Go the distance

26Oct09

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   |  4 Comments
Tags: ALA, American Libraries, Annoyed Librarian, Distance Education