Hi everyone, my name is Danielle Davies and I have recently joined Mersey Care as an Evidence Reviewer (Assistant Librarian).

This is my first role in health libraries, although I have previous experience of working in multiple academic and public libraries, as well as NHS and university administration. I have a good all-round knowledge of libraries from the many different libraries I have worked in, ranging from activities such as archives and special collections to collection management, cataloguing and providing information literacy sessions.

I love learning and trying new things. I’m excited to work within health libraries because it’s a completely new experience but with comforting familiarities to past roles. I’m excited to be a part of a great little team, to expand on my experience and skillset, and to combine my experience of libraries and healthcare.

My team are lovely and have made me feel extremely welcome and supported from the start. I seem to start in roles when changes are taking place, and I find this exciting because I can develop alongside the changes and see how the service progresses and adapts over time.

I’ve always been passionate about helping and instructing others, and from my time in academic libraries, I really enjoyed supporting students with information and digital literacy, research, and resource support. I like to push myself and to advance my experience and skillset because I’m a strong believer and advocate of lifelong learning.

I feel so grateful and lucky to have had so many amazing jobs, especially in libraries, which have shaped my career and provided me with so much experience and fun memories along the way. My most memorable, unique experience was when I was a Library Intern at the residential Gladstone’s Library in Hawarden, Flintshire. It really felt like preparation for library school. Having breakfast, lunch and dinner with my fellow interns in a beautiful grade II listed Victorian building built by architect John Douglas, wondering about our careers and where our travels would take us. We sipped herbal teas and coffees as we catalogued in the beautiful silent reading rooms that looked like it was straight from Hogwarts.

I believe all libraries, no matter what type and where they’re located, all have their quirks and library staff are some of the most amazing and most supportive people I have ever met.

Now I’m almost a decade older and wiser. I look back on my journey and feel pride that I’ve achieved my career goals and have almost completed my MA in Library and Information Management. And it all started with shelving books as a volunteer in the former Chester Library on Saturdays (before it became the multifaceted Storyhouse, which combines a library, restaurant, cinema and theatre).

The world of libraries is such a special profession and it’s so much more than books and the physical library space (though those are amazing too). It’s just that we have so much to offer, and the biggest challenge is breaking those outdated stereotypes and raising awareness of what library and information services can provide.

I’m really overjoyed at being back in the library world again as I feel like I’ve come home and have found where I belong.