I wanna be a librarian (?)

I worked in the New School for Social Research's library for less than a year. It was a dusty, and sometimes boring job. What I liked the best about the New School was that it had many foreign students, and that made it interesting. Making friends, and sharing is very important to me. It also helps if you love books. I left the job because I moved to Monticello NY, upstate.

I would suggest you find a job in library and see if it suits you. I worked for the Institute of Fine Arts when libraries were going from the old card systems to computers. The best was the access to great books and the people were intelligent. However, the work never seemed to change for anyone, same old thing every day.

Most if not all legal librarians went to Law School first. So, keep that in mind if that's a career option.

Not all non-legal librarians are for kids. My mother is a retired Reference Librarian. She worked (mostly) in a large public library (she also worked in a university). She reported it was satisfying, intellectual work and she enjoyed it quite a bit. The regular patrons were good people and she liked the challenges. Her undergrad degree is in English and her grad degree is in Library Science. She's an alum of Rutgers-Camden in New Jersey.

Librarians these days need to be computer savvy in addition to being good researchers. Library records may or may not be subject to the Patriot Act -- this stuff is on the bleeding edge of the law these days. When Mom was still in the thick of things, she would never hand over someone's checkout records. Now, the rules seem to be changing. This sort of thing may very well end up as a Supreme Court challenge in the next few years.

Green Witch has a good idea, trying out the job a bit before committing to the education. There are days when the job isn't so nice -- keep in mind that large library reading rooms tend to remind the, er, mentally out there, of the day rooms in mental institutions. Libraries are clean, warm, dry and free, with bathrooms, so in urban areas they can sometimes be refuges for the homeless. Kicking them out is something that security generally can only do if they are bothering the other patrons. My mother has dealt with folks who hadn't bathed in months if not years, plus flashers and the like. The media image of a Librarian tends to be of a spinster in a bun reading and shushing people, but it's not always like that.

In addition to Rutgers, there is also a good program at Simmons College in Massachusetts. I'm not sure about other Library Science programs but I'm sure your guidance counselor at school can give you better input on that than I can. Also, fyi, if you work in a public school, you will probably end up in the teachers' union.

Best of luck to you.

Thank you all for the info!

I do have an out&out biblio-fetish, so the very fact of working in a library is a major plus for me.

jespah, i'm reassured to hear your mother's description of her job. I'm very keen on life-long intellectal engagement and being surrounded by like-minded people in that respect. That is my greatest concern with choosing this route as opposed to a PhD or summat...

AngeliqueEast and Green Witch, both the institutes where you worked sound really interesting! What were the paths you took to get there? and Angelique, are you currently working in a related field in Montecello?

Also, how advantageous is it for a librarian to hold a degree other than her BA and MLS?

thanks again, all. Soon I will begin my real-world inquiries...

No, I no longer work in a library. I love books too, I just wanted to see if I would like working in a library. I live in NYC now.

Best of luck to you.

Green witch's suggestion to find a library job is an excellent one. i'm currently in the San Jose State Library Science program part-time, and while i'm only in my fourth class, i'd guess over half the students i've been in class with thus far are currently working in libraries as assistants. also, a requirement for the MLIS degree is a practicum, at least at SJSU, so it wouldn't hurt to get your feet wet before diving in.

I was studying Art History at NYU and looking for ways to make contacts for future jobs in the art field. IFA works with most of the museums in the country and has connections with many conservation departments. I thought I might win some friends and influence people if they had to come to me for information. I did meet some very interesting people in the art world and received a job offer that was big on title and little on pay from the Cooper Hewitt Museum. I knew I was not destined for a library career, but I can understand how a love of books could lead one to such a path. If I was to return to library work, I would want it to be at a university or specialty library like the Morgan or IFA. As mentioned, public libraries can be very public.

i was leaning toward academic libraries, until i learned that most academic librarians have two masters degrees.

That is correct - usually one in library science and another in whatever the library specializes in.

I have done the lot - big libraries, VERY big libraries, small libraries, tiny libraries. It is not a career choice for the faint-hearted - a lot of politics, a lot of routine, a LOT of bitching and whining......


Either you gotta love it and ride over the bad stuff or you get sucked in and crash and burn.

thanks again to everyone for their input.

To update, I've cooled my jets for now on obtaining an mls, which really doesn't mean much of anything, seeing as I seem to switch career goals as often as my underwear (or oftener--at least during my past finals week. *blush*) Right now I'm all fired up about law school. In the past it has been English grad school (about which I still feel violently--major pros, but also major, major cons to be weighed re that option), even pharmacy. Wonder what it'll be next?

retirement's looking pretty good from here . . .

You 'n me both, kiddo -- re retirement.

If you want, check out the Legal forum, there's a very good topic in there about going to Law School.

i've been working in libraries for more than 12 years. the key to finding a Librarian position that you find satisfying is to research the culture of the prospective library.

from experience i tell you this. some libraries have fantastic cultures, while others are simply pathetic and they treat their employees poorly.

I have no real world advice to give you about librarians, but here is some "nuts and bolts" information that might prove helpful.


http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos068.htm

Good luck in your quest!

mr. stillwater, i do believe you have summed up the experiences of working in libraires quite succinctly. i suppose one of the best perks is being able to wander off into the stacks to find the unexpected book...

from the outside looking in, librairies look like the ideal place to work, they're quiet places... the employees seems quiet. but underneath o! the hostility.

i think one of the reasons libraries are so whiny and miserable at times is because most people who work in them are introverted, and in a sense they want to avoid communication. to add to the drama, you get the extroverts who are ambitious and are climbing the career ladder and they kind of steam roll through the work place. lots of personality clashes, lots of bad mouthing others behind their backs...