Conferences. You hear a lot about them in library school, and as you delve deeper into the library world, you find they are kind of a big deal to librarians. Just like in any industry, library conferences are loved up by librarians for the opportunities they afford to exchange ideas, let loose a little, and, of course, network with other librarians.
As a student, I’m offered free membership to ALA and the California Library Association for a year. I’m also offered opportunities to volunteer at conferences for said organizations in exchange for a very reduced conference fee. This year’s CLA conference was in Pasadena, CA, and though I don’t yet work in a library and didn’t have an institution to pay my way, I kind of wanted to go anyway to see what all the hype was about.
While I stayed in meager accommodations about three miles from the convention center, and took public transportation to and from, I was pleased to see that many working librarians were able to afford (or have their libraries pay for) centrally-located Hiltons, Sheratons and the like. This is comforting to me and gives me hope for my (financial) future. It also speaks to at least some degree of stability in California libraries, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Though some might say that conference workshops are just an excuse to get together, I really did enjoy the workshops themselves, and learned a ton. Here are some points from my notes:
- Open source ILS software is thriving, and you may not need to be a tech genius (or employ one) to use it at your library. A group called Open Source Open Libraries is working on test cases of using software like Evergreen in libraries with minimal tech infrastructure.
- It’s hard, but not impossible for regular librarian folk to get a job in an academic library. BUT, it might help to: a) get a second master’s degree; b) hone your teaching skills; and c) do something flashy in the interview, like show an instructional screencast you’ve made.
- Even being familiar with Web2.0 basics like blogs, Twitter, RSS feeds, etc. can give you a ‘tech’ edge in an interview. It couldn’t hurt to play this knowledge up.
- If you live in the Bay Area (like I do) or in a similar librarian-saturated part of the world, you might want to consider moving to a less urban area to get your first job and your foot in the door. I have my eye on Placer County.
One of the main impressions that struck me throughout the conference is that the library is a creative, ever-changing industry. I used to work for a music search engine startup, and attended a fair amount of trendy music and search technology conferences in San Francisco. The CLA conference felt surprisingly similar, except there was a wider variety of people (and especially ages) represented. The same kind of vibrant, creative energy and excitement pulsed throughout the weekend, and it wasn’t a disingenuous “let’s make libraries relevant by signing up for Twitter” kind of thing.
Perhaps more than anyone else in any other industry, librarians enjoy discovering new things and sharing them with other people. This kind of attitude makes for a fun and very worthwhile conference. If you’re a library student, take advantage of student rates and GO to a library conference now.
Filed under: By: Paige Turner | 3 Comments
Tags: California Library Assocation, CLA, library conference, MLIS
After a long, grumpy, whiny period of underemployment, I was offered a position as a technology librarian at a busy public library south of Boston. I was, and still am, thrilled. The library is beautiful, it is part of an active library system with lots of opportunities to develop professionally, and I get a nice balance of public service/reference work and self directed technology 
troubleshooting. When I toured the library it looked so beautiful, filled with light and stained glass and current bestsellers, that I never expected that I might encounter the technology I did.
I have not seen a floppy disk since the mid-nineties, but they are the preferred way to save documents at my library. Some of the computers I ran into are running Windows NT or Windows 2000… some are running both! I had learned some basic troubleshooting and networking from my position as a graduate assistant at a large university, but I hadn’t realized how cloistered, how spoiled I had been, maintaining technology that was only three or four years young. For the most part, everything had worked smoothly, and if it didn’t work smoothly, I could pass that problem on to someone who knew much more than me. On one of my first days I asked the former technology librarian who I could bring problems I could not solve to.
“You’re it, kid” she replied, dryly.
So here I embark on a situation where the technology is unfamiliar, and unpredictable, the printers print what sounds to me like insults – “unsupported personality!” they practically shout at our circulation staff – and it’s just me, (and the answers I find on the internet), fighting the good fight.
Though public library technology was a rude awakening for me, a spoiled mac-using perpetual student, the atmosphere can’t be beat. The staff of my library are nothing but happy and thankful for what little help I can provide for them, be it clearing a terribly jammed paper from their printer or figuring out how to delete a text box in publisher. The patrons are a bit more expectant – they want to come to the library and have technology that works and is up to date. When this happens I want to yell “well - did you vote to support library funding!? hmm!?” but instead I try to remain Zen, and patron-focused, and do the best with what I have. After all, I am a public librarian now – my only job is to serve my community, and there is not much that is more fulfilling than that.
Filed under: A Day in the Life, By: Miss Information, barriers to access, digital divide, libraries, tools of the trade | 4 Comments
Go the distance
The Annoyed Librarian recently wrote a piece as a response to a piece from American Libraries about the increase in distance education programs for MLIS programs– this is a response to both.
Her main gripe was the fact that, ALA continues to promote the idea that a person can get an MLIS and then actually get a job. This push for distance learning is just another way for MLIS programs to tap a new market of wide-eyed hopefuls, and the ALA can perpetuate the idea that librarianship is a growing profession:
Interest in the MLS degree will no doubt continue, as employment opportunities in the library and information science job sector are projected to experience positive growth in coming years, according to data reported by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (sector analyses for 2006 to 2016), United States Bureau of Labor Occupational Employment Statistics, and reports from the American Library Association.
I fell for this propaganda, as did many of the currently under- and unemployed, or working in a completely different industry people I graduated with, so any time anyone says something against it–big thumbs up from me.
What I would like to bring to the table, aside from giving kudos to Annoyed Librarian, is a comment on the notion of distance education in MLIS programs. As someone who relocated 1,800 miles to attend an accredited library school, and who while attending that library school not only wrote a grant to support distance education, but also had a yearlong GAship in the DL office; I am uniquely qualified to comment on this subject.
Here is the map that ALA has on their website of all of the accredited programs in the Unites States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. 
Even a cursory glance shows you that most of the programs are located in the eastern half of the US, with a few scattered around as you head west. Hawaii is a hotbed of programs, I should have moved there, but I digress. Prior to moving to Rhode Island, I lived in North Dakota, which has no MLIS program except an undergraduate degree. The nearest schools are in Wisconsin and Kansas, neither of which has a tuition reciprocity with North Dakota (St. Catherine’s in Minneapolis was not accredited when I moved, nor is it on the ALA list, though I know they do have a program).
The only option for people who live in these non-MLIS areas of the country is distance learning, or moving. I was lucky in that as a single lady of 28, I was able to take my car, cat, and knitting supplies, and head east to the school of my choosing, and then pay five times what the locals paid in out-of-state tuition. Most people don’t have that option.
At the library where I worked before moving, many of the full-time librarians did not have MLIS degrees, some had managed to take advantage on Emporia University’s traveling MLIS, which brings instructors to areas where there is interest but no program (no idea if they still do this), and some were trying out these newer distance learning programs.
The argument that I made while writing a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grant is that the Fargo, ND metro area is a very educated part of the country that greatly values its libraries, but it does not have a program at any of the local Colleges and Universities–why should the library be any less staffed by professionals or held to what some would consider a lower standard just because of geography? Many people I worked with would have loved to go to library school but either can’t leave the area because of family ties, can’t afford to pay out-of state tuition (which the maximum allowable federal financial aid does not cover all of), or simply don’t want to leave the area.
Many of the people I’ve met in the Northeast are the same way–they don’t want to leave their family, friends, home for jobs in North Dakota or other parts of the country. Since ALA insists that there will be jobs for all of us, many of the people who live where there are existing library schools go just because they are there. Distance education certainly isn’t going to stop the overabundance of librarians, but it does even the playing field a lot more.
The problem is not with distance education, that is serving to balance things out, and make sure that all libraries have staff who want to be there and are trained to the same level. The problem is with the misinformation that ALA insists on putting out there in terms of job availability. When a potential student is doing career research and the major agency in that field says there will be jobs– why would a person not believe it? What ALA is looking at is how many librarians will be able to retire, not how many will, how many can actually afford to, and ALA of all agencies should know–librarians don’t retire.
There would certainly be more jobs if pretty much every place that employs librarians wasn’t in a hiring freeze, but still not enough to guarantee every graduate a job like we’ve been hearing. I’m just as guilty as anyone else in that I want to stay in an area with two MLIS programs and expect to get a job, but I also expect to be working part-time with no benefits for quite a while, and then beat out less-experienced recent graduates for a full-time job when one finally becomes available.
Filed under: By: The Librarienne, MLIS, change or die | 3 Comments
Tags: ALA, American Libraries, Annoyed Librarian, Distance Education
That time again…
To vote for LISNews Blogs to read in 2010!! Last year, we at ClosedStacks were fan favorite (thank you thank you thank you!), can we do it again? No, because we’ve already won once making us ineligible.
If you have other favorites you think deserve attention, give your vote: here
Filed under: Success!! | Leave a Comment
Tags: Closed Stacks, kudos, Thanks!!
The most evil man in the world…
…lives in suburban Chicago. I read this article, and physically recoiled at the horrible things Constantine Xinos has to say about a small library branch:
“Those who come up here with tears in their eyes talking about the library, put your money where your mouth is,” Xinos shot back. He told Sydney and others who spoke against the layoffs of the three full-time staffers (including the head librarian and children’s librarian) and two part-timers to stop “whining” and raise the money themselves.
“I don’t care that you guys miss the librarian, and she was nice, and she helped you find books,” Xinos told them.
“Don’t cry crocodile tears about people who are making $100,000 a year wiping tables and putting the books back on the shelves,” Xinos smirked, apparently referencing the fired head librarian, who has advanced degrees and made $98,676 a year. He said Oak Brook had to “stop indulging people in their hobbies” and “their little, personal, private wants.”
The person he was speaking to, in this instance, was an 11-year-old girl.
I may be almost too optimistic at times, but I never thought that anyone HATED the library the way this guy does. Everyone needs to read this.
Filed under: By: The Librarienne, libraries | 4 Comments
Tags: "Connie" Xinos, Chicago, Constantine Xinos, IL, Oak Brook, Oak Brook library, Sydney Sabbagha, terrible human beings, Xinos
Librarienne Seal of Approval!
Another thing they never teach you in library school is how to dress for the job of librarian. We can all picture the stereotypical librarian, and I’m sure most of us would like to avoid becoming a stereotype at all costs. The problem is, at least in this case, the stereotypes really do fit the profession.
Sensible shoes– library floors are HARD, and will hurt your feet in ways never previously imagined. Combine that with schlepping around heavy books, and you’ve got foot pain, backache, and are on your way to a nice hump. This may be why librarians are seen as cranky, and can you blame them, really?
The footwear and clothing issues are something all librarians and paraprofessionals must encounter. Perhaps just as you start that new great job you think to yourself, I am not going to dress like a librarian, I will be fashion-forward and hip! Problem is, you go out and spend a lot of money on cute, hip clothes only to find out that they don’t really work for the job. Skirts may be too short or tight, fabric not breathable enough or dry-clean only, shoes that are comfortable for a few laps around the mall have you crying out in pain at the end of a six-hour shift.
I am here to help (as much as I can). I have no idea what guy librarians wear, and I welcome any suggestions, but ladies, I have got you covered.
First item to receive the Librarienne Seal of Approval for fashion-forward library wear–Dansko shoes. Danskos are not all attractive footwear, some are damn ugly, but they will be the most comfortable shoes you can find for library work. When I was starting out, I tried 
every kind of shoe I could. I spend entirely too much money, and actually went to work a few days in sneakers, which I hate wearing when not running. Some shoes deadened the pain, but after five eight hour days in a row, I was in agony. The problem is that most shoes are designed for be comfortable to walk in, which makes sense. While you do do a lot of walking in library work, you do even more standing. Shoemakers just don’t think about that, but Dansko does.
These shoes have got thick, rubber soles to absorb the shock of walking on hard floors so your back doesn’t get constantly jolted, and the insole hugs your foot perfectly providing cushion and stability. The only 2 complaints I have about these shoes, is that some are ugly (lots of clogs), and they provide little-to-no traction on ice. They are a bit expensive, unless you find some at the Dansko outlet, but the pair I currently own have been with me for three years, and I still get tons of compliments on them.
If, initially, you look at this shoes and think that they look vaguely orthopedic, let me assure you that you will not care after spending a day on the library floor in a lesser shoe. Every other brand of footwear noted for its comfort (except Dr. Scholls, cause I want to be hip, so I haven’t tried those) has let me down–these never have.
Filed under: A Day in the Life, By: The Librarienne, change or die | 7 Comments
Tags: buns, glasses, librarian fashion, librarian stereotypes, shoes
“NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2009 as National Information Literacy Awareness Month.”
Filed under: By: Librarian About Town, News | Leave a Comment
Tags: information literacy
Evil Socialist Agenda
The Menace of the Public Option–public library that is.
For far too long, this menace has undermined the very foundations of our economy. While companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble struggle valiantly each day to sell books, these communistic cabals known as libraries undercut the hard work of good corporate citizens by letting people read their books for free.
Good stuff.
Filed under: A Day in the Life | 2 Comments
Putting it all into context
Fellow ClosedStacks blogger, Paige Turner, has recently entered the world of defending the MLIS to random people in social situations. The question, “You need a masters for that?” has come up, though she hasn’t yet had to list out the courses we take and the relevance of them as I did at a potluck in my first year of school.
I admit, I forgot about the library for a while when I was younger. My family moved from a town where I had been in the library all day every day, to one with very short hours, and a rather rude (fake) librarian. Also, I was entering my snarky pre-teen years, and the library didn’t stock most of the vampire fiction, or trashy romance novels I couldn’t live without. Even when I was in my least library-centric phase, I never thought it was a position that didn’t require education.
The bigger problem that trickles down from people not understanding librarians is that they then feel that they don’t need them. One of the first people I told I was going to library school was my mother’s cousin’s wife, she just scoffed and said, “That’s what google is for.” If people don’t understand our role, how can they value it? If people think that all you need to do is google it from home, how can we insert ourselves and say “Perhaps you need to be a bit more savvy and not trust everything you read.”
I was in Niagara Falls over the weekend, and I saw what may be the only PSA I’ve ever enjoyed, and actually thought about after seeing it.
I would like to thank you, Canada, for making this PSA. Now please make one about the internet.
Filed under: A Day in the Life, By: The Librarienne, Fun Finds, MLIS | 7 Comments
Tags: being smart, diseminating information, House Hippos, relevance of librarians
Cushing Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts, has decided to get rid of all of the books in its library, creating in its place a digital “learning center,” replete with flat screen TVs that will project data from the Internet, Kindles, and “a $50,000 coffee shop.”
‘When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books,’ said James Tracy, headmaster of Cushing and chief promoter of the bookless campus.
Filed under: A Day in the Life, change or die, digital divide, libraries | 2 Comments
Tags: Cushing Academy, going bookless, Kindles
Self-Promotion- A library student’s first conference: CLA ‘09
- Public Library Technology or “It Just Won’t Turn On”
- Go the distance
- That time again…
- The most evil man in the world…
- Librarienne Seal of Approval!
- A Message from the President of the United States of America
- Evil Socialist Agenda
- Putting it all into context
- New England Prep School Abandons Books in Favor of Digital Learning Center
Heidi
The Librarienne
Librarian About Town
Miss Information
Madame Lawbrarian
Paige Turner