Last week as I was writing for the Day in the Life Project I got an email from Shannon asking for professional advice, since I’m not a School Librarian, I feel ill equipped to give it. Instead I suggested that I post the questions on my blog for other librarians to answer. I know we’re a really great group people that love to give advice! Shannon said she was up for it, so here is a modified version of her email.
Hi my name is Shannon. I got your email from your blog that was listed on the Day in the life of a librarian wiki. I just wanted to know if you could give me some advice on switching careers to become a school librarian or a librarian who specializes in youth literature etc.
I have a B.S. in Journalism and Mass Comm from North Carolina A&T State University and a MS in New Media from Syracuse University. I work as a online producer/video editor at a newspaper.
My plan was to become a teacher (teaching English literature) work for a 2 or 3 years then get a Masters in Library Science with an endorsement in school media. This will take me roughly 6 years because it will take a year in a half for me to do my pre-reqs then the certification program is 3 semesters long. I planned to do this first since I’ve heard that school librarians/media specialist need to have teaching experience.
But now I am torn and do not know if I should go straight for the MLS with a concentration in school media. I will have to get the MLS through distance learning and I have already found the list of ALA accredited Masters programs online. The only problem is none of them are in my state (Virginia). I want a MLS so I can have options in the library field outside of just a school library endorsement.
Could you tell me what would be the best path to achieve the career as a librarian that I am interested in? Do all librarians get to teach classes on certain topics, teach children about items too? Thank you so much you help is greatly appreciated
I know someone, or several someones, out there have answers to her questions. She is reading so please let her know what you think!
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