Working at the public library is the best job an aspiring author could possibly have. I've been working at a public library for almost two years now and I really think the work I've done there has helped inspire me to write. Here are the main reasons why working at a library is beneficial to a new writer:
1. You are surrounded by books (wonderful and horrible) all day long, and by people asking for these books and your opinions on them.
2. As a librarian, part of your job is reader's advisory, which means you must read (or at least be very familiar) with a variety of books. And sometimes people will tell you about what they're reading or come back and ask for more books like the ones you recommended last time, which means they trust your judgment on what books are worth their time.
3. You are basically a professional researcher, which means the research techniques I've learned at work are now helping me to research publishing industry, such as how to properly query agents, how to find agents, what the current literary trends are, and universal guidelines to word counts, good writing, and do's and dont's.
4. You get to talk to A LOT of people. Which means you know what people are reading, what's popular, and what's not, which are good things to keep in mind. Also, many of the people I meet become inspiration for characters in my writing. Even the nasty patrons are good fodder for inventing your "bad" characters.
5. You get to exercise your creative juices by designing programs for teens and kids, which in turn keeps your mind sharp for when it comes time to write. Keeping the creative juices flowing is a biggie for me, because otherwise I find they coagulate and I get less good writing done.
I couldn't think of a better place to work while I write my first novel. Except maybe a publishing house...but at the library you get to hear directly from the public about what books are hot or not, and that's about as accurate as you can get.
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