A Day in the Life of a Solo Medical Librarian

What Does a Solo Medical Librarian Do?

I am the solo on-site librarian for a regional campus of the flagship medical school in my state. While I am alone physically, I am supported by a robust team of librarians at the main campus about three hours away.

As the regional librarian, I coordinate all library services on the regional campus and provide support to all regional programs. This support includes instructional and research activities like searching the literature, teaching about information resources and their uses, and working directly with research teams at the regional campus. It also includes daily management of the physical library space. 

I am nested in the reference and instruction team at our main library, which means I do a lot of reference, instruction, literature searching, and outreach activities. I also plan the promotion of library services and resources customized for my regional campus. Every day looks different for me; that’s what I love about being a health sciences librarian!

A lot of my work as a health sciences librarian can be done online. Every day I perform email reference, which means I answer all sorts of questions about any aspect related to libraries. Email reference is some of my favorite work because no two questions are the same. It keeps me engaged in our community and helpful to everyone on or off campus.

Here, I could help a faculty member determine which journal to publish their research in, or I could meet with a local physician or nurse to find helpful informational handouts for their patients. I could also meet with researchers to assist in searching the medical literature, manage their work in online software, and help draft a manuscript for publication that will showcase our mutual research endeavors. 

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Reference Work

As a solo librarian, I cannot do all my work online. I manage a library space of about 5,000 square feet, which includes about 2,500 physical books, 45 desktop computers, one printer, and several houseplants. The library is for everyone, so at any given moment we are hosting study groups, providing space to take exams, and giving training on a variety of topics related to the institution. I even hand out free snacks to fuel students’ brains and bodies to study and practice health care.

Reference work can also be done in person. I can answer the phone and help a member of our local community find information about how to talk to their doctor about their recent diagnosis. I can open my office door to students who need to talk about a difficult assignment, conflict in their department, or ideas about how to improve student life on our campus. I like to tell people that if I don’t know the answer, I know who does.

One surprising part of my in-person work is that it does not usually occur at the information desk in the library. For the first three months of my job, I spent as many hours as possible at the front desk, letting people know I was there. Unfortunately, most of my duties do not allow me to sit at a desk. However, I spend as much time and effort as possible with faculty and students so they know I am available even when they cannot see me at the desk.

Administrative Work

As a solo librarian, I’m on my own for many things. One of those things is marketing. I recently partnered with our marketing team to create a plan tailored to my needs on the regional campus. This plan includes updated signs, including a cardboard cutout of myself to stand in the library and direct people to my office. 

Nothing happens at an academic center without proof. If I cannot prove that I am needed on the regional campus, there is a chance the administration may see me as costly rather than useful. So I write down everything I do. I track every reference interaction (be it via email, phone, text, instant message, or in person), every meeting, every research consultation, and every literature search. Basically, my entire job is documented. Every three to six months, I turn that documentation into a report for my administration on the regional campus, and every year I make an annual report to share with everyone from new faculty members to the chancellor. 

Something else that doesn’t happen at an academic center is a decision without a committee or a meeting. I spend over half of my working days in committee meetings, planning meetings, or executing decisions from those meetings. Some of these committees are for the university, some are for my professional organizations, and some are part of the community. I try to attend as many meetings as possible so the librarian’s voice is heard at all levels. This keeps me relevant and informed on what is happening outside the library.

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Teaching

As a health sciences librarian, most of my instructional practice revolves around evidence-based practice and information literacy. I love teaching students how to think and critically evaluate information for their practice. I battle mis- and disinformation every day with skills learned in library school that I love sharing with others. 

A lot of desired instruction from faculty members and students revolves around point-and-click single instruction sessions. I teach people how to use a reference manager (and why they even want to), effectively and efficiently search databases, manage their research for their specific needs, and navigate the scholarly communications landscape.

Professional Development

As a faculty member, I am tasked with doing my own research. My research interests include embedded librarianship in the health sciences, virtual reference, and empathetic practice in the library. I write manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and book reviews. I present papers, posters, and instruction sessions at national, regional, and local conferences. I am active in many professional organizations across the nation, region, and state as well.

I stay up to date on trends by reading current research, attending conferences, and taking continuing education courses. The continuing education I engage with includes free one-hour sessions as well as paid and free long-term continuing education courses. I just finished a course on integrating artificial intelligence in my instructional practice, which was a lot of fun and contained a ton of useful information to incorporate at my job.

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Other Duties as Assigned
Every job has an “other duties as assigned’ category, but this category is a lot bigger for me, being the only library worker on my campus. I do a lot to make this job my own while being the most helpful librarian for my patrons.

One extra project I’ve started is the comfort cabinet. The library had a spare card catalog that was not being used, so I turned it into a cabinet full of personal hygiene items freely available to students. We stocked it with mini toothbrushes, mouthwash, deodorant, feminine hygiene items, food pantry information, and other community support resources like Title IX information and where to get free childcare. This was a huge hit. Students come to me to thank me for stocking deodorant and toothbrushes because these small items make a huge difference when they accidentally forget them at home.

As a faculty member, I am also very involved in student government. I attend their monthly meetings to keep them updated on important campus notices, and guide them in their decision-making processes to align them with university policy and goals. I love being in the room when they plan events and participating as much as possible within the purview of my role.

In Conclusion

I love being a librarian. A lot of what I do is not considered to be librarianship by a vast majority of the population because library work has changed so much over the past few years. I hope more folks can learn about what I do so I can help as many people as possible in my role.

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