I am a pragmatist. As I mentioned in my Home page, I believe the current economic forecast is prohibitive of a graduate student obtaining a full-time job right out of school in their chosen field. And if you are me, you don't necessary have a "chosen" field. I am not looking to use my degree to start a brand new career in a library, esp. because I do like the job I currently hold, but I would like real-world experience in libraries. So this is not a hard and fast "five year plan" but rather a loose list of what would be ideal for me in the long term.
What I would like over the next few years is a part-time position (one weeknight, one weekend day) at a local regional public library. This will give me the experience in public libraries that I am currently lacking. Hopefully, if the manager is flexible- I can work in as many areas as possible.
I would also like to foster relationships with the staff at Atkins library, on the off-chance there is a special project that needs assistance (like summer information sessions or a digitization project). I like the UNC Charlotte Campus and since Atkins is a sister facility I would welcome the opportunity to work there in an unofficial capacity.
In the meantime, I will stay on listserves, maintain my membership with MLA, ALA and YALSA and attend any conferences that are applicable. I will continue to stay abreast of reading lists and current publications.
I will use my current class in Digital Libraries to complete my personal project of digitizing my family's memorabilia. (this may take years...)
Finally, when all is said and done, my very long-term goal is early retirement from the UNC system which will allow me to work full time in a small regional library near Seattle, WA or St. Augustine, FL.
