In October of 2017, my partner started working at OverDrive as a Technical Support Specialist. Over the following year, he tried to convince me to get a job at the company roughly 1,000 times. I had been using Libby daily, listening to the Professional Book Nerds podcast religiously and I felt connected to the mission and vision of the company. However, the idea of a desk job really made me hesitant to apply. It wasn’t until his trip on the Digital Bookmobile that he was finally able to convince me that OverDrive really did have the perfect position for me.
“The Digital Book Specialist travels all over the United States and Canada, stopping at different libraries on a custom semi to teach people how to use Libby,” he practically screamed over the phone after his first event helping out on the Digital Bookmobile. “This job was made for you! Can you even imagine how happy you would be traveling around North America talking about books?”
He had a point! The only issue? There is only one Digital Book Specialist position in the entire company and it was already taken. So, like any self-respecting person desperate to land the perfect job, I contracted several OverDrive spies to keep an eye out for when Lauren would be leaving her position. Six months later, the word I was waiting for finally came and that’s when I started putting plans into motion. (Don’t worry, Lauren is still with us! She just transferred to our training department.)
Honestly, the whole hiring process is a total blur. All I can really remember is that my cheeks hurt from smiling for the entire six weeks between my first phone interview and the official job offer. I’m now a little over a month in and have had a quick taste of being out on the road with the Digital Bookmobile before I officially start the next leg of the tour.
I knew I would love working on the Digital Bookmobile. But after working just three events, I can honestly say that I am the luckiest employee that works at OverDrive. I got to give the joy of reading back to several patrons that were losing their sight with access to free audiobooks. I was able to witness a middle school boy who spent years struggling to get through a book have his whole world shift when I showed him our Open Dyslexic font. Since accepting my position, I’ve heard time and time again that life out on the road away from my family, and more importantly my cats, would be a constant struggle. However, interactions like these make it well worth it for me. I get to wake up every day feeling great about what I do, knowing that at the end of my work day, I’ll be making a difference.
I’m Marissa Gillett, Digital Book Specialist. This is just the beginning of my story at OverDrive and I can’t wait to hear yours out on the road.