trustlibrariansinfo - What It Takes

What It Takes:

To Be a Librarian

What does it take to be a librarian?

What kind of training do they undergo?
What kind of skills are necessary for the position?
What good do these skills do for the community when they are put into practice?

All these questions and more are to be answered below on the expertise of librarians.

MLIS Program

Something that people may not know about librarians is that a masters degree is REQUIRED for most librarian positions. The degree in question is a Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS or MLS). Since it is a masters degree this also necessitates that the person perusing the degree have a bachelor's degree of some kind. Usually the major of the bachelors degree is not of great importance.

But what is an MLIS degree?

Is it similar to master degrees in the humanities, the sciences, or neither?

To give a short answer, the MLIS degree isn’t like either humanities or science degree, it is a very distinctive type of program. Those enrolled in an MLIS program have to learn about and be trained in the design and evaluation of information retrieval systems. They must be trained in planning, management, and advocacy. They must be able to use the basic concepts and principles related to the selection, evaluation, organization, and preservation of physical and digital information items. They must be up to date in the world of technology and literature. They must be leaders, expert communicators, and so much more. Librarians have to be multifaceted capable of a great deal in order to better serve their community. To see why someone may choose to choose MLIS as a major, please have a look at this interview with MLIS graduate Christine Perucci as she discussed why she chose her MLIS program.

Why Do Librarians Need Degrees?

Librarians need to be trained in so many skills and to be able to do so much because when equipped with these skills and armed with the education they received from their MLIS program, librarians are capable of changing lives.

Take for instance these interviews conducted by the New York Public Library with late night show host’s Desus and Mero. Desus and Mero were the children of immigrants and growing up their families faced the struggle of living in a new country. However both Desus and Mero remember that the library was a safe place for them. A place where they could simply be present, read, use a computer and more. Desus’ mother worked at a library as an information assistant and eventually he too would have a job as a clerk at the New York Public Library. They describe their relationship with the library as being incredibly beneficial when it comes to their own writing, as they are both New York times best selling authors.

In another example Tara Franzetti, a public librarian in the Richmond Library system, discussed not only the importance of public libraries but also their relevance. In the modern day and with access to the internet most people can access most of what is provided by their library on their phone. Ebooks, databases, and movies all can be accessed at home.

Why is it a necessity that libraries be open and be staffed by librarians?

Libraries are more than just book repositories. They are third spaces, they are community centers, they are after school programs, and they are places where people can get vital information and training on life skills they would be unable to achieve. For people who have a low level of technological literacy, libraries can be the place where they develop those skills.

In a TED Talk Shamichael Hallman discusses how libraries in the past have been community-focused establishments, and how in the future libraries can better shape their services to be more focused on community affairs and providing services to the community rather than just providing books.

Academic Librarians

While not focused on the general community, they do have to serve a specific academic community. They are in charge of showing students how to utilize the library's resources so that they cannot only pass their classes but also achieve their full potential. Academic librarians have a make-or-break impact on students' performance throughout their college experience.

Gary Paulsen

Paulsen is a three time Newbery Honor Winner! He and his wife Ruth Wright Paulsen, an artist who has illustrated several of his books, divide their time between homes in northern Minnesota and La Luz, New Mexico.

Impact librarians had on the late author Gary Paulsen

"I would have been an intellectual idiot without the library. I was a miserable student and flunked the ninth grade and finally graduated from high school with probably a D-average. I had a miserable home life and I would sell newspapers to the drunks at the local bars to make a little money. I went into a library one night in a small town in northern Minnesota to get warm and the librarian asked me if I wanted something. I said, no, I just wanted to warm up a little.

At that point, very few people had ever given me anything. Both my folks were drinking and it was a rough run. And then she said, “Do you want a library card?” So I said yeah. She handed me a card with my name on it—my name—which was amazing to me. And then she asked if I wanted a book. I said, “Sure,” kind of cocky. And she said to bring it back when I was done and she’d give me another one.

This went on for a long time. The librarian kept giving me books; at first it took me a month to read a book, then two weeks, then a week, and pretty soon I was reading two books a week. She’d give me Westerns and science fiction and every once in a while she’d schlepp in a Melville.

It saved me, it really did.

I still read like that, like I tell kids, like a wolf eats. I read myself to sleep every night. And I don’t think any of the good things that have happened to me would have been possible without that librarian and libraries in general."

Excerpt from IPL Website from the late Gary Paulsen.

Paulsen’s books

HATCHET THE RIVER BRIAN’S SONG

DANCING CARL DOGTEAM NIGHTJOHN

THE WINTER ROOM THE HAYMEADOW THE TENT

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