are you now, or have you ever been, A Librarian?

I could tell you a few stories about bad, bad managers in big libraries. Like the dept. head who chewed out my boss for 'spending too much money on her kitchen floor tiles' - this was supposed to be indicative of her lack of fiscal prudence.

Once people get out of big academic libraries, they tell a lot of horror stories about the politics therein. In one case, the place was violating every employment law on the books.

We have a lot of artists, writers and musicians working here.

i was a part-time library assistant in university at the biology-forestry library. reshelving the bound periodicals (enormous half-year volumes of 'nature' etc) was okay, but the regular books were awful because the whole library only used a couple tens-digits of the dewey and there were lots of unpleasant digits to the right of the decimal...

I figure going into archives is one of the most practical paths a person obsessed with collecting/organizing/researching music can take. If I ever got to work for a Music Archive, I'd be on cloud 9.

Don't call me "Buttle"....

Then again, the free internet access is nice.

I am a librarian-in-waiting. I don't know if I'll be one properly even when I can though. As long as I can leave THIS job, that's the main thing.

Apparently I drunkenly belittled librarians to a librarian who has posted on this thread when I was in New York, for which I apologise. I had drunkenly worked myself into a state about the fact that ordinary members of the public didn't understand what archives where, which meant that my addled brain thought I was pitting libraries against archives.

My university library had about 30 copies of Jurassic Park, and about 10 copies each of most of Anne Rice's novels. That's damn academic.

Just make sure it has ALA accreditation, and it should be fine.

My university library had about 30 copies of Jurassic Park, and about 10 copies each of most of Anne Rice's novels. That's damn academic.

Wow, that is shocking! I'm guessing that Jurassic Park may have been assigned for a class, but even so....that's way too damn many copies of this book. This library must have money to burn.

i think i should like to be librarian but it sounds like too much work to get there.

It is.

My current MLS/Archives program (Simmons in Boston) is 8 classes. If you took 4 a semester, it would only be one year.

Although a more sensible route would be taking 2 classes a semester while working. Which is what I am doing.

"What do you see as the most interesting and/or significant opportunities provided by the information field?"

Also, they want me to pick a specialization. Academic library sounds interesting to me, and having an M.A. in English might be a plus for that, but are academic libraries just mirror, bookish verisions of academia? Are the librarians up for tenure and so on?

I am also interested in the public library. I don't think I am interested in becoming an archivist. I think I am interested in a more general catch-all type of librarian, but please inform me of what the various fields are like.

The Maryland program is 30 credits--I think 2 years. That's a lot of librarianship.

as opposed to public libraries - endless new brats to annoy you and a rarely changing clientele of pensioners.

More than you might guess, I'd say. Working even as just a library assistant at one tends to wash away the dewy patina.

there is an endlessly replenished stream of hot young things as clients/patrons. i'm pretty sure thats why Ned stays where he is.

Oh dear. (To be honest, at this rate I'm not staying much longer unless there's a radical kick up in my pay rate/status.)

xpost

Two former employees at my library were caught in flagrante once. Somehow it was kept quiet. Ish.