Public Librarian

I am currently an academic librarian but before acquiring my current position I worked for quite a few years in public libraries and so this review is about that experience. I fell into librarian work by accident really, I left university with a degree in archaeology, started work in a video rental store, moved onto working in a school library before finding work in a big central public library in Birmingham. Well paid library jobs are hard to get. They usually ask for a librarianship degree (yes they do exist!) or many years of experience. If you don't have either of these the best option is to start at the bottom working a saturday job at the ...  Read the complete review

Apologies for starting with such a cliche, but that is most people's first impression of a librarian - you stand around stamping books with your glasses on a chain around your neck, telling people to be quiet! In actual fact, it's quite different - in most public libraries, the qualified librarians don't stamp books in or out, and most libraries allow mobile phones to be used. We do a lot of work in the community, as well as visits to housebound people, in our area we're working with local community colleges to encourage people with basic skills to read for pleasure and learn at the same time. The People's Network is freely available in most ...  Read the complete review