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.
I have asked this week’s question in the past: May 20, 2022 , February 20, 2015 , and January 24, 2014
What current issues or “hot topics” would you ask candidates about in an interview right now? Or what topics have you recently included? How can candidates best keep up on current issues in the field?
Donna Pierce, Library Director, Krum Public Library: We have just interviewed two people and this is from the e-mail thank you one of them sent “It was an extraordinary, out-of-the-box interview, full of intriguing, thought-provoking questions. You could both be expert presenters at a Symposium on the subject of “How to Conduct a Knock-Your-Socks-Off Interview.””
I am including our list of questions that we use (linked here). Questions 3, 8 and 9 really give us a lot of information about the person we are interviewing and lead to other questions/information. Question 12 and 13 help us explain how public libraries work and that while we respect people’s right to choose we don’t limit those choices based on other’s opinion or their age.
Celia Rabinowitz, Assistant Vice-President for Academic Engagement and Director of Mason Library, Keene State College: I think this question might depend a bit on the type of position. Early in my days as an academic librarian I remember reading many of the top tier journals cover to cover (and, yes, they were only in print) because I thought I should. I did that even when articles were outside my own areas of knowledge and developing expertise. I stopped doing that a while ago. So I would recommend that a librarian just entering the field consider at least looking at tables of contents of many academic library journal but perhaps to read more selectively than I did.
The topics for an interview really depend to some degree on the position and on the type of library. But I think it is important for all academic librarians (with jobs, seeking jobs) to be much more aware of issues and trends in higher education than we often were in the past. Daily digests for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Diverse Issues in Higher Ed, etc., are helpful. Sign up to receive the daily post on Scholarly Kitchen! These days I think there is so much good thinking and writing happening on Substacks or other alternative sources that deciding what to read, and how much, is daunting. So use all that like a buffet. Interested in the non-grading conversation? Or in transformative agreements in publishing? Or open-data? It’s all out there. If it’s your thing, try to find a reading group, or send a particularly interesting or provocative piece to a colleague or friend to talk about over coffee.
Perhaps my takeaway is to look for a balance of work being published in traditional formats and sources, work that is emerging on other platforms, and developing an awareness of issues facing your particular community of libraries and librarians. And do that without becoming overwhelmed! Good luck.
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 