Library Careers - Advice, Statistics,
Salaries, and Articles
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This page contains advice about and articles on the library profession. If you have suggestions for additional resources which would be appropriate, please email rachel@LISjobs.com.
Need answers to your library career-related questions? E-mail them to librarycareerpeople@LISjobs.com! The most representative will be chosen and answered in the Library Career People blog and in the free Info Career Trends electronic newsletter.
Please choose:
- Beyond the Job career development blog.
- LISjobs.com's job hunting/career development message boards.
- Printable brochure on online career development resources.
- Advice on Interviewing
- Statististics on Library Salaries
- Articles and Info on Getting Started
- Links to Articles on the Profession
- Information on Specialties Within the Profession
See also:
- Check out LISjobs.com's new Resumes & Interviewing forum.
- Preparing to Present: Tips and Strategies for the Interview Presentation by Lisa Hinchcliffe. Scroll down the page to select slides or audio.
- "First Impressions, Lasting Impressions: Tips for Job Interviews" by Priscilla Shontz.
- Frequently Asked Interview Questions reported by students at the University of South Carolina CLIS.
- 101+ Commonly Asked Interview Questions from Ann's Place.
- Interview Tips from Ann's Place.
- Advice on public library interviewing, compiled from PUBLIB.
- Take a look at Yale University's Library Administrative Services Interviewing Guidelines to get an idea of what questions an employer should and should not be asking -- and which are illegal!
- "The Interviewing Process Broken Down," from LIScareer.com.
- "Preparing You For Your Next Job Interview" from LLRX.com.
- "A Wild Roller Coaster Ride" - interviewing and other tips from Information Today's Richard Ream.
- "Panel Interviews: Everything's Gonna be All Right" by Chrissie Anderson Peters, from LISCareer.com.
- Advice for a Children's Librarian Job Interview (scroll down past all the ads).
- ALA-APA Rural Library Staff Salary Survey (June 2007, PDF) includes no actual salary statistics, but lots of comments from survey respondents on topics ranging from "have you heard about rural libraries that have raised their salaries?" to "what are the feelings about rural library staff salaries? Should they be higher?"
- NCLIS Library Statistics Cooperative Surveys include a number of statistics, including some useful and detailed salary info.
- Quick Facts about the Non-MLS Salary Survey (2006) and a Preview of Data
- ALA 2003 Support Staff Salary Survey -- unfortunately large graphical pdf, may take some time to load and/or crash Acrobat Reader on some machines.
- 2005 LTAIG (BCLA Library Technicians and Assistants Interest Group) Support Staff Survey reports on salary and other attributes of Canadian library support staff.
- Information on the "MONEYTALKS" e-mail discussion list.
- SLA 2003 Salary Survey - not a lot here beyond basic numbers; they want you to pay for the full report!
- ALA's annual Salary Survey Summary.
- ARL Annual Salary Survey
- AALL Salary Surveys are members-only, but non-members can freely browse 1997 summaries.
- ALIA posts biannual surveys on salaries paid to workers in Australia's library and information science sector.
- Salary Information from Ann's Place.
- Average Librarian Earnings from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- Gender Equity in Salaries Achieved for Some Information Professionals, But Not For Others.
- 2002 Library Salary Survey - public libraries in the West North Central states.
- Workshop on Salary Negotiation from UIUC's dean Leigh Estabrook. In RealAudio format.
- Library Journal publishes an annual Placements & Salaries article, plus other articles on the library job market.
- Y’s Guide to Starting a New School/Library/Job - From Alice Yucht, great advice for new school media specialists.
- "Internships Are the Appetizers of the Library World" from LJ.
- LibraryCareers.org from ALA gives all sorts of information on becoming a librarian, specialties, and schools.
- "How to Become a Librarian" - an article I wrote in June 2005 for Library Journal's site.
- "Finding a Library Job" follows up on the above LJ article with ideas on next steps.
- "Ready, Steady, Go! Finding the Right Time for Job Hunting from FreePint.
- Library Careers of Choice
- Your First Year on the Job" from LISCareer.com.
- HOWTO Apply for a Library Job - basic advice on job hunting and interviewing from LISWiki.
- Miss the Stealth Librarian? Try the Contrarian Librarian for inside info about working conditions at various libraries.
- Librarians from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- Library Technicians from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- Library Assistants and Bookmobile Drivers from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- Check out ALA's Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment, which links to all sorts of information about careers in libraries.
- "Become a Librarian!" from the Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative features the stories of several NJ librarians, scholarship links, etc.
- "Make the Library Your Career" from California State University.
- "Gaining Library Work Experience While You're a Student," from Liscareer.com.
- "The Info Pro's Survival Guide To Job-Hunting," by Mary-Ellen Mort.
- This nice Weblog from Library Associates contains short articles and tips on topics from interviewing to salary negotations. RSS feed available.
- "Hiring Tide Turns for Corporate Librarians," from the Oct. 22, 2003 CareerJournal.
- "Librarians: Information Experts For an Information Age" from the Winter 2001 Occupational Outlook Quarterly.
- "Trends in Internet-Based Library Recruitment" - 1999 IRSQ article by Sarah Nesbeitt.
- Check out the Canadian Librarians in America site.
- "Web Overturning Image of Book-Filing Librarian" - The Washington Business Journal on the demand for qualified special librarians.
- "Looking it Up" - CNN.com article on the demand for librarians in the Internet age.
- "Bells, Whistles No Substitute for Web Content," from the San Jose Business Journal on the importance of involving librarians in creating and organizing intra/internet content.
- "What Were You Thinking?" by Mara Houdyshell, Patricia A. Robles, and Hua Yi. From SLA's Information Outlook.
- The UK's Library Association provides some career advice.
- Just for kicks, check out the ALA Placement Center Statistics from 1974-present and see how the numbers change over the years.
- "New Jobs for Old: Librarians Now" by GraceAnne A. DeCandido, from ARL's Leading Ideas series.
- "In Search of an Emotionally Healthy Library" from Liscareer.com includes information on what makes a healthy working environment, and how to ensure you end up in one.
- "What Are We Doing Right? Why LIS Students Have Chosen Our Profession," an Ex Libris article by Ellen O'Brien.
- "There Are No Facts, Only Interpretations," by Jill Emery, on adapting to change.
- "You Don't Look Like a Librarian!" ... on our image.
- "The Graying Of the Library Profession" from Searcher.
- "Educating Tomorrow's Information Professionals Today" from Searcher.
Specialties Within the Profession
- PLA's Public Librarian Recruitment information has information on public librarianship as a career and testimonials from current public librarians.
- Become a Medical Librarian! from MLA.
- Education For a Career in Law Librarianship, from AALL.
- Update to Choosing Law Librarianship, by Mary Whisner. From LLRX.com.
- "Special Librarianship," from SLA.
- So You Want To Be An Archivist, from SAA.
- Music Librarianship - Is It For You? from the Music Library Association.
- "Setting Up As an Independent Consultant," from FreePint.
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