Library returners.

The blog is aimed at people who have been out of the library and information workplace for some time perhaps due to caring for children or elderly relatives, ill health, travel or redundancy. It is primarily aimed at professionals who are looking to return to librarianship after their career break or employment gap. At this stage, I envisage that many of those who have experienced this or are considering a career break are women. In particular, women who have had an extended break from a workplace (i.e. longer than maternity leave) to raise children (commonly known as ‘women returners’). In spite of this assumption, there are a growing number of men who are taking on caring responsibilities and may face similar issues. Years of redundancies and budget cuts in the library profession also means that many people face employment gaps while they look for the next opportunity.

Some people choose to take a break for a sabbatical from work; to go back into education, for travel or to try out another role, for example set-up a new business.

There are numerous reasons why someone would go on a career break, many I have listed, some I may not have thought about. Whatever your reason, I hope that the blog can be of use to you and I look forward to hearing your experiences.