10 Tips for Getting a Library Job
When I began drafting ideas for this month’s blog, I was mostly thinking about library assessments and interviews. I knew I wanted to write about my experience, but I was […]
When I began drafting ideas for this month’s blog, I was mostly thinking about library assessments and interviews. I knew I wanted to write about my experience, but I was […]
One of our all-time most popular posts on HLS is on how to become an international librarian. As someone who has studied and interned abroad, one of my lifelong goals […]
In my program at the University of Illinois there’s a heavy emphasis on preparing for the library job market. At first this was welcome and was a major reason why […]
I’ve had the good fortune of landing a graduate assistantship with the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries of Illinois (CARLI), which is one of the biggest consortia in the […]
For my first post with HLS, I want to talk about everyone’s favorite topic: failure. A few HLS writers have written about this topic, but for me failure in library […]
When I received my acceptance for my MLIS, I did not have any practical library experience, nor did I have a library job lined up. While I was eventually able […]
“Oh, this smells. What if there’s mold? Am I going to get the black lung? And eew! Is that mouse poop?!”
Let’s start by acknowledging that this post isn’t going to yield any job offers—not for you and certainly not for me.
In the past few months, I’ve been hustling to land a summer internship, endlessly trawling the internet for opportunities, incessantly bugging professors and mentors for recommendations, and rewriting my resume […]
Reference librarian: A librarian employed in a reference department who is responsible for providing helpful information in response to questions posed by users of the library. Reference librarianship is […]
Jennifer Jarson is the Information Literacy and Assessment Librarian and Social Sciences Subject Specialist at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Her research interests include information literacy and student learning pedagogy […]
The semester might be over, but HLS has something special planned for the beginning of 2016. For the next month, we are teaming up with ACRLog the blog of […]
I still have two weeks until I even start classes for my MLIS degree. I’m starting to feel like Alice peering down the rabbit hole, waiting to fall. Unlike Alice, […]
So you know that you want to be a librarian, but have you thought about specializing in a certain field? Maybe you have an interest in emerging technologies or you want […]
Dear [Hack Lib School Reader] We would like to offer you the position of Fancy Pants Librarian at AwesomeTown Library. We are willing to offer you an annual salary of […]
So you know that you want to be a librarian, but have you thought about specializing in a certain field? If you have an interest in foreign languages and cultures or […]
The job search can be rough for even the most experienced job seekers, but it tends to be especially brutal for those of us just entering the job market. As a final-semester […]
I mostly read HLS posts from my fellow contributors and nod along – I learn new things all the time but I can usually relate – not so the recent […]
The Reference Desk can be an intimidating place when you know nothing.
Writing my farewell post for HLS is a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, it means I have completed my MLIS program. On the other hand, it means that my time as an active Hacker has come to an end. Writing for HLS was the highlight of my experiences as […]
This is the time of year when it’s nearly impossible to avoid a graduation speech. Whether you’ve attended a ceremony, or have just been bombarded with YouTube links via your social media outlet of choice, you’ve likely been recently reminded, along with hundreds of thousands of newly minted graduates, to […]
When I was a freshly-declared English major, just beginning to flex my college reading and writing muscles, one of my professors told me something that has stuck with me ever since: “If you feel like you’re out on the tightrope and it’s swinging, that’s good. That’s where life is.” As […]
This semester I’m taking a class on library buildings. “Library buildings? Is that a class?” you ask? Indeed it is! Taught by Fred Schlipf, an LIS professor, library buildings consultant, and former public library director, the course is an introduction to the physical spaces that LIS institutions occupy. One of the […]
Skype interviews are my favorite! Lo and behold my supplement to Brianna Marshall’s exceptional Phone Interview Strategies. The genesis of this post is when I presented a paper via Skype at the Graduate History Forum at UNC Charlotte in April 2013. It was a great experience! I’ve been Skyping ever since. […]
One of my courses this semester (Community Informatics) required a sizable amount of “service learning” (for those who don’t know, service learning is basically community service/volunteering activities that are incorporated into a course). When I mentioned the extensive, unpaid time commitment that the service learning represented to a friend of […]
“Job search prep” has been on my To Do list since mid-summer. I’m an aspiring academic librarian graduating in May and I know that the job hunt can be a very long and involved process. I’ve been updating my resume and keeping track of job ads that interest me in […]
I recently received an email via my library school’s student listserv explaining that our university Provost has asked the library school and the College of Media to explore “integrating their two units.” It is very early in the exploratory process, and certainly not a sure thing yet, but it got me […]
If you’re considering library school, if you’ve been accepted, and especially if you’re already there, I would strongly recommend getting hands-on experience as soon as possible. An internship or even just a bit of volunteering will help you to build a foundation of knowledge and skills as you pursue your degree. Other hackers […]
Well, this is it, kids: my time in library school is over, and so too ends my time writing for Hack Library School. This is so long, this is farewell, this is auf wiedersehen and adieu. This is also when I’m supposed to write a nice post summing up my time […]
At the beginning of this summer I was faced with a pretty lengthy list of long-range-to-do’s, one of which was “business cards(?)” (yes, I put question marks on my to-do lists…). After seeing business cards encouraged in many Hack Library School posts, and after realizing I’d probably want some for ALA, I decided […]
One piece of advice that multiple people gave me around the time I started library school is: it is never too early to start reading library job ads (especially if you’ve already started library school). Of course the library hiring process is not so lengthy that you need to start actually […]
Do you ever daydream about your future professional life? Do you imagine yourself as a high-powered librarian, answering thoughtful reference questions or maybe cataloging rare and beautiful documents? Initiating programs that bridge the digital divide or solve access and licensing issues? I know I do. But here’s the thing: although […]
Library school is full of presentations. Whether it’s a short, informal talk or a long, detailed speech, I’ve had to give some kind of presentation for almost every library school class I’ve taken. Partly just a given in academia, frequent presentations will also be a reality for many of us in our […]
As of right now, I am officially halfway finished with my Master of Library Science and Master of Information Science. I am finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Professional librarianship! Benefits! A means to pay back my student loans! It is gratifying to recognize […]
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Alex Harrington. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” may be a bit melodramatic, but “it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness” fits pretty neatly when I try to describe my graduation […]
As a second-year SLIS student, I’ve talked to quite a few new students in my program who are anxious about securing library jobs. I can understand how they feel; after all, one year ago I was a freshly minted SLIS student. I had never gotten paid to work in a […]
Last semester I took an Academic Libraries class that required me to interview an academic librarian. I reached out to Courtney Young to help me complete this assignment. Ms. Young is Head Librarian & Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at Penn State Greater Allegheny and serves on the ALA Executive […]
The job market is lurking in the minds of many of us who are about to finish up our degrees. It’s a tough market out there and getting a library job is not an easy feat. Fortunately, ALA has great webinars that help prepare job seekers for the library job […]
For those of us preparing to graduate in the next several months, it’s time. Time to get ready to job search. Or, as I’m known to do, it’s time to prepare to get ready to job search because, hey, you can’t be overly prepared, right? This piece isn’t about applying […]
Please welcome Pam Read (yes, that really is her name!) as a guest writer. Personally, I’m encouraged by her enthusiasm as a veteran in the field of librarianship and as a doctoral student. -Heidi Pam Read has an MLS from SUNY Albany, and is a first-year Doctoral Student in the […]
The debate over the current role MLIS programs can play in the library industry keeps popping up. For a recent example, check out Will Manley’s blog, Will Unwound, which asks some important questions: Are too many graduates being spit out into the shrinking job pool? Are graduate programs, in their […]
I have been working for almost 13 years, and in those 13 years, I’ve worked many, many, part-time jobs. I’ve been a server at a truck stop diner (oh, how I miss those tips!), processed data for an insurance library, taught special education, worked in inner city schools as an […]
It’s been exactly 2 weeks since I received the “we’ve approved your request for graduation – now wait several months for a diploma” email. That’s right! I’m a #n00brarian! During those past couple of weeks, I’ve been reflecting on where I am, where I’m going, how I’m going to get […]
When you started library school, did you know exactly what kind of librarian you wanted to be? Or — did you have a general idea, but you were open to other possibilities? That’s where I was when I started at SLIS. I knew without a doubt that I wanted to […]
If there’s one thing I know for certain it’s this: you can never know anything for certain. With that in mind, some of us are facing an frighteningly exciting time in our lives — we’re going to graduate and look for a job we will LOVE! Most of us have […]
You can sit in an LIS class and soak up everything the instructor has to say, but when it comes down to it, you’ve got to have some experience in the field if you’re going to become an innovator, a diva director, a YES! youth-services librarian, an intelligent instructor, a […]
This is a re-post from my blog on a resource for evaluating your job readiness. I made a few edits, and I’ve added a “general” spreadsheet for any type of IS work (or any job, really). When thinking about classes, internships, and volunteering to develop your skill set, I’ve found […]