A Thursday Library Rant

Have you entered my “blog-a-versary” giveaway yet?  It ends on Friday!!

Note: I started this rant on today’s open thread at Agnostic, Maybe and I’m finishing it up here. 

There has been SO. MUCH. TALK. about technology training in library school, and while that is so great and wonderful and necessary for some jobs, it is not necessary for mine.

I'm a solo hospital librarian working at a not-for-profit, community-based, teaching hospital.  My main users are residents and attending physicians, but I also work with nurses, pharmacists, and administration.  I spend my days doing literature searches, finding and sending articles, maintaining my collection, helping out with research and grant writing, and teaching instruction classes.  I do classic library work.  My job description and my actual duties (as they sometimes - er, always - differ) have nothing to do with programming, web design (in fact I'm not even allowed to touch the website), or anything tech related past putting paper in the copier and turning on and off my computer. 

If I had been required to take a lot of technology classes for my MLIS, I would have of course done so and probably been a more well-rounded librarian, but at this point in my career it would have been a complete waste of time.  I may need it for a future job, but let's face it, by the time I move on, things will have already changed so much that what I learned in school would be useless.

The skills I need for my job are good reference skills, cataloging/indexing (although most of what I do is copy cataloging, knowing how NLM indexes articles for PubMed is so helpful), and customer service skills. 

Which actually brings me a really great point.  Customer service skills and how incredibly important they are. 

I’ve said before that my job is 1/3 library skills and 2/3 people skills.  I can teach anyone (well, anyone with a good head on their shoulders and a desire to learn) how to do library work.  But I can’t teach anyone how to be a librarian.  Because being a librarian isn’t about doing library work.  Being a librarian is about being a service professional.  You are providing a service to your users/patrons/customers/whatever you call them.  And your users/patrons/customers/whatever are people.  And if you don’t like people then why do you want to be a librarian?

People use libraries and librarians help these people.  So it would make sense that librarians should actually like and be good with people, right? 

Apparently that's not always the case.

I was reading a blog post the other day (now I can’t remember where so if you know, please put the link in the comments) about how shocked someone was when people were sharing, on that first day of library school (you know where you have to stand up and say why you’re there), that they went to library school because they like to read and/or because they like books. 

Getting back to my original point (I had one someone), these are the kind of people we should be concerned about going to library school.  Not people who are technologically-illiterate, but people who don’t know what it means to be a librarian.  (Side note: read this comment for a great idea on how to fix this problem.) Because being a librarian is not about liking books or programming or being great at twitter.  Those are all great qualities, but what makes a good librarian is someone who is helpful, who is genuinely interesting in assisting and teaching users how best to access their information, and who actually likes working with people.   

Unless you are a cataloger or in IT; then you can sit in your office and do whatever you want to do, however you want to do it, because, let’s face it, we need you desperately.

That’s the end of my rant.  Thoughts?

In Which I Answer a Reader Question

On Tuesday I got an email from a new reader (by the way, I love getting email from readers!).  Annie is in her first semester of library school and wrote to me asking my opinion on the recent attitude change towards MLIS degrees.  With her permission, I’m answering her question here.

The Question: I want to thank you for the advice that you posted on there, it's very helpful to someone like me who's starting out. As I click around on all these various blogs, I'm noticing a certain attitude about MLIS degrees. Some people who are really bitter about wasting their time and money on it. It actually is freaking me out because I wanted to get this degree to help me get a job. What do you think of this attitude? Is it unfounded or am I totally screwed when I graduate because there won't be any jobs?

My Answer: Yes, I too have noticed that attitude about the MLIS, especially on blogs like the Annoyed Librarian.  I agree, to an extent, with what they are saying.  Many of the online programs have become degree mills.  They accept just about everyone and everyone graduates because (and the longer you are in school, the more you will notice this) library school just isn't that hard.  Sure, there is a lot of work, but compared to many graduate programs, library school is a breeze. 

Because just about everyone graduates, there are tons of new librarians entering the work force.  Unfortunately, there aren't enough jobs to go around for all of these new librarians.  Budget cuts/a poor economy, a high rate of unemployed librarians, and a lack of new jobs opening up (whether created because of expansion or filling open positions) has led us to this point.  Yet, the ALA and many library schools are still proclaiming that librarianship is a rapidly growing career, new jobs are opening up all the time, and tons of librarians are getting ready to retire.  Us recent grads, unemployed and newly employed librarians alike, know this isn't true.

However, does this mean that the value of the MLIS has decreased?  Yes and no.  Yes, because too many degreed, professional librarians means that the job market is overly saturated.  Yes, because there are lots of highly qualified unemployed librarians out there applying for entry level jobs as paraprofessionals just to have a library job.  Yes, because of those so-called degree mills letting anyone become a librarian whether or not they are truly qualified and/or suited to be one.

But at the same time, no the value of the MLIS hasn't decreased.  Why?  Because, let's face it, as much as we say a paraprofessional can do anything (and sometimes better) a professional librarian can do, it just isn't true.  I have a wonderful, very competent library assistant who just cannot do the work I do.  She's great working in the library and working with our users, but she isn't comfortable at doing reference work (PubMed confounds her) and cataloging just doesn't make sense.  I could spend lots of time teaching her those skills, but I can't teach her the background nor can I really answer the "why?" questions; that's something that one can only learn in library school. 

Anyone can learn to be a good searcher or a good cataloger or even a good administrator on the job.  But that's not just what library school is about.  Library school is about gaining experience in several different fields of librarianship.  It's about learning how to conduct research in case you are ever called up to write a grant or design and publish a study for your institution.  It's about exposing yourself to a variety of ideas and viewpoints from a vast group of librarians.  It's about making connections, both social and intellectual, with your colleagues. 

So in my humble opinion, the value of the MLIS has decreased, but is still incredibly important.  Without one, you are stuck checking in books, shelving, and doing simple tasks, not because you lack the skills to do other things but because you don't have that piece of paper that says "Masters in Library and Information Sciences" on it. 

Annie, my advice to you is to stay in school and stay very positive about your chances of getting a job.  Become a well-rounded librarian.  Take classes in a variety of subjects; do at least one internship (more if you can manage it); get a part-time job or volunteer in your local public or academic library; get involved with the research your professors are doing; make important connections with professors, other librarians, and students by joining associations, going to conferences, and discussing library issues with those around you.

Stay positive! The job market will turn around one of these days.  If you work hard and open yourself up to all sorts of possibilities, you will likely find yourself working as a professional librarian very soon.  It may not be in the place or even in the type of library you wanted or expected, but it will be a library job.  And, hopefully, that will be enough to start.

I invite you to check out my series on what I wish I learned in library school (read the comments; they are really good), my guest post series from new librarians, and check out my friend Lauren's post on internships.

I hope this helps and answers some of your questions.  Again, thanks for writing and for reading!

What is your advice to Annie?  What do you think her chances are at getting a job?  What is your opinion on the attitude towards the MLIS these days?

What I Wish I Had Learned in Library School, Part III

This is my final entry in what turned into be a series on all the things I wish I had learned while I was in library school.  If you  missed it, you can read part one here and part two here.

This week I want to address 4 skills that I wish I had acquired while I was in library school.  All of these were touched on in some form or fashion in a variety of classes, but I would have loved a class, or even a special not-for-credit, after school, workshop to address some of these.

The first skill is Vendor Relations.  My friend Lauren and I have discussed that we both lack skills in dealing with vendors.  Her encounters with vendors have only come from conferences, but I deal with vendors everyday.  I really wish I knew how exactly I was supposed to handle their incessant phone calls, their pleas for me to try a new project, and 5 minute elevator pitches on why their product is perfect for my library and how they can work with me on the price issue.  I never seem to know what to say.  I'm actually running a free trial on an ebook platform that I'm 95% sure I won't buy because the ebooks are so expensive.  I didn't know how to say no and the rep kept calling about it until I finally gave in and am now "running" a free trial.  I say "running" because I'm not promoting it at all.  The trial comes with access to all the ebooks they have, but then when you buy, you only see what books you've purchased.  I don't want to expose the doctors to something and then take it away.  That doesn't seem fair. 

On the opposite of vendors who call too much, are vendors that I need to talk to and want to hear more about their product, but don't really know how to go about it.  For example, the vendor the library uses for all of our print journals and some of our databases has provided me with no less than 5 reps to contact.  I have no idea who's who so I end up calling one, who ends up being the wrong person, and then he/she has to direct me to the right person to talk to.  It's frustrating because I was dumped into this with no prior knowledge of the system and now I'm just trying to sort through it all to reach the person I need to talk to.  Like Lauren, I also struggle to find ways to talk to them about my needs.  I'm always careful not to bring up money to soon, but in a super small library, it's always going to be the first issue.  I need to learn to deal with vendors correctly so both of us get what we want.  I do better learning from classes, readings, and presentations.  Does anyone know of some good information on this topic?

Management is something I've addressed multiple times.  I wasn't really prepared to be a manager in my first job (other than managing myself which is hard enough).  I think that I had I worked in a library and worked under a good manager, I would be a better manager myself.  I have a wonderful library assistant who works with me two days a week.  She's the only person I manage and we get along just fine, but sometimes I wish I knew more.  Having experience would have really helped here.  As much as they tried to teach management in school, I honestly don't think it's a skill that can be taught.  It must be learned by watching and by being managed.  If you know of any good people management materials, please share!

Management of people is not the only part of management.  I manage a whole library.  I run the show.  From the cataloging to the decision making to the budget, it's all my job.  I think this was taught a little better in school, but most days I still have no clue what I'm doing.  I think it would be better if I actually had a copy of my budget and a better idea of how my money get's spent, but alas, I (still) don't.  I think that I do a pretty good job running the library, but most of that is just common sense and thinking on my feet.  Hmm...maybe that's all that management really is?  That would be so easy! 

Resume, interview, and general job hunting skills were something I got from applying to many jobs and then asking why I wasn't getting interviewed.  I had lots of different people, from my parents to my professors to actual librarians look over my resume/CV and cover letters.  I got lots of advice and most of it seemed to work out pretty well.  I strongly suggest showing your stuff around to as many people as possible and really listening to what they have to say.  Back in the fall when many of my fellow classmates were dealing with job hunting in a bad economy, I asked one of our professors who used to be an assistant dean of our library and did a lot of hiring, to do some workshops on job hunting, resume writing, interviewing, etc.  It turned out to be a great program.  I wish that it had happened earlier in the year, so that I could have gotten more out of it, but I know that many of my classmates did.  I encourage you, if you are still in school, to ask a professor whose really great at resume critiques to do hold workshops like these.  If you are interested in knowing what we covered, email me and I'll be happy to share more information.  The reason I'm putting this down as a skill I wish I had learned is because I wish that something like this had been offered every semester (or at least once a year) so that as many people could take advantage of it. 

The last skill is the most important I think.  Marketing and advertising are two things that I desperately wish I knew more about.  Lisa mentioned in the comments last week that her school started offering a library marketing course after she left.  I would have loved to take a class like that!  Even while I was in school, I wished for marketing skills because I kept seeing job postings for an "outreach" librarian.  These were more common in academic libraries, but I saw a few postings for public libraries as well.  And now that I'm running the show, I wish I knew more about getting the word out to my patrons, talking to doctors about new things, finding out what they would like to see in the library, etc.  I would have really enjoyed a course like that.  I attended a session on marketing academic libraries at ALLA conference this winter and while some things definitely apply in my own library, one 1 hour session wasn't near enough.  Does anyone know of any continuing ed courses or know anything about library marketing?  Please share!

I know this was long, and I apologize for that.  I asked several questions that I would love to see some responses to.  In case you missed them they are: 

• Does anyone know of some good information on improving vendor relations?
• Do you know of any good people management materials? 
• Does anyone know of any continuing ed courses in marketing and advertising or do know anything about library marketing and would be willing to share? 
• Lastly, what are some skills that you wished you learned in library school?

Please share your thoughts in the comments.  Inquiring librarians want to know!

What I Wish I Learned in Library School, Part II

Last week, I blogged about how I wish I had done library school differently.  This week I'm here to tell you what classes I wish I had taken and the things I should have paid more attention to.  I did learn a lot in library school, a ton really.  I couldn't be a librarian without the skills I acquired in school.  But knowing that doesn't stop me from wishing I had had more time, more courses, a better sense of the job market and that it was/is necessary to be as marketable as possible, and a better focus.  

I am NOT a good student.  Sure, I appear to be.  I made straight A's in library school, including reference which is by and large considered to be the toughest class in the program.  (That is, if it is taught by Margaret Dalton.  And it should be; that's the only way to roll.)  I graduated magna cum laude from undergrad which is where I learned to write lengthy papers with no purpose whatsoever (a skill necessary in library school).  Despite that, I am a terrible student.  I played games on my computer in class, I rarely did the reading, I crammed for finals, and wrote papers in 12 hour stints, putting it off until the last possible moment.  Knowing this about myself, I can't really say that I wish I had done things differently in school, because I know that I wouldn't have done the learning part differently.  I always started out each semester with good intentions; I did my reading, focused in class, asked intelligent questions.  But unless the class was particularly interesting and/or entertaining (which only happened twice), I stopped doing the reading, starting gchatting my friends, and occasionally job hunted (in my last semester at least) during class.  

I do wish, however, that in certain circumstances I had paid more attention.  In my organization of information course we briefly touched on cataloging for a class or two.  It confused me greatly and I drowned my confusion in yet another game of BrickBreaker.  I learned very little about cataloging and what I did learn/understand made me stay away from the cataloging course.  In the words of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, "Big mistake. Huge".  I needed that class.  Not only would it have made me infinitely more marketable in my job search, it would have been tremendous help to me now.  But no.  I ignored the class both semesters it was offered.  

Another course I wish I had taken was Special Libraries.  I actually thought about taking this one, because I knew that cool research jobs occasionally came open and they were primarily in special libraries, but there were so many people who wanted to take the course that I opted out so not to take the place of someone who really wanted to take it.  The class is only offered once a year, and I thought that I was doing the nice thing.  After all, I wouldn't be working in a special library.  I was going to be an academic reference librarian (right?  RIGHT?)

Along those same lines is management.  I took the required management course; in fact, I took two.  I took both Academic and Public Libraries.  I can honestly say that Academic Libraries is the class I learned the least in and paid attention the least.  I spent that class buried in the back row with my roommate, playing games, eating lunch, and generally not learning.  Public Libraries was decent.  My professor was the director of our local public library, and when she was on her game, taught us a whole lot about real life in a public library.  Her class actually made me want to work in a public library.  But honestly, I didn't learn anything about management.  Management is, along with some other things, a skill that I will address in my next post, but it's also something I was really unprepared for and one that taking the Special Libraries class or the regular library management course may have helped fix. 

Other courses I wish I taken were Information Resources in the Sciences, mostly because there are ton of jobs open as health science librarians in academic institutions (and because it would help me now); user instruction, which was actually offered, but I was too busy with my history classes, and medical libraries, which wasn't offered until I graduated, but wow would that have been a help.  Most of this would have simply made me a more well-rounded librarian.  If I had taken cataloging and the Sciences course, I could have applied for more than double of the jobs I qualified for.  I may not want to be a cataloger, but after 5 months of unemployment, I would have started applying for anything, had I been qualified.  

Check back next week, when I will discuss all the skills that I wish had been taught or that I wish I had acquired.  In the meantime, share your thoughts.  What classes do you wish you had taken in library school?

What I Wish I Learned in Library School

I have always been one for looking back and wishing I had done something different.  I wish I had bought those shoes, I wish I hadn’t said something so odd in public (even if it made sense to me at the time), wished I had done this better, or that differently.  I think we all do this somewhat, but sometimes I think I take it to the extreme. 

I’m really bad about thinking these sorts of thoughts when it comes to school.  I’m always wondering if things would have turned out differently if I had changed my major or took a different class.  What would I have learned?  Would that have made me a different person or taken me down a different path in life?  What if, what if, what it. 

I tried to prevent this in college by taking a wide variety of courses on things I found interesting, not just related to my major in history.  I took an introductory class in anthropology one semester and ended up enjoying the class so much that I made it my second minor.  I took courses in human development, art history, and dance.  While I wish that I taken other classes such as psychology and more literature classes, overall I’m pretty happy with the courses I took in undergrad.

I wish I could say the same thing about library school.  I approached library school the same way I approached undergrad; I took classes that I thought would be interesting.  I also was more interested in finishing in 3 semesters (plus one summer course) and saving money than I was getting a good education.  This was both a good and bad thing.  I’m glad I finished in December because I was able to go on my fantastic trip to the UK and I graduated with many of my friends.  I also saved money by graduating early and moving home; however, I think that in my haste I missed out on some good involvement activities and definitely missed out on some good classes. 

SLIS has five required courses, introduction to LIS, organization of information, reference, research methods, and information technologies, plus you must also take a management course (there are 5 to choose from).  That leaves 6 other courses, one of which should be an internship as it is strongly recommended.  In addition to the five required classes, my management course (I picked Academic Libraries), and my internship I took collection development, history of the book, advanced reference, public libraries, and history of libraries.  I took exactly 12 classes, which is the minimum required to graduate.  Looking back over my course list, it is obvious that I am interested in history and was preparing to be a reference librarian.  However, other than reference and collection development, nothing I took prepared me for the kind of work I do now. 

So what classes do I wish I had taken?  What do I wish I learned in library school?  Stay tuned and I’ll tell you!