I don't wear cardigans! (Public Librarian)

Member Name: manonfireuk

Product:	Public Librarian
Date:	16/10/09 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Children's libraries can be a lot of fun

Disadvantages: Career progression is difficult and not very well paid

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 library or a library assistant position on scale 1 which usually pays pretty poorly (in the region of £10,000-£11,000).

I was lucky, I managed to blag my way into a higher scale job. When I left the video rental store I worked in I thought to myself, well I've worked with customers, I've worked with a big catalogue of dvds, how different can it be to a big catalogue of books? and that's how I ended up working in a school library. Unfortunatly, it wasn't the best school in the world and I left soon after but I fell into one of the best jobs I've ever had. I got a scale 4 job working in a big and busy children's library in Birmingham City Centre. Pay here started in the region of £15,000 but it will vary depending on where in the country you are based.

Part of my job involved serving customers, issuing books, creating new and interesting displays, purchasing stock and adding it to the database, promoting the library and recruiting new members. These jobs were rotated between staff so no-one was bored with their work. However, the best part of the job was working with the children. There were days when I couldn't believe I was getting paid for what I was doing. There were days when I spent my time telling stories to various age groups, making crafts, running book clubs and dressing up as various book characters for special events! I was also very lucky to have the opportunity to meet many children's authors who visited the library.

What I have described above obviously varies between libraries. Personally I think the libraries of Birmingham are some of the best in the country. They always have things going on for children and young people and all the family. To work in the kind of environment you just have to relax and go for it. If you're not that confident just jump in at the deep end and you soon get used to making a fool of yourself.

If you do find yourself working in a library that does not get involved in children's work then try and push for it, it really is a lot of fun. It's a shame that some libraries don't run events for children because the librarians who work there aren't prepared to do so.

I have also worked in libraries for adults and I have to say it wasn't quite as much fun as working with children but the job is what you make of it. If you've got a good enthusiastic team around you there is a chance you can change things. However, those bods at the top can sometimes prevent change. I won't name the particular guy, but there is a certain guy who is in charge of the library service for one city council who has publically said he does not like reading. That kind of attitude never helps but we can but try!

Career wise I've found that progession up to scale / level 4 is possible, past that you usually need a librarianship qualification which you can study for part time by distance learning so it's not totally out of reach. Otherwise your best option is to try academic libraries, especially schools and colleges. These libraries seem more willing to offer employment based on experience rather than a slip of paper from a university 100's of miles away.

Finally, just to dispel a myth, not all librarians are middle-aged ladies wearing pencil skirts, with their glasses on the end of their nose and their hair in a bun shushing you at every opportunity! There are a lot of young professional people working in libraries who just have a love of reading and working with people from all backgrounds!

I'm currently working in an academic library, a review of this will follow soon

Summary: Look into the library and what they've got going on before applying