Librarians, etc

[SweetEm]

So I've been kind of freaking out lateley as to what I should do with my life, and the thing is I think I need to go back to school for something practical. Are there really jobs out there now for Librarians? I'm just so scared of going back to school for something, and then finding that I can't get a job doing it...

[librariangirl]

So I've been kind of freaking out lateley as to what I should do with my life, and the thing is I think I need to go back to school for something practical. Are there really jobs out there now for Librarians? I'm just so scared of going back to school for something, and then finding that I can't get a job doing it...


Check out this link from my faculty website to see some job listings. I especially like the association pages at the bottom and the LIS Canadian and US links on the navigation bar. At least it will give you an idea of the range of jobs out there. I haven't looked in a while so not sure what's there, but there's always something.

http://www.fims.uwo.ca/employment/listing.htm

I think most of the people from my program who end up staying in the field get jobs. In some cases, it may take a while and the first job may be part-time or contract, but once you have experience you can find full-time. I do highly recommend a program that has coop work placements though so you can get experience while in school.

[winneythepooh7]

Hey, is being a librarian something you truly want to do? Cause even if there are lots of jobs in this area, if it is not something you want to do, you are not ultimately going to be happy. And going back to school and spending that kind of money is a huge committment. Just my 2-cents. Carry on.

[librariangirl]

Hey, is being a librarian something you truly want to do? Cause even if there are lots of jobs in this area, if it is not something you want to do, you are not ultimately going to be happy. And going back to school and spending that kind of money is a huge committment. Just my 2-cents. Carry on.

Note: I addressed your clarinet question in the other thread :)


I do agree with Winney that you do need to be fairly sure that this career will suit you. It's a demanding program and also expensive as any grad school is.
But (was it you who said this in the other thread?) if you have had some experience in the museum library and liked it, that a start. In my experience, so far though, there are boring times like you experienced there. However, in a full time librarian job, chances are there will be so many different things that need to be done, you'd be able to stay fairly busy. And in the academic setting you're of course expected to do committee work and that takes a lot of time.

Do some reading about the profession on the association websites and on the university websites. That's what I did when I was entertaining the idea.

[kathysclown]

Are there really jobs out there now for Librarians?

As a library science student, this question haunts me on a continuing basis. As far as I know, there are or at least will be jobs available for librarians, as a large number of current librarians are nearing retirement age. I've heard that it is HARD to find your first library job, however, and so graduating from an ALA-accredited program and having previous experience working in a library are very important. And it also depends if you are willing to move to a new place, and if you are willing to work in any type of library; these things play a part in how hard it is to find a library job.

[Everly]

I say go for it if it really is something you want to do. You probably need your masters in order to really be successful and get good salary. I know someone who is a librarian, and she worked her way up and now she is head librarian of a university and extremely successful. It did take her a year to get her first job after she got her masters, and it was because she knew someone who knew someone hiring. But aint that the case in every job!