The official GC Librarians and Library Schools Thread
 

...because we aren't all cardigan-wearing, bun-sporting shushers.

So I've been playing in this park for a while, and have noticed that there are at LEAST two of us on here who are librarians, and more who are interested in library school, working in libraries, or thinking about going to library school.

Archivists, you can play too. :)

This thread is for anybody who is or wants to be a librarian or archivist, share your advice, questions, anything here.

About me: I hold a Master of Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences, which I believe is the oldest library school in the nation, celebrating its centennial in 2001. I specialized in public library services to children and young adults. Pitt only requires 4 courses: Cataloging, Understanding Information, Library Management (depending on your specialty), and Retrieving Information. The rest of your coursework is your choice, and can include an internship or field study, which I HIGHLY recommend. If you attend full-time, you can finish your degree in a calendar year. For distance learning, Pitt has started their FastTrack MLIS program.

I'll provide the ever-important link to the American Library Association, and the librarian's slogan: Got questions?

I have a question that I am hoping you can answer. I am actually asking this for my roommate, because she's been trying to find out a definitive answer out for a while.

She wants to be a librarian. Ideally, she'd like to work in a school situation, but would like to have the option of doing archival work. Is there a big difference in occupational avenues available if you get a masters in library science, rather than a masters in education with a concentration in library science? Or, is this just a technicality that doesn't really matter?

We appreciate your help! :)

It depends on the state in which you live. In CA, all you need to be a school librarian is a BA. In Pennsylvania, you have to have a BA, a teaching certification, AND a MLIS. There is a difference in available careers, you cannot work in any public or academic library as a librarian if you do not have an ALA-accredited MLIS, even if you have a masters in education. Nobody hires without an ALA-MLS anymore.

Does she want to work in a school archive, as in a university? I'm a little confused on this matter.

She can't make up her mind, honestly. On one hand, she would love to work in a high school or college library and help with research. She loves research! I always drug her along when I had to look something up. On the other hand, she's a history buff and would like to learn more about archive work, but isn't sure if that's something she would like to be more involved with than education.

We live in Florida, by the way. I had asked our school librarian what she would advise, but she wasn't too much help. She only has certification and the university in town that she got her certification through does not offer that program anymore. Basically, she's going to have to move to get into a program that would work for her and that's sad.

I appreciate your advice. She is interested in how the two degrees are viewed within the library world; she wants the degree that will offer her the most flexibility and options. Thank you! :)

In this post...
 

We resurrect this dormant thread!

Any GC librarians or information professionals out there these days?

omg, i never saw this thread the first time around. i was actually IN library school in 02.

i got my MLS from the university of maryland college of information studies and have always worked in "special libraries." i prefer to stay in my office cataloging, playing on the internet, or dealing with the electronic resources (subscription databases, etc). i now work in a law library but spent the early part of my career at a major national nonprofit.

even though now it's the "iSchool" and people are pressed to call themselves anything but, i love called a librarian. it's a great conversation starter and (in my opinion) less pretentious than information architect, search guru, research maven, or any of those other nonsense things people like to be called.

:-)

It's funny, my little brother's an architecture student ("real" architecture - buildings, etc.) and it drives him crazy when job sites list a dozen IA jobs and nothing in his actual field.

I'm not a big fan of anyone calling themselves a "guru" or "maven" of anything, unless they're with friends/being casual or funny.

I'm a MLS student at Pratt Institute in NYC right now (which is the oldest still-open library school -- 1890 -- since Columbia closed theirs) and I'm really looking to go into traditional academic librarianship, but I know the job market's tight. We'll see what happens in a year!

Librarians thread! WOOHOO!!!!

I am in my fourth week as a MLIS student at the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science. Right now, the only thing I am sure of is that I don't want to be a media specialist (fancy words for school librarian). I worked in a public library for a year and now I work at a medical school library (does that count as academic or special?). So far I haven't know of anyone who hasn't called themselves those fancy terms, but I think librarian is fine.

I'm likely starting library school in the fall, as well as one of my sisters I was initiated with.

yay! welcome
:-)

Just a little clarification. Where I work here in CA, my school clerk has often corrected me on this. The woman has her panties in a wad over this issue. :rolleyes:

She is not an official librarian as she only has a B.A. She is a library clerk (I work in an elementary school). Only someone with a MA in library sciences would be called a librarian.

She seriously corrects people who call her a librarian? Does she even do that with the students too?

Yup. It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. We also have a health aide but everyone calls her the school nurse. I don't understand what difference it really makes but to each his own.

I'm half way through my MLIS program at Dominican University. I absolutely love it! My focus is on archives and special collections. More than likely I won't actually become a librarian per se. I'm really interested in attending classes at the Rare Book School. If it's old and rare, I like it. :)

My mom works at a library as a circulation assistant. They (The city she works for) makes a big deal of titles. An circulation aide just as a high school degree, while an assistant has at least an AA. To be a Library Assistant you have to have at least a BA, but to be a Librarian you have to have a Masters.

Its kinda stupid to me because for years her library had a nasty old lady who was the Children librarian, and the library assistant was friendly and knew more than the actual librarian.

No offense intended to those of you who are librarians this was just my mom's experience.

I just got an email about the 2009 RBS - including scholarship info. PM me, I'll forward if you haven't already seen it. :)

Ooooh! Thanks. PM coming your way! :)

A medical school library would count as special.


Wow. I'm glad I stumbled across this thread. I have my MLS. Got it in 2005. I worked as a media coordinator at an elementary school and a high school. Now I'm in law school.

Bumping this back up because I finally made the decision to get into grad school for library science. I worked in Government Documents in undergrad.

i am contemplating a mlis degree. i wish i had seen this thread 9 years ago.

tnxbutterfly, what area are you interested in?

Probably public or Government Docs. I know I don't want to be a school librarian. (kind of brunt out on kids/education field)

What about you?

Ok, so I'm not getting my MLIS, but I'm finishing grad school this semester to be a school librarian! I'm going to Georgia Southern University to get an M.Ed. I did my internship this past semester. My supervising media specialist is going back to school part-time to get her MLIS. She would love to work as an Archivist.

i think as a reference librarian-college level, or a law school librarian.

archives also interest me-i have too many interests!

yay to my fellow librarians and those in training!

is anyone going to ALA Midwinter?

Add me to the list of librarians!

No ALA for me this year :( I will be going to FLA Convention for the first time this May, though :)

Hey, Scandia! Where have you been? It's good to see you!

Well, I am back! I got transfered to a new location at my job about a year and a half ago. Still cannot access GC from work anyway.

I'm so excited that I found this thread. I'm currently an undergrad getting my degree in American Studies, but I want to get my Masters Degree in some form of archiving or library science. I do love old documents and rare books, but, honestly, my dream job would to be head archivist for the Disney Corporation. Dave Smith was their first head archivist and he retired last year. He got to work with amazing stuff. Other than that, I'm not sure where I really want to go with this. I have a summer internship with the museum archives in my county and I've applied for a semester in Washington DC next fall to intern in the Smithsonian Archives. Does anyone have any advice for graduate school? So far I think my top choice is NYU, but I'd love to have a lot of options.

Okay, I don't know if anyone still reads this thread but I would love some advice! I am a sophomore in college considering getting my MLS. I want to work in some kind of library setting but I don't know what kinds of library jobs are easiest to find, most interesting, etc. I would also love advice on schools with good MLS programs!

It really depends on what you find interesting. If you love working with kids then being either a school librarian or a School Library Media Specialist might interest you. The basic types of librarianship are school, public, academic, and special. (Special libraries might be legal, medical, corporate....)

Your best bet right now would be to work or volunteer part-time at a public library or at your university or college library. You'll get a better idea of your long-term goal once you've experienced working in different settings.

What kind of librarianship jobs are easiest to get? Er, well, none at the moment. You've got some time though and hopefully the economy will be in better shape when you're closer to making that decision.

I would recommend familiarizing yourself with the ALA website. You'll find a list of accredited graduate schools listed there. The best ones? Hmm, that's debatable. University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana (or is it Urbana-Champaign?) has an excellent program but there are many good ones out there. When you start looking, make sure the program you're entering supports your area of interest. (i.e. You can easily narrow down your choices if you're interested in, for example, Archives and Special Collections because not every program offers classes in archiving.) Plan to attend some information sessions at different schools. I fell in love with Dominican University at an information session.

Good luck!

Thank you so much! I looked at the ALA website, which was very informative about how to pursue a library career. I also looked at a few programs at different schools, and the coursework sounds great. For now, I am just going to keep an open mind about the various types of libraries and library schools and try to get either a work-study job at my school's library or volunteer at the city's public libraries.

bumping. anyone new to the fold?

Since I posted, I've been working as an elementary school librarian for the past two years. Love it!