I’m starting to think about where I want to be when I finish this grad program. I anticipate completing the master’s in library and informaiton science next May, and with that being only a year away, I need to think about preferred locations for positions.
I’m considering looking for a position within an academic library, though I am not opposed to corporate information services either. I do kind of draw away from public libraries, and I’m not sure why. If I accepted a position in one, I’d certainly work to the best of my ability.
That said, I don’t know what area of the country I want to be in. I’m currently in Knoxville, TN. I enjoy this town - it’s the right size for me. But, with the grad school here, there don’t tend to be a lot of positions available, at least not often.
In the past I’ve lived in:
Chattanooga, TN - I don’t want to live there again.
Waterville, ME (as an undergrad) - I enjoyed it, but if I went to ME, I’d need to look for a different town.
Murfreesboro & Nashville, TN - hated it. But I don’t particularly know why I hated it. It was a rough time mentally for me, so that could have affected the way I perceived the town.
Jackson, MS - I liked Jackson, but I didn’t spend much time there. I was in a job where I basically lived in hotels and visited my apartment on weekends.
Atlanta - I couldn’t be paid enough to live there again, although I could deal with N. Georgia. It’s too big, it costs too much to live there…just not my cup of tea.
I’d like an area with four seasons - the one thing I didn’t particularly like about Mississippi was that there was summer, then vaguely cooler temps, then it got hot again. At the same time, I could definitely handle living somewhere with a beach, even if I didn’t get the seasons as much. I think, though, size of the town is a big factor for me. I wouldn’t mind being in a small college town. I have no specific regional preferences, though I’ve never traveled beyond extreme East Texas, so I don’t know how I’d like something farther west.
