Well, if you start now, the job market might be better by the time you get the degree.
The funny thing about library jobs is that when I started on the degree everybody was all “There’s jobs everywhere! Falling out of the sky! The profession is greying, we can’t replace, everybody’s retiring!” What they neglected to mention was that all of those retiring top dogs weren’t leaving entry level positions, and that while you might expect the vacated positions to eventually “trickle down”, that’s happened less than you might think because they’ve been hiring more part-time and paraprofessionals. In other words, it’s a lot like the problems people with Ph.D’s are having in getting full time tenure track positions.
Another problem in the market is that many library jobs are government (state, county, what have you) and those are most likely to have hiring freezes in times of economic stress and not to bounce back as fast as private industry.
That being said, there do seem to be a good many jobs out there, as long as you’re willing to relocate. If you’re interested in seeing more about what’s going on in the field, your local library probably subscribes to American Libraries, the professional journal/magazine of the American Library Association. In addition to a lot of news items and feature articles (which however do favor the highly organized public and school libraries) there are job ads in the back and there’s a state-by-state salary comparison. (South Carolina says, of course, “varies”.)
It’s not something you do because you pull down the tall green, although some library directors and corporate librarians can make a lot of money. There’s a lot of value in doing something you love, though, and if you find that one aspect of it is not to your liking (I really don’t like doing reference - I don’t really like people all that much and I think it’s really boring) it’s very easy to make a lateral move to something you do enjoy.
There are a lot of listservs and such around that you might like to join to keep an eye on what sort of jobs are available and what people in the various areas of the profession are talking about. The ALA website (www.ala.org) while being a pain in the ass to navigate after its recent reorganization (you’d think librarians would be able to make a website with content you can find, but noooo) has a lot of links to “So you want to be a librarian?” sorts of things as well as information about various kinds of librarianship and job search resources. I highly reccomend taking a spin around there in combination with reading a few issues of American Libraries.
Pepperlandgirl, I don’t know a lot about UCLA (except that my mom got her MLS there 30+ years ago). One of my library school-mates took some classes there and transferred up to San Jose State, which is where I got my MLIS. She said that she found the coursework unchallenging and that the program mainly focused on Library Media Credentials (for public school libraries), since the school had been largely absorbed by the teaching credential program. I don’t really know how accurate that is, however. She, btw, wound up working for the NYC Public Library system.
I went to San Jose–the only other MLIS program in California these days–and found it very good. It’s strong on hands-on experience type stuff, very practical, which the librarians doing the hiring seem to appreciate. There’s also a good deal of academics, but their goal is to turn out people who can run a good library on a budget and use all the electronic information sources effectively. I must say I had a great time there.
San Jose has since lost a couple of good professors and had to transfer buildings, since they demolished the old one–which mainly held a library with all the really cool random stuff the university owned. I don’t know how the program is doing now.
So, I guess this isn’t actually all that helpful to anyone, but go to library school anyway! It’s really fun!
I just e’d the NYPL about their trainee program (thanks, Lsura) and will browse those job sites. I’m hoping that being an historian and published author might give me some tiny edge.
I’d be going to Pratt, which is (surprisingly), the only ALA-accredited school in NYC. Who’da thunk it? I’ll also get in touch with my broker and ask him if I can afford to do this without taking out a student loan; I’d have to Cobra my insurance, and take part-time work . . .
That is important. I have a fairly safe, well-paid job, but I haaaate it, and there is no future for me in this business after I lose this job. So I gotta make myself marketable in a field that I think I would enjoy.
I did my degree at UCLA, and I loved the place, though there have been some changes since I was there. During my time, there was a separate School Of Library Science which was housed in the old undergrad library building.
During my graduation ceremony, the Dean of our school was the senior dean of the University, so our class marched ahead of all the masters’ recipients. Anyway, now it’s a mere Department of the Graduate School of Education And Information Studies, which I think is probably an improvement for reasons of synergy.
The curriculum was strong on theory, but there was adequate coverage of practical issues too. A full two-year program provides more time to cover theory and practice, as well as providing rudimentary information science and database theory. The faculty is strong on fields such as library automation and systems analysis. Except for a two year stint as an indexer for a publishing company, I never “used” my degree in the practical sense, yet it was one of my UCLA professors who inspired me to go into computer programming. One thing about UCLA, and all the UC system to keep in mind is that they don’t traditionally cater to working adults, even at the graduate level. For more information you can go to the department’s website, where you’ll also find information on the faculty members including their research interests.
In terms of environment, I can’t say enough about UCLA. It’s a gorgeous place situated in one of the best areas of Los Angeles, even though Westwood isn’t the place it used to be. I think a university should inspire as well as giving you work to do, and this one does.
Think of it this way - you never, ever get too old to be a librarian, and moving into the sweater-set years is something of a career plus. I know for a near fact that one of the reasons I didn’t get that job on the ship was that they didn’t want to put some newly-minted under-30 Modern Librarian on a ship full of thousands of would-be Coast Guarders and Merchant Marines.
Well, I wouldn’t have hired me either.
As for how long it takes - the USC program is 36 graduate hours, no thesis. I went full-time with a reasonable schedule including one summer class and a graduate assistantship job, from fall of 2002 to this spring. Four regular semesters and one summer semester. During this time you really need to be working some part-time library job, as a GA or an intern or whatever, or you will a) not learn anything practical, and b) not be able to get a job when you get out. They still ask for a lot more experience than I could possibly have for entry level positions, and I apply for them on the off chance that nobody else could have it either.
This is a great chance to work in a specialized library type that interests you or allows you to learn things you might not get in library school, though - you can get a part time job or internship or whatever at a film library or archives or rare books collection pretty easily and get some valuable experience if you’re interested in anything like that, and it’s a great way to make connections. An assistantship or work study arrangement in reference allows you to learn a lot under the supervision of far more experienced librarians, also.
You should really think of any library job you can get in library school as a practicum part of the curriculum - I learned at least as much in my GA and twice as much in my internship as I learned in my classes, and I think that’s true for most people. You especially need it to hone those “reference interview” skills - it takes some experience to figure out what they really need when they come up and say “I need to find the yellow book I didn’t check our last year.”
I went full time. The program at Tennessee requires 42 hours, with either a thesis or non-thesis option. I did not write a thesis - instead, we had to take a comprehensive exam during our final semester. Not all schools require this.
For me, this meant 3 classes a semester during fall and spring and 6 during the summer between years. I began in August 2002 and finished in May 2004. That was full time - I know one person who began last August and is finishing this August, but her schedule was insane - something like 5 classes a semester.
I agree with Zsofia’s comments about some kind of library work while in school - and remember that some places offer graduate assistantships that may provide a tuition waiver (I had one) and a stipend - the details depend on the school though. I had that (working with distance ed students), and I worked part time in the university reference department. I got to actually work the reference desk, take part in projects and a number of other things.
I came back to school to do this because I spent several years working as an internal auditor. I realized that I hated it - hated it more than I could say. I was miserable, burnt out and slowly began wishing for a car accident on the weekend - nothing life threatening, just a broken leg or something so I didn’t have to work for a while.
I don’t know if there are any other programs reasonably close to you, but the ALA website lists these sites in NY state (yeah, I’m pretty sure that Albany, Buffalo and Syracuse aren’t that close):
University at Albany, State University of New York
Pratt Institute
Queens College
University at Buffalo, State Univ. of New York
St. John’s University
Syracuse University
Long Island University
UCLA uses the quarter system, or did when I was there. Normally you’re expected to be a full-time student for two years of three quarters each, though I believe you can go part-time if suited to your schedule. But, unless much has changed, you won’t be able to get many of your courses at night, so working a fulll-time day job would be nigh impossible. I’m sorry, but it’s been 20 years and I honestly can’t remember whether I carried 12 units or 16 units. It is work, not, as they say, rocket science, but there is a substantial body of knowledge to the field which you’ll be taught and expected to internalize. As with any graduate program, or for that matter undergraduate program, you’ll need to study many more hours than you actually spend in class.
One other pointer: I mentioned above that they offer an undergraduate research methods class; as a second-year grad student you can be a TA for that class. I did that, and found it a worthwhile experience, besides rumunerative to the princely sum of $410/mo, quarter-time. However, when the first quarter of my second year was over, I wanted to be one of the library student reference assistants, but was told they wouldn’t take anyone who hadn’t started doing that at the beginning of the year.
San Jose State took me two years full-time on the semester system, without the summer semester. Here, by the way, is the school’s website.
I don’t know about other library schools, but mine was full of people who were switching careers. Very few were straight out of college. So the class schedule was geared towards that; there were a lot of evening classtimes, once-a-week-for-three-hours classes, and also classes that met 4 times a semester, for an entire Saturday.
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus]
. . . as a second-year grad student you can be a TA for that class. /QUOTE]
. . . If T&A are required, I’m way too old for this . . .
I already e’d the NYPL and the library in my town to see if they had part-time trainee positions. I was thinking two years with a full course load, and doing freelance editing/writing on the side to keep me in nylons and chocolates.
A friend of mine going for her master’s in L.A. says most of the other library students are also middle-aged, second-career people.
Just for the record - U of Washington’s distance MLIS is supposedly only 3 years long (but you do have to spend one week/quarter in Seattle). I keep looking into that one, and trying to decide whether I want to go to library school - or if it would be another dead end for me.
Just thought I’d jump in and offer my facts and figures.
I got my undergraduate in Psychology and went straight to Library School, got my MLS in 4 semesters (took 2 years.) There were crazy people who finished in 1 1/2 years, usually by taking all available summer/winter classes. There were also students on the forever plan. IIRC, we had to complete a minimum of 32 credits, which was easy to do. I worked part time, usually 20 hours. I took out a loan for tuition and some living expenses (rent.) The total damage was under $20,000 (four years ago in Ohio.)
Some classes were much more interesting than others (a few were mind-numbingly boring) and some had more homework than others. There was one nightmare class that had 10-20 hours of necessary homework a week, but this was the only really evil class.
As far as class makeup, it was about half 20-something and half middle-aged. Some of the older students worked in the library field, many were second-career. They were as a group fairly interesting and cool.
I found a job a health librarian through an ad in the newspaper just a month or so after graduation, to my great shock.
It’s a really interesting job, which I love. It does NOT pay fistfulls of cash, but it is enough to pay all the bills.
I also did a 100-hour “practical experience” during school, where I worked at the downtown branch of the local public library. I did not get paid, but I did get credit hours for this. I got to do basically every librarian job in the whole library system, at least for a day. I worked at the reference desk, went out to a branch library, rode on the BookMobile, went to the prison library (!!!), and answered the main “info” phone lines. I highly recommend seeking out this sort of opportunity.
Eve, I noticed you got nailed by the next-character-stealing goblin when you tried to snip my quote. It happens to me too, all the time, ever since the board was changed a few months ago. It’s really aggravating, isn’t it? I would think that’s true especially for an editor like you.
To answer the question you raised, though, being a TA is in no way required. There were only two or three sections of the undergraduate class, which meant that only two or three TAs were needed. Even though the library school was small, there were still many more students than they needed for TA duty.
Actually that brings up another cool thing which I enjoyed at UCLA, but is probably true of most library schools–it’s a small school within a large university. You have access to the benefits of a 30000 student campus, including world class libraries and generous hours with respect to campus services, restaurants, and so on. Yet at the same time you’ll be in a small school where you’ll know everybody. When I was there, our classrooms were in the third story of the Powel Library Building (second picture down). Your average undergraduate going in through the entry seen here wouldn’t even have known we were tucked away up there, although a side entrance to the building did bear the name of the school.
It took me two years, including summer semesters, to get my MLS at Emporia State University in Kansas, which has an excellent library school (or did 10+ years ago; I can’t tell you what they’re like now). I had my BA and MA in English Lit before I went for the library degree. IIRC, Emporia’s was a 36-hour program. I worked at a part-time student-assistant job to help with the expenses, but also had to take a student loan.
The job market does depend on location. I think I’ve told this story before in librarian threads: after I got my MLS, I went back to stay with my family in Colorado and spent 6 months looking for a library-related job without success. Then I came out here to Washington DC to visit a friend (11 years ago this Memorial weekend!) and within a week, had a job at a medical library in Georgetown. I never went back to Colorado, except to get my stuff, and have never been between jobs for more than a couple of weeks. I’ve been in a variety of jobs here: a museum library, university reference, a short-lived stint at a law library, and of course the federal government; I work for a tiny Health & Human Services agency now. Though I can’t speak from experience outside of the DC area, I would imagine that, like DC, most large cities would have more and varied types of libraries, and therefore a better chance for job opportunities.
One of my girlfriends has a MLS. She isn’t willing to relocate and the Twin Cities is a tough job market. She’s worked as many as three part time library jobs at a time for very little money stringing together enough to live. These are public library jobs.
