#i kinda wouldnt recommend getting one til youve worked in an actual library for a while first to give some perspective | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

anotherpapercut · 1 year ago

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How would one find work at a library when they just...aren't qualified or don't have the relevant experience? I'd love to work at one but I don't have a relevant degree or experience in the field (mostly because they keep rejecting my applications and then ghosting me). I know if given the opportunity I could learn how to do the various jobs at a library, I just have trouble getting into the field without a degree.

people ask me this quite a bit and I really don't know what to say because I don't have an MLIS and neither do most of my coworkers. only like 1/10th of our employees have it honestly. I only have an associates degree in mathematics. and honestly, I'm really sorry to say, the only other way to get your foot in the door really is to volunteer. I volunteered at the library that I now work for A LOT as a teenager so I was able to use the librarians I got to know as references when I started applying to library jobs, and I was able to speak to my experiences working within the library

basically the only other thing is starting at the absolute bottom of the totem poll, which I also did even with my volunteer experience. this is usually going to be a library page position. pages are generally the lowest paid, most manual labor job because they reshelve returned books. so it's a lot of lifting and pushing tens or hundreds of pounds of books around all day

unfortunately there's nothing else I can really tell you, there's not really a magic key to working here. volunteering and having a clean record (like, don't apply if you have a bunch of fines on your account) are really the only ways to get ahead at all. even having an MLIS isn't gonna help you much these days without having any experience like that

#also this isnt to be mean to people who have it but library degrees are like waaaay overhyped and largely exist as a class barrier #because in order to get one you have to waste at least 4 years getting a completely irrelevant degree then be able to afford 2 more yrs #i kinda wouldnt recommend getting one til youve worked in an actual library for a while first to give some perspective #and id only do it if you have a specific library position in mind #please do not waste your time and money getting a degree just because you want to work in a library #you need to know what exactly you want to aim for because positions are few and far between #also one last little secret: working at a library reallllllly fucking sucks in A LOT of ways #i love what we do and i love my coworkers but i fucking hate my job lmao #MANY libraries across the country (including mine) are controlled by boards made up of local wealthy business people #and all of the higher ups are extraordinarily out of touch #pay is exceedingly low and it is A LOT of very hard work. its not sitting around reading all day #you have to deal with the public in ways that i promise you no amount of retail experience could ever prepare you for #which is why you have to really really want it. so many people quit within a couple years

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