. I remind myself, Ana, because of Ana. You have to, Nicole. As I grab the door handle, still looking to the floor, something hit me, my phone and keys scattering to the floor. I stumble backwards, falling on my butt. I look up, and something was actually a door and someone was exiting the restaurant in a hurry. My face got even more shocked when in front of me, apologizing was Yoongi. The one that produces for Big Hit. Well for his group, and one of the producers. “Miane, miane..Shit..”, he hissed. All I understood was “SHIT”.. “What?” I said. “Oh.. I mean I am sorry, are you ok?” his gummy smile appeared when he saw me. I smiled instantly too.

He took my hands and picked me up. I cleaned my jeans while he grabbed my keys of the concrete. He took the phone and I heard that “SHIT” again. I turn quickly to look and as I thought. It broke. It still works but it’s broken. And it’s new. Dammit. I took so good care of it. When I turn my gaze back to him he has a horrendous look plastered on his face.

“Hey, look. I am so sorry, but I gotta run. My name is Yoongi.” He put his hand in front and I have shaken it. “Nicole..” I am still shocked. Fuck my phone. I met him. HIM. “Look Nicole, I am really sorry. I am willing to pay for it, or buy you a new one.” He put his hand behind his head, stroking his neck. Looking nervously for his ride, I guess. Still flashing his smile to me. “Oh noooooo, you don’t have to…” I made “no” movements with my hands. “I have to. It’s my fault. What’s your number? Do you have a Korean card or?”

He looked at me with sincere eyes. I really didn’t need him to pay for it, I will not even mention the act of buying me a new one. But will I miss an opportunity to give him my number and a possible call/texting with YOONGI!!!! Just because I don’t want my phone fixing receipt paid by him.. Well fuck it. I have nothing to lose.

“I have my card.. wait here.. “ I unlocked my car, that was parked behind me, took a my business card from my wallet. “Here you have both of my numbers, and an email.. and address to my producing studio..” he watched me closely, then started backing out. Did I overdo it? Dammit. I always do that. I get nervous. And I screw up everything. Shit.

“Okay!” he got a few meters away, still looking at me. Am I this weird or is he still shocked? And shocked by what? My card?

“I am not giving this because I want your money for the phone.. Just I would love to work with you.. or grab a coffee..” I added shouting, with a smile.  “Got it. Gotta go.” He said straight face, thumbs up. I got freaking THUMBS UP from Yoongi. Are you kidding me? Who even does that?

He’s weird. I am weird. WE’RE DESTINED.

Hmmm, I hope he didn’t misunderstood me for a fangirl. Well I am a fan, and a girl but of his work not an actual fangirl. Oh, fuck it. He totally did misunderstood.

WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? Ana mouthed when she saw me. 

Okay, MA! MA! MA! The stage is mine. “Ana...Oh hi, youu...new guy.”, I turned the to Ana, ”BUT we must go. Munchie is vomiting again!” “WHAAT? MUNCHIE? IS HE GONNA BE OKAY?” She said with real tears in her eyes.This bitch outshines me again. “I don’t know we must take him to the VET. “ I said sadly. “OH NO, NOT THE VET. HE HATES THE VET. Kyungsoo I have to go. I hope you understand..” “Y-yea..” Poor guy doesn’t know what hit him. “I’ll see you around..” Ana said when she practically run away from the date. As we got to the car, Ana was laughing. “MUNCHIE? Are you serious. I was losing it out there. Don’t you know normal pet names?” “If you make another complaint, I will leave your ass hanging next time.” She made a zipper closing meme across her mouth. Not saying a word. “I thought so.” On the red light my phone buzzed. My broken ass phone lighted up. I took it to read the text. Unknown number. What the f-

 I CAN’T FUCKING BELIEVE.

I hope you liked it guys.  Find a song a s usual.  First one can give me a reaction/drabble idea to write. And I will.