I am also a librarian.
I started in my local public library with a master’s degree in English, making $7 an hour (part-time, 20 hours/week). Seven years and many patrons later, I had also gotten my master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois and was making $10.50 an hour (part-time, 20 hours/week). No paid time off, no benefits.
I’ve had an opportunity to hire into full-time positions post-graduation. The highest-paying one, a position as assistant director of a local public library, would have paid me around $40-45,000. A full-time info literacy/instruction librarian position at the local community college would have paid about $35,000. FWIW, I live and work in central Illinois.
Since my kids are still in elementary school, I chose a part-time academic librarian position at a community college. The pay started at $12.75/hour; I now make $13 after about five months. I won’t get another raise for a year, though. In terms of benefits, I’ll be getting some state retirement, which I have to pay into but my employer matches to some degree. No health or other benefits.
I see librarianship as a difficult career for the main/solo breadwinner. Librarian salaries, for the average joe/jane, aren’t terribly adequate to support one person, let alone a family of four or similar. If you work your way into administration or something, that’s different, but if you prefer non-admin work, you’ll probably be paid relatively poorly, unless you manage to snag a really good position. Understand this varies by region and library type; law librarians, particularly those with their JDs, might have six-figure salaries. Your typical reference librarian in a public library does not and will not make that kind of money.
There’s a growing trend in libraries to try and replace MLS librarians, who are more expensive, with part-timers and/or folks who have no library degree. This is particularly rampant in public libraries, but is starting to infiltrate the academics, too. Typically, the non-MLS academic librarian might have a subject Ph.D.
I love certain parts of my job. I love helping people find the information they need, connecting them with medical info, facts for papers, or even the name of an author I know they’ll enjoy. I like looking up really hard questions for my patrons, whether on the Internet or in a book. I love the many types of questions I get in a day and the dozens of ways to help people. I love the look on people’s faces when it dawns on them that I know what they need, and that I will gladly teach them how to get that info so they can do it for themselves later. I love it when little kids greet me with joy and respect because I’m the librarian, and “librarians know everything!”
I hate certain parts of my job, too. I hate being chronically underpaid and, by the general public, undervalued as they ask why they need someone with a degree to do my job, since “all you do is sit around reading books all day, right?” I hate it when my students leave their research until the last minute and then yell at me because I can’t find 37 full-text articles on Fournier’s gangrene in our college’s library databases. I hate cleaning up pee and dead ducks in the shrubbery at the public library, and I hate getting the security guard to throw out the drunks from the academic library. Most of all, I hate the concept still widespread among libraries that we shouldn’t complain, that we should just accept that there isn’t enough in the budget and that we must work for less money than we deserve because it’s a noble thing to do. Sure, it’s noble, but you can’t eat that or feed it to your kids. And I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be a comfort when I can’t afford to retire.
In re job outlook: truthfully, I think it’s very mixed. We’ve heard many reports about how there’s going to be a huge wave of retirements, so in theory there should be tons of jobs opening up as all the baby boomers leave promptly at age 65. I’m skeptical because most librarians I’ve met never intend to retire. This is partly because of their mindset (I’m going to work until I drop dead at my desk), and partly because they’ve never been paid enough to amass a decent retirement fund, so they have to work until they’re dead. 
I see lots of towns closing their public libraries or underfunding them until hours and staffing are cut. I see people thinking Google can do the same thing for them that a librarian can. Although I know this isn’t true, we as a profession haven’t successfully spread that message, and I don’t know that we’ll be able to do so. Even school libraries are being closed and cut, and academics are letting positions decrease via attrition or part-time hiring. Heck, I’m one of those part-timers myself. So I’m not sure the job outlook for librarians is as rosy as some have painted. But there will probably be a few jobs out there, particularly for those who leave library school with some real-life work experience.
All in all, I love being a librarian, despite the minuses. But unless you’re sure librarianship is for you, I wouldn’t recommend you take it up, given your circumstances. The money would probably be inadequate to your needs, and you’d have a hard slog through grad school before you’d start to see even a $35,000 full-timer’s salary. That’s not much to raise a family on. Meanwhile, the library job market could go either way, and you might end up doing part-time work and getting really screwed on the deal. Given the minuses, this isn’t a job just to get you by; you have to love it in spite of all the problems.
Good luck with whatever you decide. Since there are so many part-time jobs available, why not see if you can nab a part-time position at a public library to try on the profession? Many public libraries allow their part-timers to work a pretty minimal schedule – say, an evening a week or something – and that would give you a good feel for what to expect.
Sorry for the soapbox,
Mrs. Furthur