I lived in New Jersey (near Princeton) until I was 12. I have very fond memories of the area, so I’ve been looking for jobs in public and academic libraries there. While I’ve applied for several, I really haven’t found that New Jersey has a glut of open librarian jobs. Apparently, I must be blind, because according to this article from Newsday [via Blake at LISNews] there is a major “library shortage” in the state (or will be quite soon). The article talks about all of the librarians who will be retiring soon and includes interviews with library administrators who just can’t find enough professional librarians to fill their open positions. Hello! I’m right here! Nice girl, MLS, computer skills, public service experience, looking for a job. Ummm… hello?
These articles really annoy me. Does anyone understand that shrinking budgets in libraries may have some effect on the number of library jobs available? It’s as if age demographics are the only measure of job outlook, and librarianship exists in a bubble where the economy has no impact. I’d love to know where the articles are about librarians who have spent months looking for jobs to no avail. At least that’s not just conjecture.
