#whylib

I have really enjoyed reading about why members of my PLN became librarians. It has been great to learn their histories. As with many of those, my path to librarianship was not that direct. I started my professional career as a middle school teacher. While I loved middle school, I knew that I needed to find something to challenge myself. I started with working on a Master's degree in Middle Grades Education. One class in, and I knew this just wasn't what I wanted to do. 

I took some time to evaluate and make some decisions about my professional future (oh, and I got married, completed my National Boards, and bought a house in the meantime). After looking at school administration and various other career paths, I decided to pursue my MLIS. To be honest, my initial goal was not to be a school librarian. I actually intended to become an academic librarian. 

I took the classes for academic librarianship and avoided the classes for school libraries like the plague. Then as I was finishing up, I decided I should go ahead and take the classes for school library certification just in case. Boy, that turned out to be a great move. Our school librarian was taking a year off for maternity leave, so I asked to take that position during her absence. That was the best thing that ever happened to me. She actually ended up not returning, and I stayed for ten years in the position. 

Being a school librarian has been one of the most rewarding experiences. My evolution as a professional started when I took that position. I was lucky to have supportive administrators, and I am so thankful for all the students and teachers I had the opportunity to work with over the years.