Baby Boomers Helping GenYs (Gen-Ys, Genies) out of Their Bottles

We are two Librarians working at the University of Adelaide Library as Trainee Graduate Librarians. Over the last 2 years of our positions, we have been fortunate to work within what might appear to some as an “ageing workforce”, and have grown to love it. Our experienced colleagues have shared with us the tools we need to develop professionally. We can think of this as: Baby Boomers helping GenYs (gen-ys, genies) out of their bottles. The Trainee Programme was established in 2008 to allow recently qualified librarians with limited professional experience to gain valuable skills in an academic library. We have learnt a huge amount in two years and feel that sharing some of our experiences will be valuable for other new librarians, and for Baby Boomers who have the opportunity to share their expertise and help shape the careers of new librarians within their workplace. We have so much to learn about our chosen profession and the best way to learn is from people who have been there, done that and done it well. Yet as important as this collecting of knowledge from Baby Boomers is, we have had to do our own hard work! We’ve built upon the knowledge shared with us and given it our “Gen Y” stamp. This paper traces our journey as new librarians and the three steps through which we progressed, with the help of Baby Boomers. We will discuss the importance of learning to negotiate the professional landscape, developing confidence and taking on challenges. This paper is not an exhaustive examination of the profession, nor is it a comprehensive review of scholarly literature. Rather, it aims to explain what we have experienced and to suggest things that Gen Y librarians should make sure they learn from their Baby Boomer colleagues. We’re getting plenty out of our “ageing” colleagues and with their support, we GenY Genies are ready to tackle the library world head on.B. Cook and R. Whiteheadhttp://conferences.alia.org.au/access2010/program.htm