Comments on: Letters to a not-so-young wanna-be Librarian

By: Meredith

Meredith — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:16:30 +0000

Lee, I’m sorry you’re having such a bad time in your job, but I don’t think your experience is universal.

There are plenty of positions for which an MLS is required and if this gentleman wants a librarian position in academia, he’d have a more difficult time getting one without an MLS.

The job market is terrible, which is something I have never sugar-coated. But his question wasn’t whether he should get a professional or paraprofessional library position, it was whether or not to pursue librarianship at all.

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 17:55:15 +0000

I have had tremendous difficulty finding employment with a late in life MLS. I am working at half of what I made before library school. I was the head of a department. I just finished a draft for the general manager of a proposal. I mean I MADE THE WORD CHANGES in his document.

Anything you can do at 50 plus with a library degree you can probably do without. Don’t waste your time.

By: Roast Mistress

Roast Mistress — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 23:40:38 +0000

One of my best employees was a 55+ paraprofessional in library school with 2 masters degrees. I didn’t keep her long because she just kept applying for internal positions that upgraded and paid better. She eventually got her MLS and got a professional position. She was bright and fearless.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 17:18:09 +0000

Here’s my story for public librarianship.

I worked the front lines of an inner city branch serving a diverse group of youth. I’ve had my challenges on the day-to-day in public libraries (they raked me over the coals for a good six months I would say). Then, I began to reach them. Here’s just a few ways I know I made a difference:

1. When I got married, we drove down a busy city street doing the usual decorated car thing and honking horns etc. Some of the youth I served noticed me in the car and they jumped into the street to congratulate me. Can you get any cooler than having 10-15 “gangsta” youth surrounding your car to congratulate you on your marriage?

2. Recently I helped to plan a visit by the Minister of Industry (kind of like the Canadian equivalent of a John Marburger) to my old library branch. I’m now a technology manager. Of course, I’m nervous and all dressed up to impress the minister. Well, the youth hadn’t seen me in a while, and don’t they come out and say hello, give hugs/high fives etc. Right there in front of the Minister. I said “I used to work at this branch.” The Minister said “I can tell.”

When you work public libraries, you know you’ve made a difference. People tell you it constantly. Maybe every day. It’s a little different for me now I’m away from the front lines, but now I know I’m serving youth, seniors, parents and kids from all around the city. Academic librarianship has its rewards too, but I just can’t imagine a bunch of undergrads jumping in front of a minister/executive department head to give the biology librarian a hug. It’s a calling for sure, but a really rewarding one.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 12:42:13 +0000

This post was a Ringmaster’s (Editor’s) Choice for the Carnival of the Infosciences #9 which can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8vwu9

By: ...the thoughts are broken...

...the thoughts are broken... — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 12:32:41 +0000

Carnival of the Infosciences #9

Carnival of the Infosciences #9 Photo courtesy of Martin Kenny under a Creative Commons NonCommerical-ShareAlike 2.0 license. Circus Rigging A gentle reminder… from Christina at Christina’s LIS Rant. Christina reminds us of the rigging that is neede…

By: Meredith

Meredith — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 15:17:22 +0000

Hi Dan. I agree with you about special libraries and corporate libraries. And I’d mentioned in my post that I’d applied for jobs outside of public/academic libraries. The gentleman was writing about opportunities in public and academic libraries, so that’s what I was speaking to. I agree with what you said about the representation of special libraries in library school and I think there also needs to be more input from those who work as special and corporate librarians in the blogosphere.

Carleen and Jill… all I can say is “aww shucks.” It’s great to know that something I write is useful to someone else. I’m sure I’ll do the speaking thing eventually, but public speaking is still a big source of anxiety for me. I promised myself that I would force myself to speak at something within one year of starting my job, so the clock’s ticking!

By: Carleen

Carleen — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 16:08:05 +0000

I’m really starting to get nervous about the job thing too. Thank you for helping to reassure and encourage us. You’re a real inspiration.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 20:06:46 +0000

And don’t forget there are other types of libraries out there besides public and academic! NYC is chock full of us “special” library types, including those of us who work publishing houses (great for a writer), museums, art galleries, not-for-profits in a variety of fields, government offices and even *gasp* corporate environments.

Most of my experience was in public libraries but once I crossed over, I realized we never get as much input from the specials crowd in library school as we do academic and public. (And I got my degree in NYC, too.)

By: Jill Hurst-Wahl

Jill Hurst-Wahl — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:42:38 +0000

I think students groups like those with ALA and SLA should have you come speak to them. You would impart valuable information and an honest point of view.