Librarian by Day Bobbi Newman | I'm not that kind of librarian

So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers

09.01.2010 · Posted in Librarianship

This WayI get a lot of email asking for advice either on getting an MLS, the job search or the skills needed. So I’ve pulled together a list of the best of the best advice for potential MLS students, current students and job seekers. In cases where the titles are not self explanatory I’ve grabbed a sentence or two from the post to give context

The Degree

The Job Search

General Professional Advice

Skills


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51 Responses to “So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers”

  1. branflakez says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  2. BookGeekPatti says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  3. JustinLibrarian says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  4. dorevabelfiore says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  5. Thanks for compiling a helpful list that I’m sure will be of help to those considering the MLS, currently working towards it or having recently earning it. Here’s something you might want to add to the mix – probably under “professional advice” g- etting support from the library community when it seems you’ll never get a job”.
    http://acrlog.org/2010/03/23/this-librarians-blog-name-says-it-all/

  6. LaVieBoheme73 says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  7. Great list of posts Bobbi. I recently posted this same topic. It would probably go in the first section, “The Degree.” It’s about what you should not miss when you’re in library school. http://andyburkhardt.com/2010/08/11/library-school-to-do-list/

    Another good one was a Dos and Don’ts of library school from Lauren Dodd: http://laurendodd.com/2010/07/dos-and-donts-of-library-school/

  8. RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  9. wawoodworth says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  10. RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  11. RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  12. babeelibrarian says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  13. barbekresla says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  14. daveparkes says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  15. silentbeep3000 says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  16. For the sake of proper citation, the shesgotplans.net links are authored by Lisa Rabey.

  17. chriszilverberg says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  18. Hi Bobbi! Excellent list you have compiled! I would like to add a blog post from my classmate Adelle about how to manage library school while working (since most of us were working while going to class). The link to her post is here: http://adellefrank.com/blog/how-to-survive-library-school. I also included a reply post on my blog elaborating on some of her points: http://risingwiththemoon.wordpress.com/2010/07/23/mlis-program-tips-from-a-classmate/.

    Thank you very much for providing access to these resources.

  19. RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  20. dizzymslizzy says:

    @librarianbyday This guide is SUPER helpful. You rock my little new MLS student socks off! Thanks!

  21. Hi Bobbi. This is the list I have been looking for. I am mid-MLIS and am trying to find my way through the degree and into the field. I am working on a “Hacking the MLIS” sort of document (in the spirit of and totally ripping off Hacking The Academy), and wondered if it’d be alright if I included this post/list in my research. I plan/hope to publish it online in the same way that the Alt-Ac Profhacker folks did with the Academy doc. I think there are enough people writing about the degree that there should be some collaborative, accessible document that will outlast all our various blog posts. Interested?

  22. [...] So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seek… A list of the best of the best advice for potential MLS students, current students and job seekers. (tags: LIS/KM) [...]

  23. jenniferlagarde says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  24. RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  25. [...] or are just thinking about becoming a librarian, you must check out Bobbi Newman’s post So You Want to be a Librarian? She has pulled together some of the best advice around the web on the profession and job searching [...]

  26. [...] to Bobbi Newman for putting together a list of pretty good potential-future-librarian-advice blog entries. And to Meredith Farkas for linking to [...]

  27. [...] inspired in part by Kim Leeder’s article on the “real work” of librarianship and Bobbi Newman’s amazing list of links for a potential/job seeking library school [...]

  28. JeffieLibrarian says:

    RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  29. [...] Shared So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS …. [...]

  30. RT @librarianbyday: So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers http://librarianbyday.net/2010/09/so-you

  31. Hey Bobbi, great list! Thanks for pulling it all together! For what it’s worth, I wrote a book with the very same title: So You Want To Be A Librarian. It gives a general overview of the field, different positions, and grad school.

  32. [...] student, or are just thinking about becoming a librarian, you must check out Bobbi Newman’s post So You Want to be a Librarian? She has pulled together some of the best advice around the web on the profession and job searching [...]

  33. [...] Bobbi Newman has put together an amazing collection of resources on becoming a librarian [...]

  34. [...] Not only current MLS students and recent graduates expressed frustration and anxiety about a long job search process during the depression period but also many experienced librarians shared thier own experience, advice, and wisdom. A few new librarians also contributed to the discussion by adding thier own comments and thoughts. (See the recent post in Library Scenester and four other posts: Kiyomi Deards’ phone interview advice, Julie Strange’s 10 tips for landing an interview, Patrick Sweeney’s 5 tips for successful librarian interviews, and Bobbi Newman’s resources on becoming a librarian) [...]

  35. Dear Bobbi

    I’m a high school student, currently living outside the States, but I’m extremely interested in becoming a librarian, and the more I read about it the more I like the sound of the job. However, I’m really worried about the fact that I’m a practising Muslim girl, wearing a hijab (headscarf). I read somewhere that as a library student you should try to stand out and this will be easy, but do you think that this will stop people employing me?

    Please reply,

    Bayan

    • Dear Bayan,

      It sounds like a difficult question to reply because of the little available. Are there women wearing hijab working at libraries and other institutions where you live? If so, you should ask them. Or are you planning to move to the US and your question was related to the job market there? If it’s the second, again, it’s a difficult question – many organization have as a policy to hire people from minorities, but I wouldn’t guarantee anything.

      It seems to me that you may want to continue your research by asking people you know, but then again, it’s just my idea.

      Best,
      Julia

  36. [...] Newman’s So You Want To Be A Librarian: This post pulls together nearly every piece of web content on exactly this topic! Some good [...]

  37. [...] I recommend you read these links from So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seek…. The full posts contains more links and advice but these are for those thinking about getting a [...]

  38. [...] you’re interested in becoming a librarian, there’s a lot of advice you can find online. My advice would be that if you have trouble interacting professionally with women as colleagues or [...]

  39. [...] her blog, coupled with writings from other people around the web on the same topic wrapped up as a one stop guide for all things MLIS related. The link love is awesome, don’t get me wrong, I got a lot of commentary and emails from [...]

  40. [...] Links from Librarian By Day’s post, “So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job See…“ [...]

  41. do the 36 credit hours needed to get a masters in library and information science include the basic courses like college algebra and such? or do I not have to take those because I’ll be going into a graduate program?
    (highschool junior)

  42. jomichele says:

    It looks like there was some great information links on this page at one time, but I tried 4 links, starting at the top and they are all broken.

  43. [...] Newman’s So You Want to be a Librarian? A Guide For Those Considering an MLS, Current Students & Job Seekers (September 2010) provides [...]

  44. [...] about how to present yourself as an information professional [...]

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