Currently a pandemic librarian - masked-up and mobilizing to help serve our patrons in creative new ways, fighting extra hard to locate and verify sources of true information in the era of fake news.

Preservation, intellectual and physical arrangement of archival resources. Creation of finding aids using XMetaL EAD software.

Annan Academy is one of the largest and busiest school libraries in the region, serving an established base of readers, many of whom come from low income families or are part of under-served communities. This opportunity gave me a chance to really hone my community outreach and engagement skills, developing programs and activities for reluctant readers, students with additional learning needs and speakers of English as an additional language. To encourage young people to become more plugged in to the library and the wider school community, I became the recruiter and manager of a dedicated team of young volunteers, providing training in the care and management of library resources and development of customer service skills. I was also involved in student welfare and pastoral care, promoting the library as a designated safe space for all students, and particularly those with behavioural challenges.

Moffat Academy is a modern and academically ambitious all-through school for ages 4 – 18yrs based in a small town in the Scottish borders. I was chosen to establish and manage the school library in its new premises. I developed the physical space as well as the collections, eventually incorporating approximately 9,000 printed resources, 20 computers and 30 portable net-book computers. I designed my own booking systems for the effective distribution of resources, created displays and organised special events, cross-curricular activities and author visits to encourage reading for personal enrichment and promote the library as a center for learning within the school community. As the library became a success, I was given the additional title of Lets Officer, functioning as the chief liaison and organiser for facilities bookings across the school, connecting with a wide variety of people across the public and private sector.

Worked part-time as a Weekend Library Assistant for Dumfries and Galloway Public Libraries, and as a Library Assistant at Dumfries Academy.As a Weekend Library Assistant I worked primarily in circulation, where I conducted reference interviews and reader's advisory, answered in-person and telephone inquiries, maintained patron records, as well as providing other technical services. One of my chief independent responsibilities was the children's Saturday Club. As the club's primary organiser, I worked hard to provide enjoyable and engaging activities, with an educational element in order to help introduce children to the library as not only a fun place to be, but also a valuable resource for information.At Dumfries Academy I supported the school librarian in all aspects of running a successful school library. Having a supportive mentor, I was also able to introduce some good ideas and examples of good practice from the public libraries service. I learned a great deal from the experience and I decided to develop my career as a school librarian, ultimately becoming responsible for my own library at Moffat Academy.

Through a highly competitive selection process, I was chosen to work as an assistant language teacher for two of the busiest and most competitive senior high schools in Hokkaido. This enabled me to acquire a number of useful transferable abilities. I developed an exceptionally high level of cross-cultural communication skills, and gained classroom experience, as I helped to plan and deliver an advanced level Oral Communication curriculum for two years. It was my responsibility to prepare lessons and activities that would not only engage pupils and enable them to communicate more effectively in English, but also introduce them to different cultures, encouraging them to enjoy using English and see their proficiency in a second language as a gateway to opportunities worldwide.