Over-educated...Under-employed? Forget Librarianship!

Are you a middle-aged professional looking for a new career? Maybe you're a school teacher or college professor. Maybe you're an engineer or a home maker with a degree or two. You think..."I need a new job. Hmmm, I like helping people, I like books, and I like to read. I should be a librarian." I beseech you, PLEASE DON'T GET AN MLIS!!!

This post has been a long time coming, but a few experiences in particular have spurred it into blog status:

*My experiences in graduate school:
While there were a good many of us who were enthusiastic students with many years of prior library experience, there was also a large number of students with absolutely no library experience. At first I could not for the life of me figure out why these students paid $40,000+ to get an MLIS. They were-as a generalization-over forty, on their second/third/etc. careers, and had little to no proficiency with even some basic computing/internet technologies.

*The job market is flooded:
The number of positions (full time and part time) in the U.S. is something like half the total number of people holding MLS degrees. You’re applications for jobs are burying the applications submitted by people who are really zealous about their work.

Why would anyone want to get into this field without being totally driven and passionate about it? Because on paper it looks easy; the degree is (comparatively) cheap, doesn't take long to complete, and a lot of people in other fields simply don't know what being a good librarian entails. Customer service and reading skills are required, but they are just an infinitesimal part of providing quality services to your users. So, please, do some research before you take the plunge into library school...after all, research is what you do best, right?