Career change - Librarian

Ladybird25

Hi all,

I would love to work in a library. I have seen there is courses for librarian, but I was wondering, does anyone know how to get to be a librarian in a regular town library?

All the jobs I can see of librarian, seem to be very specific places, like for a law firm, or sciences which of course require a degree in information systems.

With COVID19 and everything close, I cannot just jump into the library have a chat so I am hoping someone around here knows how it works.

Cheers!

Tio07

Ladybird25 wrote: »

Hi all,

I would love to work in a library. I have seen there is courses for librarian, but I was wondering, does anyone know how to get to be a librarian in a regular town library?

All the jobs I can see of librarian, seem to be very specific places, like for a law firm, or sciences which of course require a degree in information systems.

With COVID19 and everything close, I cannot just jump into the library have a chat so I am hoping someone around here knows how it works.

Cheers!

The county councils hire staff in local library’s

See link for example advertisement.

https://www.wexfordcoco.ie/sites/default/files/content/Jobs/2018/Library-Assistant-Qualifications-Particulars.pdf

Outkast_IRE

Third level institutions also regularly advertise for librarian you would generally need the 3rd level course behind you or a masters.

https://www.libraryassociation.ie/careers/

Mrs OBumble

Do you want to be a librarian ( needs the degree) or all library assistant?

Pistachios & cream

I’m a librarian so I will try to paint the landscape a bit for you. To be a professional librarian you need a degree in any subject and then you must do a masters/graduate diploma in librarianship to be professionally qualified. Be very careful if you do decide to go down this route. There are very few positions relative to the amount of new graduates every year and as you mentioned specific qualifications may be needed too. If you have no experience of working in a library it can be incredibly difficult to get a librarian job unless you have some qualifications/experience that are specialist and hard to get.

However if you just want to work in a library there are other routes. Some county councils advertise for ‘branch librarian’ jobs. These are for small libraries in small towns and are not paid at the professional grade. They are more in line with library assistant roles. Your main job is to open the library and keep it up and running. A nice job if you want to work in a library but they are poorly paid.

Library assistant jobs come up frequently. You do not need a professional qualification for these. You have different grades of library assistants and some are paid as well as librarians. They tend to be managing staff though. When you go to a library the person at the desk answering queries and issuing books is most likely a library assistant. A librarian would be called in for specialist/managerial issues. Library assistants work in all areas of the library.

GalwayGrrrrrl

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Third level institutions also regularly advertise for librarian you would generally need the 3rd level course behind you or a masters.

https://www.libraryassociation.ie/careers/

If you want to work in some of the university libraries, even as an assistant, (eg NUI Galway) you also need to pass an Irish exam as a lot of the documents are in Irish.

jawood

Ladybird25 wrote: »

Hi all,

I would love to work in a library. I have seen there is courses for librarian, but I was wondering, does anyone know how to get to be a librarian in a regular town library?

All the jobs I can see of librarian, seem to be very specific places, like for a law firm, or sciences which of course require a degree in information systems.

With COVID19 and everything close, I cannot just jump into the library have a chat so I am hoping someone around here knows how it works.

Cheers!

Cork County Council are currently advertising for entry level Library Assistant jobs, so you can have a look there and see what the job entails, qualifications etc. for a job in a regular public library

https://www.corkcoco.ie/en/your-county-council/careers

Ladybird25

Pistachios & cream wrote: »

I’m a librarian so I will try to paint the landscape a bit for you. To be a professional librarian you need a degree in any subject and then you must do a masters/graduate diploma in librarianship to be professionally qualified. Be very careful if you do decide to go down this route. There are very few positions relative to the amount of new graduates every year and as you mentioned specific qualifications may be needed too. If you have no experience of working in a library it can be incredibly difficult to get a librarian job unless you have some qualifications/experience that are specialist and hard to get.

However if you just want to work in a library there are other routes. Some county councils advertise for ‘branch librarian’ jobs. These are for small libraries in small towns and are not paid at the professional grade. They are more in line with library assistant roles. Your main job is to open the library and keep it up and running. A nice job if you want to work in a library but they are poorly paid.

Library assistant jobs come up frequently. You do not need a professional qualification for these. You have different grades of library assistants and some are paid as well as librarians. They tend to be managing staff though. When you go to a library the person at the desk answering queries and issuing books is most likely a library assistant. A librarian would be called in for specialist/managerial issues. Library assistants work in all areas of the library.

Thanks to everyone for the responses, I had been doing some research and I could see there were two types but I could not really make my head around the system.

Thanks a lot for the picture, I really appreciate it. I do not have experience in a library as I did a different degree and ever since I have been working, so this would be a total career change for me and I really appreciate your help on this. I was having a look at the county council page looking to see further information on the library assistant / librarian role but nothing was coming up.

Thanks for the links guys!

Pistachios & cream

Ladybird25 wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for the responses, I had been doing some research and I could see there were two types but I could not really make my head around the system.

Thanks a lot for the picture, I really appreciate it. I do not have experience in a library as I did a different degree and ever since I have been working, so this would be a total career change for me and I really appreciate your help on this. I was having a look at the county council page looking to see further information on the library assistant / librarian role but nothing was coming up.

Thanks for the links guys!

It could be an idea to setup an account and an alert on Publicjobs.ie. Most entry level library jobs advertised are for a panel and would be advertised periodically based on the HR policies. In my library, panels last a year so we advertise once a year, regardless of how many positions we have. Funnily enough, the last couple of years we have run through our panels before the year is even up.

Ladybird25

Pistachios & cream wrote: »

It could be an idea to setup an account and an alert on Publicjobs.ie. Most entry level library jobs advertised are for a panel and would be advertised periodically based on the HR policies. In my library, panels last a year so we advertise once a year, regardless of how many positions we have. Funnily enough, the last couple of years we have run through our panels before the year is even up.

Great advice, thanks, just after setting an account on the web!

joco12

Hi, I understand is an old thread but can I hop on here and ask a question?

I'm also looking for a career change. I’m considering doing a library and information diploma/master's when I finished my PhD in English and apply for library jobs as they come up. My BA and MA are in different areas but somebody told me because I have a PhD that I may already be qualified. (Looking at some of the job requirements, I lack the experience as I've never worked in a library before.) I don't went to spend 9k on a Masters if I could just work my way up, as in apply for a branch/assistant librarian to get the experience . I would like to work in an academic library so perhaps the masters or diploma would be beneficial.

I'm curious what you think?