Renewed Dreams

Four years ago I was searching the Internet for examples of reference librarian goals and objectives and stumbles upon a PowerPoint presentation by a librarian in Miami. The PowerPoint did not really tell me what I wanted to know so I backed up the URL until I got to the librarian's Web page. Her resume was posted and I read that one of her jobs had been with Internet Public Library (IPL) Reference Center. I wondered how I could do that so I went to the IPL Web site to search for a link that would take me to opportunities. Forty minutes later, I was applying. The date was 9/18/03. I applied to IPL to be a reference volunteer but at that time, they weren't taking any applications. I think they were in a period of transition. Flash forward to last week...I was at the Reference Desk with a colleague who has just started library school and he was telling me that one of his classes is requiring that he become a reference associate with IPL. Turns out that IPL is now being run by Drexel University Library School in cooperation with the library schools of FSU and the UofI. Feeling a renewed shot at my dream, I immediately dashed off an email and initiated the application process. On 9/18/07, exactly 4 years after my initial application, I was invited to choose a username to enter the IPL system and answer the practice question, my final step in the training process. "Fairy tales can come true..."