US NEWS DESCRIPTION OF LIBRARIANS

Librarian: Executive Summary
by Marty Nemko, USNews.com, Money & Business, 18 December 2006, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/061218/
18librarian.summary.htm

Forget about that image of librarian as a mousy bookworm. Librarians these days must be high-tech information sleuths, helping researchers plumb the oceans of information available in books and digital records. It’s an underrated career. Most librarians love helping patrons dig up information and, in the process, learning new things. Librarians may also go on shopping sprees, deciding which books and online resources to buy. They even get to put on performances, like children’s puppet shows, and run other programs, like book discussion groups for elders. On top of it all, librarians’ work hours are reasonable, and the work environment, needless to say, is placid.

Median Salary: $49,708

Other Resources:
Department of Labor profile, http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos068.htm
American Library Association
Special Libraries Association
[Ms. OPL says, what about MLA, AALL, etc.?]
Shontz, Priscilla, The Librarian’s Career Guidebook, Methuen, NJ: Scarecrow, 2004, ISBN-10: 0810850346, ISBN-13: 978-0810850347, US$45.00
Kane, Laura Townsend, Straight from the Stacks: A First Hand Guide to Careers in Library and Information Science, Chicago: American Library Association, 2003, ISBN-10: 0838908659, ISBN-13: 978-0838908655, US$34.00

Related Content:
Brandon, Emily, Librarian: James Billington Sees a Bright Future Beyond Books, USNews.com, 18 December 2006, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/061218/

18librarian.expert.htm
Nemko, Marty, Librarian: A Day in the Life, USNews.com, 18 December 2006, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/061218/

18librarian.life.htm
(text of the article)

You work in a small municipal library, where you have to do a little of everything. You start your day by leafing through catalogs from online database publishers and book reviews in Library Journal to decide which titles to add to your collection. Next, it’s out to the reference desk, where visitors regularly ask how to find something. Sometimes it’s esoteric; often it’s the bathroom. Later, you teach a class: an advanced lesson in Googling.
Next, it’s back to the reference desk, but you’re soon interrupted by a group of boisterous kids, so you have to turn into schoolmarm: “You’ll have to be quiet, or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
You end your day reading about “automated librarianship”: data storage systems that let the public get needed resources without the help of a live librarian. Tomorrow, you decide, you’ll start writing a grant proposal to develop a computer kiosk that will help patrons find health information.
Smart Specialty: Special Librarian.
All sorts of organizations need librarians, not just universities and local governments. They work for law firms, prisons, corporations, and nonprofit agencies. In fact, special librarianship is the field’s fastest-growing job market. Unlike public and university jobs, which require night and weekend hours, these jobs are mostly 9 to 5.