Information Studies

• Melinda Davies
• Rachel Westworth
• Abigail Luthmann

Melinda Davies
MA Information Studies (2010)
BA Cultural and Historical Studies (2005)

As an undergraduate I spent loads of time in the St Peters House Library.  It was near to the Phoenix nursery, where my son was and I felt productive there.  Doing the MA then seemed a very natural choice, but getting a job was tricky.  I volunteered at a library whilst doing my course, in fact I changed my course to part-time so I could focus in getting some experience. I also applied for bursaries/sponsored places at professional conferences.  This gave me lots to talk about in job interviews.  Also, I got involved with the professional organisation for librarians, CILIP, as a student member with a discounted rate.  This was a really good experience and was great for networking. I eventually got a para-professional job at Sussex.  When a job at the hospital later came up that I was really interested in I had a lot of support from that network.  I was successful in my application and now work as at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospital Trust Library as a clinical librarian. However, looking back, getting the job involved a lot of asking for chances, giving my time and energy away for free, and trying out different roles to find one that suited me.

In my current job I liaise directly with clinical teams (doctors and nurses) at their point of need (in the wards or at clinical meetings).  It is a brilliant job and I love it.  I work with smart and motivated people and it is very rewarding.  The expectations are high and things can be very stressful but I like to be busy.

The Masters qualification was essential in getting my job, so the University enabled me to get into the job that I wanted.  I had some very supportive lecturers that taught, encouraged and advised. The libraries there are great too, lots of resources and lots of good workspace.  And the nursery was brilliant! As for the actual content of the MA, all the theory actually has come in handy. It can be hard to believe that until you start working and calling on that foundation of knowledge. There were also a lot of outside speakers (often practitioners) that would come in and this was really insightful in terms of what it was like outside of the classroom.

I feel like I worked very hard as a student parent and then also to get the job I really wanted. The recession and budget cuts have posed a big threat to both libraries and the NHS, so I’m focusing some energy on ensuring my job is secure.  However, there is still a lot of scope to move up professionally which I aim to do in the future.

Rachel Westworth

MA Information Studies (2010)

Whilst studying at Brighton I managed to get a part-time library job for East Sussex at Peacehaven library. It was this job that enabled me to network and gain some really good contact within East Sussex. When a job of Prison Librarian came up for East Sussex County Council at HMP Lewes I was coming to the end of my course so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Working in a prison had not occurred to me during my studies and Brighton and it was only when I saw the job advertised that I started to consider it.

Before applying I did a lot of research into prison libraries, literacy in prisons and some of the schemes that run for offenders. The more research I did into prison libraries and literacy, the more I realised how passionate about it I was. I have always believed in the value of public libraries, that they provide information and literature to all, and a prison library seemed to be an extension of this providing a service to those who are usually hard to reach and some of them very vulnerable. A lot of the prisoners here will not have visited a library before and many of them cannot read, or can only read very little, so it seemed so important to provide this service for them and to take positive steps in changing their lives.

The prison has about 500 prisoners currently, all of which can gain access to the library and use its provisions. We stock a variety of books, DVDs, CDs and reference material which prisoners can either use in the library or borrow. During library sessions, tasks typically include supervising the prisoners, dealing with requests (only library staff have access to the internet), issuing and locating books, helping prisoners with IT problems and maintaining the stock.

The library runs different programs to help support other areas in the prison such as Toe by Toe which is a literacy program to help prisoners learn to read, Storybook Dads which enable prisoners to record a children’s story on to a CD to send home for their children to listen to, and I am soon hoping to start a new course called Family Time which will involve dads making a book for their child whilst learning about parenting, reading and libraries. We currently have one reading group running where a group of about 10 prisoners meet once a month to discuss a book we have all read.

A lot of the skills and knowledge the course at Brighton provided I have been able to use in my role here at the prison. Reader development skills have played a very important role as I am in charge of buying in the books for the library so finding the right material for my users has been essential. I have also introduced a new classification system at the prison which I would not have been able to do if I had not learnt about cataloguing and classification in my course. Not only did I gain the knowledge of how to do this but the course and assignments gave me the confidence to put this into practice. Being aware of user needs and library issues in general gave me really good grounding for preparing for the interview for this job and has helped me to provide the service that we offer to the prisoners.

The job so far has been very rewarding and the education and family support the library is able to provide has been a really valuable part of the role. Although the job can be very difficult at times dealing with a variety of people and often some very stressful situations, it is always very interesting and varied. Encouraging men to read who wouldn’t usually, or have never read a book in their life, is very difficult, however, the positive feedback is always wonderful to hear and it is a fantastic feeling introducing someone to reading.

The past 6 months have kept me very busy and there are always new things to learn. The course at Brighton, although did not prepare me much for working in a prison, did equip me with the skills needed for any librarian job and my experience there opened up many opportunities for me. I feel that I can use the skills I gained from Brighton to develop many aspects of my role and introduce new initiatives and schemes to improve the library service in the prison.