Attention Librarians

[craftyrat]

As suggested in the what do ENWorlders do thread, here is a place for our many librarians (and all people who work in libraries) to talk, compare notes, complain, ask questions, etc.

I manage a reference department in a legislative library in Canada. There are 6 librarians and 4 support staff who report to me. Before coming here I spent 8 years in downtown urban public libraries. Before becoming the manager here, I was the webmaster. Like with some of the other librarians in that thread, we are very heavy into government documents (about half our collection). I spend a lot of my time thinking about how to keep libraries and reference service relevant in the internet age...

Next?

craftyrat

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I am going to be a Librarian.

 

[RangerWickett]

I work at Emory University's medical library as an assistant at the Information/Circulation/Reference desk. I've been here for almost a year, and I'm hoping they give me a raise soon, because everyone else wears suits, and I don't have enough suits to wear them to work regularly. I only work 20 hours a week, but I'd like to look the part.

Need a new haircut, too.

Even in this small library (small compared to the 10-story undergraduate college library), we have five reference librarians, plus a bevy of folks involved in IT, ILL, the Photocopy center, collections management, and stacks management. It's a pretty nice place, actually. Hell, last year the library took us all out for Japanese teppanyaki grill one day, because the university was having 'diversity week.'

I'm really fond of this job.

 

[bento]

Let's see...

I was a corporate librarian at a telecom company in Texas from 1994-1999 and worked my way out of it (which happens a lot for corporate librarians) and into market analysis.

I left for another analyst position at a competing telecom company and I hung on through 2003. Got laid off, decided to get back into libraries, so I took a library director position at a for-profit university in early 2004. Stayed there until the beginning of this year and went back to the first company where I run a corporate library.

See - history does repeat itself.

-bento

 

[EricNoah]

I started off on my journey to Librarianville when I was in high school. I was the school's only paid student library aide, which was a pretty big deal at the time. I was there when the books were first barcoded (we were the first high school in Madison to go to computer automation). That was in 1985 and 86.

In college I majored in Secondary Ed (English), and worked a library job or two along the way.

Out of school I did substitute teaching for a couple of years, then gave up on that and took a library aide job at Waunakee (WI) High School. It was there that I decided to go back to school and get my master's degree so I could be a school librarian.

While in library school, I started and managed our library school's first website.

A couple of years later and I was done, and got hired to work in the Waunakee Schools as the middle school library media specialist. I also created and ran their first district and school web pages.

And now here I am, celebrating my 10th anniversary at Waunakee Middle School. There are things I don't love about teaching, but I love almost every aspect of the librarian side of things; and I wouldn't be able to live without my summers off.

http://www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/midlschl/lmtc.htm

 

[Gilladian]

I'm a public reference librarian. Officially, I'm the "Electronic Resources" librarian, which means I teach computer classes -mostly to senior citizens - and complain to vendors when databases don't work.

We're gearing up for summer right now - the kids get out of school middle of next week, so we start our summer programming the week after. I'll be doing a game night with DnD, craft programs two saturdays in June, and helping with the weekly movie (I'm good with the popcorn machine).

And teaching six computer classes a week as well. And working the reference desk in my spare moments. I don't think I'll get to sit down until August...

 

[Alenda]

I started working in libraries while I was an undergraduate in college. I worked in the Acquisitions Department processing books, the Periodicals Department providing reference services to patrons, and the Serials Section keying endless invoices into the computer.

When I graduated with my Bachelor's in Creative Writing, I decided to get my Master's in Library Science. (After all, I needed a career that would pay the bills, and Creative Writing couldn't do that!!) While getting my Master's Degree, I worked as a graduate assistant in Acquisitions, ordering library materials for the 16 on-campus libraries.

Once I had my MLS, I worked for a year at the paraprofessional level supervising 4 staff members in the Receiving Section of an Acquisitions Department.

Then, I got my current job working as the Digital State Documents Librarian in a special government library. I also just interviewed for a new position a few days ago: the Digital Projects Manager at my current library. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get it!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

How exactly does one become a librarian? Seems like a great job -- quiet, (I'd expect) low stress, surrounded by books ... almost the exact opposite of my job now.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

How exactly does one become a librarian? Seems like a great job -- quiet, (I'd expect) low stress, surrounded by books ... almost the exact opposite of my job now.

Oh, you are so wrong about all of those things... :\

 

[RangerWickett]

From my understanding, you have to attend a Masters of Library Science program at an accredited school. This takes, I believe, usually 2 years.

As for the environment, I have more computers around me than books, but I suppose that's because I'm in a medical research library, where students, staff, and faculty need to get at journal articles far more often than they need to check out books. It is inanely quiet a lot of the time, especially since I usually work mornings. Right now, between semesters, we're lucky to get 100 people to come in on a given day (compared to, say, 400 during the school year).

Still, it's a great place, and the reference librarians work very diligently to make the school understand that they're vital. Canny faculty members, and even a few students, are good enough at searching journal databases that they don't need our help, but the librarians do a lot of work educating users on how to do searches, and then on helping them do searches when they forget what they were just taught.

I was considering getting an MLS, but I view that kind of like spending 2 levels qualifying for a prestige class that I might never take. I'm not sure if I'd want an in-depth library job; my current one leaves me more brainspace for writing ideas.