ONTD Original: Librarians in Pop Culture

[ellie_andrews]

Comments

[ironicmustache]

i'm a library tech who got their mls in may (applying for professional positions now). i wouldnt do it unless you're certain you'll be able to get a job. if you live in an area with a library school (or multiple) competition will be really hard cause there's simply too many graduates and not enough jobs. the whole profession keeps pulling people in with ~this whole generation of librarians is about to retire and there will be a huge swath of openings~ but they've been saying that for like 10 years and ... it aint happening. even in my rural midwest state with no library school in any of the neighboring states there's competition for jobs because all these new grads from across the country are applying, which i'm sure they don't want to do because my state has like 2nd lowest wages in the nation or something. they can't get jobs anywhere else.

and honestly? i learned almost nothing that i haven't learned (or couldn't learn) by being an assistant/tech for 4 years. it was easy peasy, even taking classes full time while working full time, because i basically knew all the material. i def just paid $$$ for the piece of paper to get me those higher jobs, not for the actual education.

[malarkiness]

if you live in an area with a library school (or multiple) competition will be really hard cause there's simply too many graduates and not enough jobs. the whole profession keeps pulling people in with ~this whole generation of librarians is about to retire and there will be a huge swath of openings~ but they've been saying that for like 10 years and ... it aint happening

this is one of the things that makes me nervous tbh. I've heard this reasoning about the MLIS before, and most of the librarians I know personally aren't really near retirement age.