30 Things My Kid Should Know About Me: Number 7

What is your dream job, and why?

This one is pretty easy for me, though it doesn't seem like I'm being "dreamy" enough when I answer the question. My dream job is to be a school (preferably middle school/high school) librarian. I have wanted to have this job for years! Finally a couple of years ago, I made the decision to take an active step towards making this dream a reality. I started working on my master's degree in educational technology with an emphasis in library media. In two years, I completed my degree with a pretty high GPA, though I can't remember anymore exactly what it was. Then once again, I have stalled out again. Sadly the Wichita Public Schools are trying to make it exceptionally hard to be a librarian at any level. High schools don't have librarians anymore due to budget cuts. They decided instead of having one or more trained, qualified librarians, they could make due with paraprofessionals. Middle schools still have librarians, but a couple of schools have gone to paras there as well, which sadly could lead to more cuts. Elementary schools still have librarians, but very few have full time librarians so the librarians have to travel from building to building. I have enough time in with the district that I'm not yet ready to look outside of the district for employment, though that day might come.

The reason why I want to be a school librarian is that it unites two of my loves. First, I love books and all things reading. Second, despite having a couple of rough years, I really do love working with middle school/high school age students. So finding something that allows me to do both would be amazing! I want to be able to help students find books that they would enjoy reading. I love the idea of being able to help teachers find resources to help in their classrooms. Researching and choosing books for the library each year would be awesome! There is so much that I would love about this job that it frustrates me to think that I might not be able to do what I would love to do.

So there is my dream job, though the reality is a little more depressing than I would like.