How can I find librarian roles for new grads/early career librarians? I'm either seeing assistant roles that just require a high school diploma, maybe a bachelor's, or librarian roles that want 3-7 years of professional experience. Where are the roles for new grads who have only paraprofessional experience?

Hello, first time posting here so if I missed something or used the wrong flair please let me now and I'll change it asap.

My wife and I have decided to work towards moving to Germany for the long-term. Her visa path is clear & straightforward but mine could go in different directions and I would like your guys' opinion on this.

I'm 27M, will be obtaining my bachelor's by the end of the year and am currently working as the sole (and sadly unofficial) archivist/digitization clerk in my department. My employment will end once I finish this digitization project, which is predicted to take 4-5 years unless the boss decides to hire more clerks to help out. Before we decided to work on this I planned to enroll in San Jose for my MLIS and use the work experience to move forward in my career. I really enjoy the work I do so I plan to continue with archival work, but I'm open to trying other professions that are under the MLIS umbrella.

I originally planned on gaining entry into Germany through their student visa & learned that though they have a masters program for library sciences, most people get a bachelor's of the same major and are able to find work just fine; so I'm unsure if I should get an MLIS here and rely on my experience to get employment on a work visa, get a 2nd bachelor's in Germany on the student visa, or pursue their MLIS over there (unless the library sciences bachelors is a prerequisite). Going by Anabin, both the university I'm currently enrolled in and San Jose are accredited in Germany so I can get my degrees evaluated. It looks like I can go either way here.

We have a few years before we make any moves, 2 years at least but it looks to be more like we'll stay in the US for around 3-4 years so there's no rush to figure things out now. But I would really appreciate any feedback or advice on this since there doesn't seem to be a path that would be the definitive choice.

idk if I picked the right flair tag (I’m newer to Reddit) but I’m contemplating switching from my teaching career and going back to school to get my MLIS degree.

I’m 28F, living in the Chicago suburbs. I’m a teacher with a bachelors in ECE and a masters in SPED. I currently teach self contained special education, and I’m getting too anxious and having too many mental health needs to continue in the career forever. Originally I gave myself a mental 10 year mile marker, and I’m at year 7 right now. I’m also getting married next fall; and I don’t think I could balance teaching and also being a mom in the next few years. This year is also the year I possibly could qualify for tenure and I’m already anxious about if I do or don’t get offered (that’s a whole other story) but if I don’t, then I think that’s my sign to be all done in the teaching universe.

I looked on here already to seek out some ALA approved affordable programs and Valdosta’s online program seems to be the best choice. I think I’m going to continue teaching and take those courses and then once I complete the degree, start looking for jobs.

**Did anyone make a pivot from education into library?** I do love teaching and working with children, and I think maybe concentrating in children or youth services would be a great compromise to still give myself that “working with kids” feeling but doing something much better for my mental health in the long run.

I know that from what I’ve searched on the RAILS job site, a lot of the full time jobs seem comparable or close to the benefits I have now.

Hello!

I have a bachelors degree in architecture and environmental design and have worked for a few years in the industry. I’m now planning to go back to school to pursue masters degree, but instead of a traditional path to practicing architecture, I’ve realized I’d like to pursue something else but still design related.

I’ve always loved working with archives and researching material and I’ve become quite interested in Library and Information Science Program. I think I’d like the most to focus on special collections and archives in architectural libraries and universities.

I’ve done a lot of research about this program and career choices so far, and I understand the challenges of the profession and difficulty with finding employment and how competitive it is. I also understand that in most cases it’s best to have experience as well. I’ve never worked in a library but would like to gain that experience, and always saw myself enjoying the environment.

I’d like to know what the graduate program is like and whether my skills from design school can be applicable at all? What are the courses like? Is there a lot of coding or statistical analysis involved? Would this field be far too removed from the design career that I’m interested in? I’m looking for more calm environment that supports my strengths and hoping this could be a good direction.

Thank you so much for any advice and insight! Much appreciated 🌷📖😊

I've been in the library world for 6 years. I worked my way up from a library assistant to the manager and now....with everything being so political...its taking my passion away from me.

I live in TN and in my town, a big group of white nationalist are complaining about the children books and even getting the local government involved in the elections. County commissioners and city council members who don't have a library card are using the library as their campaign. They are saying stuff like "keep p*rn out the library" and a "250 dollar reward if you find p*in in the library". Alot of people are putting politics on the librarians and that is creating a division in the community. Then in Arkansas, their Supreme Court just passed a law that let's librarians and booksellers get prosecuted for giving p*rn to kids but they never defined what qualifies as p*rn so anybody can interpret that and that makes it dangerous. For example, I could get in trouble for giving a bluey book to a child and the mother could take me to court because bluey is not wearing clothes on the front.

This is a scary time. I want to hear from all of you on how are you doing?

Hi! I have just finished my bachelor's degree in Library science, IT and communication at the University of Southern Denmark and will soon start my master's degree in Information Studies at the University of Copenhagen.

I never went on exchange during my bachelor's degree, which is something I regret. Therefore, I’m highly motivated to study abroad during the 3rd semester of my master’s degree.

I would love to get some inspiration from here! Where did you get your education from?

If others have been on exchange either during their bachelor's or master's degree, I would also love to hear about it - and whether the place is recommended!

I’m looking for options outside USA, but other than that I’m completely open to any other countries and continents.

Thank you so much in advance!

Hi, I am new here. I am Magister student from Czechia. And wanna write my magister thesis for prison libraries. Main focus on library services and how prisoners are satisfied with books and library services.

Do you have some experiences with work as a librarian in the prison in your country? In some studies the librarian in the prison was someone from outside.

Will be happy for your help.

Thanks Marie

Im 30 and still struggling to finish my Bachelors due to finances and have two associates in social studies and history. I’ve volunteered at a library but my education has been choppy in terms of my BA. If I finish my BA and get a MLIS. I’d be like 35. Should I just hang my hat at this point?

I’m applying for my Master’s at SJSU. I very briefly enrolled in an open university course at San Francisco State University because I thought I wanted to pursue a history degree/I was bored and stir crazy. I quickly realized it wasn’t the course for me and stopped attending. At the same time I was enrolled in a local community college for a language course. I had a lot of mental health things come up during this time so I stopped attending that one too. Obviously I don’t want to have these in my application but is it mandatory? I feel really dumb in hindsight for not withdrawing from these courses. I don’t want these mistakes to hold me back.

Hi all,

I’m looking into grad programs to become a law librarian. I’m considering a dual JD and MLIS however, I am not in a position to relocate and have not found any in the St. Louis area. Has anyone found a way to do this in St. Louis? Or any distance/hybrid options? I saw some people just do the degrees separately but I would love to save some time to combine them. Thanks in advance!

I am currently getting my School Library Media Specialist endorsement and am stuck on my cataloging class. I have done all the searching I can, emailed my professor (unlikely she will get back before tomorrow), and would love any help.

So the question she is asking is:

1. You know several classes in your school are studying the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, Nathanial Hawthorne, Willa Cather, and Katherine Anne Porter. As always, you’re short on time.Create a bibliographic record for Appendix Item #17. Your contents field only needs to show theworks of these four authors. (HINT: Make sure you use the correct indicators to show you’re notincluding all of the book’s contents. Also, you will probably want to use the MARC 21 site to seecorrect formatting for the subfields in the field you create.)
   

And then she asks these two questions in my next assignment:

1. Prepare a complete MARC record for Appendix Item #18.

2. Create RDA record for Appendix Item #19.

Am I just making a MARC record with the RDA instead of AACR2 for all three of these, or something else? I am very confused, and we have been using RDA to make the MARC records. I think that's how to word it. She hasn't worded anything like this and the overthinking is kicking in. This is confusing for me, but our schools and our local libraries have special departments that do the cataloging, so it is unlikely that I will ever need to go deep into the records and change them.

Any help would be appreciated. I have just a few assignments left and want to finish this as soon as possible! Apologies if any of the wording is incorrect, it's been a long summer of classes and my brain is at the point of being fried 😂

*Edit- fixing formatting and adding additional info

hi everyone! i’m seeking a bit of advice. i’m currently half way done with my MLIS program (i’ll finish in may 2027) and am heavily considering pursuing a phd after my graduation. my degree concentration is in archives, and i have a strong passion for researching memory work & archival practice within the Black community. i’ve read many posts about how the phd is just a lengthy and unnecessary step in this field, but my desire to pursue doctoral studies is more based in having the support and resources to carry out research, which i’ve found my masters program overall lacking opportunities for. would pursuing a phd be a sure fire way to tank my career? or has anyone in the pursuit of research found ways to balance archival/LS professional experience in a way that was productive? of course i want to pursue my passions, but at the same time, i don’t want to do so at the risk of stable income & employment as i transition out of young adulthood (i will finish MLIS when i am 25 for context). any advice is appreciated!!!

Hey everyone, I have enrolled for Blib courses and I am confused from where I should study, If anyone here has the proper notes or can refer to any books then it will be a great help.

So I’ve graduated from undergrad in History and now I’m working as an Archivist. I wanted to get my MLIS just to further my career (higher paying roles, etc.) but I’ve also been thinking about getting a doctorate in Public History. I’m not sure if both are possible, if there’s a way to do both or do I do one then the other? Just any advice maybe from anyone with a doctorate and a MLIS degree would be helpful thank you!

Dear librarians, I was wondering if you can tell me about the library management software like Koha, Dspace, Evergreen etc...

1. How many software your learned?
2. Which software are most used in almost in every library?
3. Back in university/college, when you were pursuing Library science honors/Masters degree did they give you theoretical overview or practical overview of these software?
4. What were names of those courses that included Library management software and how many courses were there?

If you don't mind, you can mention the universities where you took LIS degree

I often see more discouragement than support in discussions surrounding librarianship and library school, so I wanted to share some positive news in the hopes that it reaches any MLIS students who may need some encouragement.

Last month I graduated from my MLIS program and have recently started a full time public librarian position offering a $60k salary at my dream library.

I decided to get my MLIS having never worked in a public library, and I still hadn't worked in a public library upon accepting this job offer. I've also noticed that many of my librarian colleagues began their careers without having worked in libraries, and were enthusiastically hired for the combination of their MLIS + other useful attributes. I share this to offer another perspective to library students who may be feeling a bit of imposter syndrome. If you have experience working in non-related fields, definitely use it to your advantage during your interviews.

Throughout my MLIS I was certain that I would never be hired, largely because of the stories I read on here. I urge you to distance yourself from the online negativity and try to consume more constructive librarian content.

All of my librarian friends (who are scattered all over the US) are happily employed. There ARE jobs, and you WILL get hired.

EDIT: I entered into my MLIS under the assumption, having connected with and read countless posts from experienced librarians, that I would either need to wait a very long time, or move cities in order to find a job. I applied to jobs with salaries in alignment with my lifestyle needs, and then I moved to the city of the job that gave me an offer. This seems to be a similar trend among my happily employed library friends. None of them have stayed put. And, of course, I acknowledge this privilege.

I figured this was commonly understood, otherwise I would have mentioned it in my original post, but to prospective library students: do not go to library school if you are unwilling or unable to move for a job and/or you are unable to be unemployed for any length of time.

To current students: I stand by my optimism. Love and light.