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The Library & Information Science Professional's Career Development Center |
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Introduction: an excerpt from The Librarian's Career Guidebook by Priscilla K. Shontz |
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Imagine you’re sitting in a room with librarians and information professionals who are employed in a variety of positions around the world. They’re all willing to share their experiences and answer your career questions. What would you ask them? I hope that this book answers some of those questions. In The Librarian’s Career Guidebook, sixty-three information professionals from diverse positions, workplaces, and locations offer practical advice on a wide variety of career issues. The book examines career options, education, job searching, on-the-job experience, professional development, essential skills, and strategies for enjoying your career. The advice is aimed at librarians in various stages of a career, from prospective librarians to MLS students to entry-level librarians to experienced information professionals. Should you become a librarian? Is librarianship right for you? Why did you choose this career? Section 1: Career Planning begins by addressing the question, “Why be a librarian?” Are you curious about career options? This section describes career alternatives, including working for a public library, academic library, school library, special library, library consortium, or library association. The section discusses careers as an LIS faculty member, vendor, or publisher. Alternative career options such as freelancing and working in nontraditional environments are also covered. Section 2: Education is aimed at students entering or already enrolled in an MLS program. Have you asked yourself, “Is the MLS worth the time and money I’m spending (or will spend)?” After discussing this question, this section advises students on choosing an MLS program, selecting classes, and participating in distance education programs. Authors also share strategies for getting practical experience while in school and preparing yourself to be as marketable as possible when you graduate. Section 3: Employment covers aspects of the job-hunting process. How do you find jobs? How can you evaluate a potential workplace before you accept a job? How do you begin to write your cover letter and resume? How can you prepare for your interview? Can you negotiate if you are offered a job? How can you maximize your chances of being hired? If you must leave a job, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, how can you do that without hurting your reputation? How can you keep your career alive when you are unemployed, whether by choice or not? Is it possible—and is it a good idea—to switch career paths? If you are beginning your first job after earning your MLS, you have many challenges and transitions ahead. Section 4: Experience as an Entry-level Librarian shares practical advice for surviving your first year on the job and familiarizing yourself with your new work environment and supervisors’ expectations. Authors also offer perspectives on practical skills you might not have learned in school. The section discusses how to develop a professional image as you make the transition from student to professional. Performance reviews are a stressful experience for almost everyone; how can you prepare for your own review and use these reviews to improve your performance? If you have to review others, how can you do it in a fair and constructive manner? Would you be comfortable in a tenure-track academic library environment? Authors discuss how to thrive in a tenure-track position and how to make the most of the performance review process. Section 5: Experience as an Experienced Librarian addresses challenges facing seasoned or midcareer librarians. How do you get promoted? How can you prepare for a promotion review or apply for promotion? If you are entering a management position, how can you be a good supervisor? How do you stay relevant to avoid becoming stale, bored, or out of touch? How can you use your experience, professional involvement, research, and other activities to develop an expertise in a specific area? How can you prevent or cope with burnout? How do you stay enthusiastic about the profession? Section 6: Skills provides advice for improving many essential career skills, including interpersonal, communication, computer or technical, organizational, time and project management, public speaking, teaching, writing, and leadership skills. Section 7: Professional Development answers questions you may face when developing your career. What is considered professional behavior? How can you communicate and present yourself professionally online? How do you find relevant conferences, how can you afford to attend them, and how can you make the most of your time there? Why should you join professional associations? Should you become actively involved in association committees, and if so, how do you begin? How can mentors help you? How can you find a mentor? Can you mentor others? How do you keep up with all the news and issues in the field? If you would like to—or need to—publish, how can you begin doing this? How can you market yourself, your experience, and your skills to advance your career? Section 8: Enjoying Your Career includes strategies for coping with stress, adapting to change, and maintaining a positive attitude. This section also presents advice for achieving a healthy balance between work, personal life, and family demands. To conclude the book, librarians share personal accounts of what they love about their jobs and our profession. I hope this book can serve as a guidebook at various stages in your career. This book is meant to be quite practical. You’ll notice differing perspectives, opinions, writing styles, and tones as you read this book. You’ll also see some overlap between chapters. This is intentional. The authors come from various types of jobs, work environments, and locations (including Canada and Australia). The diversity is intended to provide a variety of perspectives and to allow you to hear different voices. You may not agree with all of the advice; sometimes the authors don’t even agree with each other! Consider this book a conversation between you and sixty-three professionals in the field. Enjoy the dialogue. Please feel free to e-mail me with your comments and suggestions. Please visit LIScareer.com at www.liscareer.com, and contact me if you’d like to contribute an article sharing your career advice with others. I hope that this book provides some practical strategies and ideas that help you design a career that you love. Priscilla K. Shontz is a freelance writer and editor/webmaster of LIScareer.com. She has worked in university, community college, medical and public libraries. She is editor of The Librarian's Career Guidebook, author of Jump Start Your Career in Library & Information Science, and a past president of the ALA New Members Round Table. Excerpt published 2004
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Page last updated
04/03/2007
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