The Question

When I met with my academic advisor just before beginning my studies in library science, he asked what setting I wanted to work in when finished.  Not knowing what was available, I told him that I want to keep my options open, and to have a well-rounded experience at Wayne State University.

Afterward I decided to explore how an MLS degree can be used outside of traditional libraries.  This is a mid-life career change for me, and I have broad experience in the workplace.  I know that information is used in just about every field.  And I recognize that I don’t have the time to sit around waiting for my dream job to open up.  The years are starting to fly by, so I need to get back in the work force soon after graduation.  For me, “image” is not everything--flexibility is everything.

A common theme when listening to librarians is to expect the unexpected, to be prepared for job changes, and to be flexible.  They often train for one area of librarianship and end up in another, or their careers consist of many jobs in many fields, some less related to libraries than others.

The 21^st century has been described as the information age, and if so, then it is the age of the librarian.  Wherever information is gathered, processed or used, it must be organized.  That is the province of librarians. 

The Search for Answers

A good way to start researching “alternative” careers is to identify traditional careers.  I found eight of them, all in libraries: reference librarian, researcher, children’s librarian, collection development librarian, technical services (cataloger), public services (circulation), administrator and archivist. Of course, this list could be debated, but it covers stereotype rather well.

My search for information on alternative careers began with a review of the monographs available from the Kresge Library at Wayne State University.  Two books were selected, one from 1997 and one from 1980.  Sure, the 1980 book has very little content on the technology revolution that has so dramatically affected librarianship, but it is still useful in exploring the many employment opportunities for librarians.

The search continued with on-line searching of articles and databases through the WSU library.  Two short lists of terms were determined before the search, with the intent of combining terms from each list and searching on the resulting combinations.  Terms in list one were “librarian”, “library”, and “information.” Terms in list two were “jobs” and “careers.”  During the search, it became necessary to include the Boolean operator “not” with the term “paraprofessional” in order to improve the quality of the results.

Most of the articles found in the database were not useful for exploring alternative careers.  Rather, they typically were reports of some university library cutting ten librarian positions, or tips for starting a library career in a law library.  It was difficult to find articles on alternative careers using the search terms I had.  That is a symptom of what I discovered: librarianship is a broad, interdisciplinary field that weaves its way through the fabric or our society, known by different names at different times in different settings.  Librarianship is a stealth profession! 

Some Results 

As a result of the research, 36 distinct positions for librarians were identified. (See Fig. 1)  These positions include approximately 8 that might be considered mainstream librarian jobs, and about 28 that are non-traditional.

The definition of traditional librarian jobs should be changing, since technology has changed the way knowledge is stored and disseminated.  In turn, that has caused a change in the way that corporations conduct business, opening new opportunities for people with library training in the corporate world.

Library jobs are often merged positions.  Even in traditional settings, one librarian can have several duties.  With the advent of electronic technology, there are more combinations of duties.  Jennifer Walz (in Dolan & Schumacher, 1997) states that she “really could be making a great deal more money if [she] wasn’t a librarian and instead chose to be a NetWare administrator, computer consultant or a webmaster alone.  Instead, [she does] all of those as part of a library job.  But it has not increased [her] pay.”

Titles for positions in which library training is useful are many and varied.  Often, there is nothing in the title referring to librarianship.  A humorous menu for creating these job titles is included in Fig. 2.  Humor aside, it can be difficult to identify those non-traditional positions in which library training could be used.  It may be up to the librarian job searcher to identify those positions and then to make the case to the prospective employer that library skills are needed.

Six Categories 

The 36 job titles that I have found can be divided into at least six categories: libraries, corporate, freelance, technology, government, and “way-out-there.”

Are these the only six possible categories?  Of course not!  This is the information age, and any activity that requires information requires the skills of a librarian.  But librarians are “classifiers” by definition, so let’s use these six classifications.

Libraries

Libraries, including public, academic, corporate, medical and others, have transformed to include functions not commonly found 25 years ago.  The technology services function has become vital to the operation of computer workstations that are the soul of libraries.  Internet librarians are the conduits for patron access to information on the Web. 

Libraries are also placing a premium on experts from other disciplines who earn MLS degrees.  “There aren’t enough people who know an industry and have the librarian qualifications, so those who have both are paid very well.  This entices a lot of people to add the MLS to their other degrees.”  Those other professions include attorneys, businesspeople, nursing and medical specialists. (Gates, 2001)

Corporate

The business world has discovered librarians in a big way.  In addition to traditional corporate libraries, businesses need people to help them gather, organize, store and access information about their businesses.  For example, headhunting firms gather information about their client firms and their candidates.  The president of a New York recruiting firm stated that “[w]ith more information about industries and positions, search firms have a better chance of luring the best candidates for jobs, so librarians are being paid well for their services.” (Gates, 2001) 

Freelance 

Freelance positions or positions with firms that provide contractual information services provide flexible jobs for librarians.  An example is freelance indexing.  Mary Tomaselli is involved in that profession.  She says she decided to go into indexing because of future security, since indexes are so important.  “I decided to go into librarianship, and indexing in particular.  …I never really made a decision to become a free-lancer.  I just found, after tackling several independent projects and seeing them through to their successful conclusion, that I was one.” (Sellen, 1980, p. 138)

Technology

The growth of technology has led to an increase in librarian jobs outside of libraries.  Webmasters design, program and maintain web sites.  Database specialists organize, update and store data.  Systems analysts and network administrators keep information flowing within and between organizations. 

Government

Library administrators sometimes become government administrators.  Liz Rodriguez Miller is one of those people, an assistant city manager in Tucson, AZ.  “The way I approached my job as library director is that, not only was I a library professional, I was a professional city administrator working in partnership with other city departments.  The city manager asked me to continue doing that at the next level.” (Wallace, 2002) 

“Way-Out-There” 

Library skills can lead to way-out jobs that nobody could expect.  Megan Butcher used her MLS degree to become the manager of a store that sells sex toys.  She says the reference interview is directly applicable, just relating to different information.  She also has a collection management responsibility, including toy reviews and customer interests.  She says, “I’m trying my best to make ‘librarian’ and ‘sex’ go together, one toy at a time.”  (Butcher, 2001)

Conclusions 

Clearly, opportunities for librarians are endless.  Nearly every human endeavor uses information, and librarians are masters of information.  There are more opportunities than those listed here.  What about records management, or oral history?  Both fields use the skills of librarians, and both are practiced in libraries, corporations, and elsewhere.

The task for a librarian who wants to work in a setting other than a traditional library is to identify an area and then convince somebody that they need a librarian -- an information professional!  Perhaps the term “librarian” would not even appear in the job solicitation, but rather some combination of the terms in Fig. 2. 

Few professional jobs of the 21^st century can be done successfully without the ability to seek out, organize, and apply information.  Librarians may yet rule the world! 

Fig. 1: Distinct Jobs and Job Types Requiring Librarian Training

Libraries

• Collection Development

• Reference Librarian

• Researcher

• Children’s Librarian

• Technical Services

• Public Services

• Administrator

• Archivist

• Technology Services

• Interdisciplinary Specialist

• Publications Coordinator

• Internet Librarian

Government

• Assistant City Manager

Corporate

• Chief Information Officer

• Consulting Firm

• Project manager

• Competitive Intelligence

• Executive Recruitment Librarian

• Customer Satisfaction Manager

• Trainer

• Library Vendor

• Broadcast Media Librarian

• Internet Auction Site Manager

• Publisher

• Bookstore Owner

Freelance

• Information Broker

• Professional Consultant

• Reference For Hire

• Indexing

• Book Critic

Technology

• Systems Analyst

• Database Specialist

• Webmaster

• Data Network Coordinator

• Technology Trainer

Way-Out-There

• Sex Toy Store Manager

Fig. 2: Menu of Job Titles for Information Professionals--Abbreviated (Dolan, 1997)

Instructions: Choose a term from C, or combine with A and/or B.  Examples: Executive Email Analyst, Associate Databases Engineer
 

Column A	Column B	Column C
RANK	FUNCTION	TITLE
Assistant Associate Chief Executive Principal Senior Senior Assistant	Access Advanced Technology Automated Services CD-ROM Configuration Content Databases Digital Email File Management Graphics Information Systems Internet Knowledge Multimedia Re-engineering	Administrator Analyst Consultant Coordinator Cybrarian Dean Director Engineer Entrepreneur Facilitator Head Leader Librarian Manager Navigator Officer Operator