IN DEPTH
The many routes into the health library and knowledge sector
Knowledge and library staff in healthcare settings cover a variety of roles – from supporting clinicians on rounds to delivering services from a physical library space, and plenty more in between. Here, Lynsey Hawker, Librarian and Hong-Anh Nguyen, Library Service Manager, The King’s Fund, look at some of those pos- sibilities, share their own experience and talk to others about their journeys as knowledge and library staff in the health sector, and looks at how CILIP’s Health Libraries Group can support you and your career.
FOR many library workers, regardless of sector, one of the common routes into the profession is through the graduate trainee- ship route.
These traineeships are a valuable opportunity for new professionals to gain experience, knowledge and skills in a supportive environment and in roles that are focused on development. They are also crucial in broadening new professionals’ knowledge of the wide variety of sectors and roles that library staff take up within organisations.
Pathways into the sector
For Felicia Thomas, a graduate trainee at The King’s Fund, she found that the traineeship route was invaluable in building both her skills and experience prior to qualification: “I have developed my organi- sational skills balancing different tasks as part of the graduate trainee role from everyday library duties such as managing enquiries, cataloguing, library email bulletins, as well as getting involved in pro- jects working with the library team where you can share your ideas that can help contribute to improv- ing the library services. I was able to gain experience understanding the active role health librarians play in providing accurate health information and re- search into topics in the health and social care field that is valuable to health professionals’ work.” Traineeships can also be a valuable way to develop new professionals’ knowledge about the breadth of the profession, as Felicia found. “Before starting the trainee ship, my perception of librarianship was based on more traditional library skills but with each library visit I went on, I gained a wider perspective into librar-
March 2024
Hong-Anh Nguyen, Library Service Manager at The King’s Fund.
Lynsey Hawker, Librarian at The King’s Fund.
ianship and how versatile the librarian role is, essen- tially wearing many different hats to advocate for the service especially with adapting to new trends.” Creative thinking with pathways into the sector can also contribute to diversifying the profession
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 19
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