See: Librarian, Former, Part 3

I continued to work in my role as a readers' advisory librarian until January 2012. Having started out managing the library's "For Adults" section of the website, I started taking on more and more responsibility, until I was granted super-admin access, and was managing almost all of the website and training other users on the content management system we were using at the time.

Toward the end of 2011, there began some rumblings about making a more concerted effort to focus on the library's online presence and services by establishing a dedicated team. As the person who found herself managing much of the day-to-day work on the website, I was a natural candidate to be a part of this newly formed team. Rather than being a part of Public Services Division of the library, we were now a part of the IT Division, and that was an adjustment.

For me, it was like a duck moving from land into water. IT people were my people. That's not to say I know everything there is to know about IT because I do not. I know next nothing about managing networks, and I have what would be generously described as a layperson's understanding of IT security. But, in this new role, I continued to grow my knowledge in Web development and project management, and I was in heaven focusing on that work.

Even then, after a year of working in this new role, I started to get an itch for more responsibilities and different challenges. My move from readers' advisory librarian to Web development librarian was a lateral one, and as much as I loved my role and my work, I had no line of sight toward opportunities for advancement. To paraphrase Will Parker, I'd gone about as fur as I c'n go.

I had applied for (and interviewed for) other positions with public libraries—including one position in particular for which I was woefully unqualified, and I have no idea how I made it to the final round. But then a different opportunity came to me through a colleague who worked the IT help desk in the evenings. He had a full-time position somewhere else, and his boss's wife, who worked at the University of Houston, was looking for a Web developer. When asked whether he knew of anyone who might be a good fit, he offered my name without hesitation.

But I was hesitant when he approached me about it. Could I leave public libraries all together and go back to my alma mater, this time as an employee? Was there a massive difference between my job as a Web development librarian and being a Web developer?

I didn't have a term for it then, but I know now that I had a wicked case of imposter syndrome. After interviewing for the position, I knew they were going to offer it to me, and even though I wasn't entirely convinced I could do the job, I knew I really wanted it. Here was the new challenge I had been looking for. In August of 2013, I left my career as a public librarian working in IT to start one as a Web developer working in IT, and that's the story of how I became an erstwhile librarian.

But, I would be remiss if I didn't end this story with a shoutout to librarians everywhere, especially the ones like me, who no longer work in libraries. The skills I cultivated through my education and experience—research, organization, analytical skills, problem solving, customer service, and leadership—are skills that have helped me advance my career from librarian to roles like Web developer, project manager, product manager, and program manager. My unconventional background gives me a unique perspective on any project, problem, service, or product, and I wouldn't have that perspective if I hadn't been librarian. Hire librarians, and you'll never go wrong.