Every other week or so, I ask a question to a group of people who hire library and LIS workers. If you have a question to ask or if you’d like to be part of the group that answers, shoot me an email at hiringlibrariansATgmail.
This week’s question is a reprise of one I asked back in 2014:
From your perspective, how has library school changed in the past decade (or since you graduated, whichever you prefer to consider)? Are there areas of knowledge or experience that you see as especially proficient or as lacking in recent graduates? Do you have a preference for applicants from certain schools or between traditional and online programs? As a new crop of librarians-to-be start classes this fall, your advice can help them plan and prepare for the future.
Anonymous: These are all good questions, and I am glad that you are asking them.
I have been a librarian for 11 years and most of the classes I took in school I would not take today.
Let me say that differently. The foundation classes I took (intro to reference, cataloging, general librarianship) were great and I will forever love my storytelling class, but for the most part I do very little that I was “trained” to do. I work with library students now and again as interns and I will share with you what I share with them.
Working in the library means that you show people how to use the printer services, or the scanner. There is an art of explaining how to use technology. Sometimes you use broad strokes, painting by numbers, or interpretive dance. Don’t worry about giving the correct answer, but don’t forget to be kind. Advocate for yourself and sometimes you get interesting and challenging reference questions. If you really want to be a librarian- volunteer/intern at as many different kinds of libraries as you can.
As far as preference with the kind of delivery system they participated in for their degree, it doesn’t matter. Virtual school is a thing now and it should not be viewed as less than (as I believe it was for some time), because in my opinion it is harder to work through an online program than in-person.
New library students are going to be part of the 3.0 and beyond of librarianship. Technology. Virtual Spaces. Library as classroom, daycare, health and wellness centers. Food pantries. Tool Lending. Teen programming. Adult programming. Academic instruction. Children services. Explore what you are interested in outside of the classroom. And know how to show someone how to print from the computer.
Elizabeth “Beth” Cox, Director, Cataloging, Metadata & Digitization Dept., University of Iowa Libraries:
Are there areas of knowledge or experience that you see as especially proficient or as lacking in recent graduates? I have been particularly concerned about the decreasing amount of classes available in traditional cataloging (metadata, description, or whatever else it is called). Most libraries still have physical collections and need people to catalog those materials, regardless of format. While the majority of my two cataloging courses involved practical lessons in how to catalog, they also included some history of this aspect of our profession, which I think is extremely important. MARC is still being used in most libraries. While BIBFRAME seems to be the replacement, it is by no means a done deal. Catalogers need to be learning both.
Do you have a preference for applicants from certain schools or between traditional and online programs? No. I’m more interested in their hands-on cataloging experience, whether it’s in a class, a practicum or internship, or a paid position.
As a new crop of librarians-to-be start classes this fall, your advice can help them plan and prepare for the future. My main piece of advice is, regardless of your path towards librarianship, learn the basics of the MARC record. Even if you plan to be a reference librarian, you will still need to be able to read a bibliographic record and assist users in interpreting it.
Learn the basics of Library of Congress classification, Dewey Decimal classification, and Library of Congress Subject Headings, at the minimum. Depending on whether you plan to work in an academic, public, or special library, one or more of these will likely be used. You won’t need them every day, but knowing where to go to look up, for example, what LCC number covers U.S. geography may be helpful some day.
Learn the basics of one or two commonly used non-MARC metadata standards, such as Dublin Core or MODS.
Learn about database structure. One of the best and most difficult classes that I took in library school was more of a computer science class and covered file & data structure and indexes in an online catalog, aka a database. As a cataloger, I understand so much more about how bib data, circ data, acq data, etc., work together.
Regardless of the area of librarianship or the type of library you’re interested in, learn a little about all of them. Once you find your niche, get hands-on experience as well as classroom education, if you can. If you want to be a cataloger, check with your university’s cataloging department to see if they hire grad students. If you are in an online program, check with your local public library. You never know when someone may have a project that they can hire you for on a short-term basis.
Get a mentor or two or three. Get to know the librarians in your university or public library. Ask if you can meet with one or more of them to learn about what they do and what advice they can give. Take advantage of state or national organizations and their mentorship programs.
Laurie Phillips, University Librarian for Information Resources, J. Edgar & Louise S. Monroe Library, Loyola University New Orleans: I graduated from library school more than 30 years ago and it’s been interesting to see trends over the years. We never used to trust fully online programs, but now that’s completely normal. I think our concerns about online programs were that the person may have done their whole program online and perhaps never gotten actual hands-on work experience in a library. I think that’s still true. For certain positions, certain schools jump out, but I don’t know enough now to be informed about most programs and their strengths (other than a very few, like UT for archives). For the most part, It’s more important how a person presents their education and experience and how that intersects with the position in question.
Donna Pierce, Library Director, Krum Public Library: I almost feel like that old person saying “things were better make in the day”! But I have noticed a change in the newer librarians. They seem to be focused on “things” – Library of Things, Maker Spaces, Family Place and less willing to mentor smaller libraries, or actually help patrons. (That last is an assumption based on what their libraries seem to be promoting). I feel like libraries tend to forget the “people” they are serving – is there a reason the book is late? Maybe waive that fine. Did they tell you that puppy found the book? Work with them on the replacement cost. They are more worried about the “bottom line.” Yes, Mr. X is in for the zillionth time looking for the perfect truck – we will help him yet again to find that web site and print off those possible trucks. Yes, that takes staff away from their job – but to me helping patrons is the job we should all be doing. I also feel like they don’t see a need to help a small library.
But I also feel like I am just being old and cranky! 
If you have a question to ask people who hire library workers, or if you’d like to be part of the group that answers them, shoot me an email at hiringlibrariansATgmail.
Hiring Librarians 