Jérémie Fernandes, Moray College University of the Highlands and Islands

Category: Meet our Members

This blog is part of our Meet our Members series, focusing on different members and their careers. 

I am Jérémie Fernandes, and I am the Library Officer at Moray College UHI in Elgin. I have worked at the College for a little more than a year now.

I am the only qualified librarian at Moray College library so I am responsible for the whole thing! It makes every day different and interesting: one day, I could be renewing contracts for the self-issue kiosks, the next I could be ordering resources for new modules, another day I could be training staff on the newspapers licencing guidelines… I like starting my day by a wee routine: emails, overdue notices, coffee – black, no sugar!

I am not working on my own though. There are five Student Services Assistants to help me and they are fab! Most of them have been here for way longer than I have, so they are a gold mine of information.

Moray College is also part of the University of the Highlands and Islands, so I regularly work with other academic librarians.

I came to the sector quite late – I had done a Degree in English & American Studies and a Masters in Politics from the University of Pau in France and frankly, I did not know what to do after that. Then I remembered that the most enjoyable part of writing my Masters’ dissertation was looking for and finding the right information to support my ideas.  I decided to give a go at doing it professionally! That’s what drove me to apply to the LIS Course at RGU: I wanted to help people find the information they need. During the course, I also learned about the social value of libraries, that’s when I knew I was definitely in the right job.

To me, the CILIP membership has been great in terms of networking opportunities and knowledge sharing. It has allowed me to run for and be elected as a Trustee of the CILIPS Board, and work with the best professionals in Scotland. When you are not chartered yet, and you work alongside the likes of Graeme Forbes or Yvonne Manning, the imposter syndrome is very real! Many CPD, training and funding opportunities come with the CILIP membership and I wish I had more time to take advantage of them all!

My advice for new professionals is simply to be keen and eager, and make the most of every opportunity. A funding opportunity for a conference? Go for it! A committee role in your CILIPS branch? Put your name forward! A better job opening nearby? Apply for it!