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surc posted:This is something I looked into a few years ago, and am still interested in but scared of nojobs. I currently work in tech (part of my job involves customer support, and my boss is inept and angry all the time, so I am not worried about dumb questions or people blaming me for things I can't control), and deal with databases on the daily; I know JavaScript, HTML, CSS, PHP, and I have a decent knowledge of Java and a smattering of other programming languages. I have a B.S. in Animation and Visual Effects, and am currently studying Mandarin, with plans to continue to study languages, because languages are awesome. Would I have a decent shot at getting work if I went through and got an MLS, or would I still pretty much be looking at a wasteland? With that background, you have a fair shot at getting in on the technical services side of a library. I wouldn't bother with an MLS first unless you really want to pursue it as a career.
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Mar 2, 2015 18:49
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klockwerk posted:Also, if you do get accepted and are going to library school, don't be that library sciences student: Speaking from experience as a para who got the job shortly after ignoring most of the advice in this thread, it's a good way to build contacts and professional library experience, particularly if you're more interested in the tech services side of things. It's not a long-term job by any means, but it's not bad for getting your nose in the door and building up your resume.
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Mar 2, 2015 21:33
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nesbit37 posted:Since everyone else has put this down and it seems like a fun way to ID ourselves: I'll put in my two cents worth: I am a library paraprofessional in an academic library and have internship experience doing original cataloging in a public library. I don't mind people, but like computers and books. Does love cats, doesn't mind dogs as long as they go home with their owner. Does not own a cardigan because I live in Florida. Business casual at work but can get away with jeans. Does not own a cat because I live in Florida on a library paraprofessional's salary. No glasses. History major Unfortunately, I'm probably going to start job searching again in the summer unless things really change at the library. It will be the start of my third year in this position, and I'm tired of working an erratic, mostly nights-and-weekends schedule doing very entry-level work for not much above minimum wage. I love the library itself and I love my coworkers, but there is zero foreseeable opportunity for internal advancement. A regular 9-5 M-F paraprofessional position did open up earlier this year (same position I'm in, just regular day hours and different specific responsibilities) that I applied and interviewed for, but in their infinite wisdom the bosses upstairs where all the titled librarians dwell decided to hire externally instead.
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Mar 2, 2015 23:38
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Toph Bei Fong posted:If you have pictures, I would love to see this I had a bad interview when I was scrambling for any library job during my final semester of working on my MLIS: a church librarian position at an Evangelical megachurch. Now, I'm Christian myself and know the song and dance the fundie-types like even though I'm politically liberal and hate fundamentalism, so it was far from ideal but any job in the library field seemed worth a shot. Went to the church office and met the pastor (old white guy), children's minister (old white guy), and the current but retiring church librarian (tiny ancient white woman). First words out of the pastor's mouth were "So why do you want a woman's job?" I was used to being the only guy in my MLIS classes, but yeesh.
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Mar 3, 2015 01:45
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Insane Totoro posted:You know, I've been to a non denominational church a lot as a kid and I gotta say that's a whole new ball of wax from even a scrub tier public library The job didn't seem bad at all, aside from the pastor catching me off-guard. He made it very clear that this particular church considered education to be a woman's field: being a teacher, librarian, counselor, etc was considered unacceptable for men unless it's the kind of job where you're addressed as Doctor Such-and-such. The meat of the job, according to the retiring librarian, was basically running a small circulation desk of Christian literature for retirees in the congregation and Bible study groups. The collection was small enough that they simply didn't need to bother with a modern cataloging system.
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Mar 3, 2015 02:14
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If you'll pardon a brief job rant... Upstairs manager, there's really quite a simple reason why I'm falling behind on this "totally optional, no-rush, should-be-your-last-priority" project you gave me months ago. Namely, the endless loving deluge of shitwork projects you keep giving me because I'm apparently the only person in this goddamn library that simultaneously knows how to use Excel and loving proofread MS Word documents but doesn't have the pull to skip out of doing it. Not to mention now being saddled with all the gruntwork of the library because it's spring break, which means the student workers are gone, so I'm the only person in the entire library reshelving books and pulling stuff for ILL. Which I also then process and ship because ILL is ostensibly my main job. And before you ask, we have a grand total of two volunteers in the library. One comes in every other Friday. The other is the upstairs manager in question's son, who is given "tasks suited to his level of education."
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Mar 3, 2015 15:51
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Insane Totoro posted:Just to be clear, posting job search horror stories and "on the job tales of terror" are perfectly fine as long as they're representative of things that can and do happen in the industry! I agree, and I for one do like my job in most respects. It's a terrific group of people at this university library on the paraprofessional side (we outright call ourselves the Customer Services department), but upstairs management - the actual titled Librarians with a capital L and library management - tend to be remarkably clueless about actually interacting with the student body, arrogant professors we can't push back at, and the like.
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Mar 3, 2015 22:55
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Just had another entry in "strange things I have been asked for by students" while sitting at the front/circulation desk at the university library I work. I have been asked for all of the following things by students at different points in time: Condoms Birth control pills A microwave (as in: the student wanted a microwave to take upstairs with him) Batteries Puppies Cake (she could see the cake folks in back were having, it was a coworkers' birthday) Gameboy/other handheld gaming device Spare, fresh underwear Free coffee Porn movies Beer Adderall A mini-fridge A phone number for an escort service Hemorrhoid cream
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Mar 17, 2015 03:47
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I've started job hunting again after working two years in an LTA/minor supervisory role, and tomorrow I'll be heading in to a county government office to take a library aide/civil service exam that's required for two of the public library positions I've applied to. Anyone have experience with these sorts of exams, or is it as straightforward as the online blurbs make it sound? Combination data entry and written exam, and everything the website says about the written exam sounds like stuff I do every day in my current job.
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Mar 18, 2015 17:05
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Took the librarian civil service exam today at a county position I applied for, if anyone's considering applying for a public library job that has a similar requirement. The majority of the exam was pretty simple customer service and management skill questions, reading comprehension questions like you'd see in a high school English test, and looking through sets of data for discrepancies. Other parts included doing basic math on pencil and paper with no calculator (PEMDAS materiel), questions about library terminology and general procedures, filing questions (put a list of authors or titles in the correct order), and looking at simulated library card applications versus a template to spot errors.
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Mar 20, 2015 03:36
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Toph Bei Fong posted:It's a rewarding job, in many ways, but it's also frustrating as poo poo, and is treated as "that job that the man's wife has to have a little spending money for herself" by most places around the country. For any other prospective librarians: this isn't a joke. I'm a guy, and I was asked point blank in one job interview why I wanted to work a woman's job.
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Aug 2, 2015 15:09
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I just transitioned from working at an academic library to a new job at a public library. On the one hand, much less office and academic politics. On the other hand, much more homeless, retired millionaires who know the county commissioners, and genuinely insane people.
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Feb 23, 2016 23:57
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Lee Harvey Oswald posted:Definitely pros and cons in both. Prefer the more relaxed public environment, though. My biggest issue with the public library is our changing tasks every hour (between circulation desk, answering phones, pulling holds, etc) and the constant interruptions. I much preferred the quieter academic environment where I had an actual desk and computer and could sit down and work on a task until it is finished. I was much more a computer type there, working primarily on ILL, database management, and limited cataloging duties. Daily shifts at the circ desk, managing the student workers, and being in charge on the weekends and late at night. The biggest reason I took this job is that there was no opportunity for advancement at the university due to office politics, and after a few weeks here I'm already longing for a transfer out of the circulation department.
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Feb 25, 2016 14:03
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Bitchkrieg posted:I worked a year as a public reference librarian (after years in special collections), it was intensely rewarding and seriously challenging. You basically become a community social worker. I don't mind what I do here in the public library per se, it's genuinely warmed my heart when I've been able to help old folks over the phone (I've asked to be trained for reference since that's a major library skill I was never able to get trained on at the university for the two and a half years I was there due to office politics), but the pace of work is very difficult to adjust to. Slow days here are busier than all but the most manic days at the university and our volunteer corps much slower and less reliable than the stable of student workers the university had. And yes, the pay is beyond awful. Another reason why I'm already very looking forward to the day I can interview for a better position.
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Feb 25, 2016 14:48
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Oh, believe me I intend to get out of Circulation if I can. It's an entry-level position to get my foot in the door, and I hope opportunities to move into technical services (I have a background in cataloging from interning while working on my master's, including original cataloging) or information services for dedicated reference. I am of course striving to do the best I can here and it's been a terrific learning experience in many respects, but the pace of work is very stressful. I already have my MLIS, and my now-boss did ask me during the interview what my plans were after 2 1/2 years in a paraprofessional role and I told them I'm flexible about whether I go for a full-on titled librarian position or divert into a more technical specialty but I am looking for the next step forward in my career and will be interested in any opportunities that arise. During my second week the number three person in the library sat down with me to talk about my specific professional goals, and I stressed that I would like to get trained for reference: my undergrad background is a history degree, and I've enjoyed the limited reference services I've been able to provide in the past. I also think it's a significant gap in my skill set and experience in the library field that I would like to address. I tried repeatedly to get trained for reference at the university, but office politics there tended towards the poisonous. Reference at the university was the preserve and privilege of the titled librarians with their offices upstairs, and one of them, drunk at an office Christmas party, flat out told me that it's not worth their time to train a paraprofessional on a librarian's job.
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Feb 25, 2016 15:53
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Toph Bei Fong posted:And what the hell is that kind of classism doing in a library setting, anyways? If I may rant a little? I think it has a lot to do with how the library offices at the university were divided between two floors. Ground floor houses the circulation/paraprofessional department, technical services (cataloging), and the IT/computer guys. Upstairs is where the actual titled librarians had their offices. There was a very toxic disconnect between the two floors, and we in the downstairs area were repeatedly and directly told that we were less important than the librarians. The assistant dean once told us very firmly that we shouldn't have asked a group of the librarians who were being extremely loud as they walked through the library lobby on their way to a workshop to please keep the noise level down. quote:You probably already know this, but I should warn you anyways that it's not all "I need to find my old dead grandfather's grave" or "tell me about this cool snake I took a picture of while hiking". A lot of it is "How do I print?" and "I've read every Amish romance you own. Recommend me some more Amish romance authors with some sex, but not too much. Just a tasteful amount." and "How do I print?" and "Donald Trump is right. Print me out Fox News' entire website on him" and "How do I print?" Quite so. I've already gotten my share at the circulation desk.
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Feb 25, 2016 16:37
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That's a new one. Lady just walked into the library wearing a wetsuit. Yes this library is in a coastal Florida down on the waterfront, but still. Edit: The more things change the more they stay the same. Just got yelled at about how I shouldn't talk back to librarians. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Feb 29, 2016 |
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Feb 27, 2016 19:55
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VideoTapir posted:Just chiming in that, in case you weren't aware, "terrifyingly crazy," "dysfunctional," and "wholly unreasonable" are things that occur in libraries. If your current job isn't going to kill you, don't risk it for a job that looks like it could be any of those things. Also, "management that doesn't care how much the public abuses the staff because the public might complain to management/the dean/county commissioners/whatever if they don't get everything they want right this instant." This is a problem at my current library job.
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Feb 18, 2017 20:05
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Silly me is a public librarian on the other hand. I actually enjoy my job by and large, but management is spineless and refuses to enforce the rules or let us do anything about the (extreme minority of the whole) patrons who live to scream at us, abuse us, creep on us, and waste hours upon hours of our time because management wants everyone to feel welcome and anyone going upstairs to bitch about us (as a great many of them most certainly will) ensures we get shat on in the next library meeting. Said management hardly ever interacts with the public themselves, of course, and the head of public services always has our two busiest days of the week off as his weekend.
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Mar 1, 2017 04:35
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Insane Totoro posted:Actual question: what makes a person specifically suited for library administration work? A high tolerance for navigating the simultaneous demands of fossils who think cathode ray tubes are suspicious and unreliable newfangled machines and of kids who only grudgingly tolerate anything that isn't a touch screen, going by my experience with administrators.
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Mar 23, 2017 03:36
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I hate public libraries sometimes. Until today, I was feeling pretty confident about my six-month probation evaluation coming up in two weeks. The boss had pointed out things I needed to work on and start doing, and I did. Today she and our staff development lady pulled me aside for a meeting to tell me that they have some notable reservations about signing off on me. They love that I'm smart, patient, hard-working, and reliable (in their words) - they love that I'm always finding something productive to do and my response when they ask if I can do something is always yes I'll get on that right away. But... I'm not "connecting" with people. I smile and nod and restate their questions and listen and whatnot as I get them their answer. But few of them walk away feeling a connection with me, and our mission statement is To Connect And Inspire. And this is a serious problem in my boss's eyes. In her words, I shouldn't feel carefree about my upcoming evaluation.
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Apr 22, 2017 01:25
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I hope not, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised. Management here is woefully out of touch with what we customer service and reference grunts do and what our patrons actually want. Turnover's been bad enough already and morale is not good. I'm frugal enough that it won't be the end of the world if I get fired, thank God, but I really really hope I still have a job a couple weeks from now.
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Apr 22, 2017 01:57
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Toph Bei Fong posted:That's a load of horseshit. If you're doing your job well, that's all that counts. Are you "connecting" them with the information they require? The main things they stressed were that I would often say "I'm sorry, we can't do that, but we CAN do X" for the implication of saying no, and that I don't leave people "satisfied" like shaking hands with them or them having a big smile on their face after meeting with me. I rarely send them away empty-handed, usually only if it's a book we don't have and can't order through ILL or they decline to for whatever reason. Questions I don't know the answer to, I defer to coworkers. Apparently I'm not holding their hand and always going the extra mile when showing people how to print or scan or "you need to type in 'yahoo.com' at the top of the screen if you want to access your yahoo mail" each of the fifty times a day it comes up. My boss even said she really appreciates how reliable I am, that if she tells me to do something I will loving do it as soon as my schedule allows. She said, quote, "You do everything the customer service manual says to do, running down that checklist in your head, but you're not putting it all together."
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Apr 22, 2017 02:18
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Fumaofthelake posted:They wrote the loving manual so if you're doing everything in it what's the problem? I'm guessing it has a lot to do with how we're in a very rich retiree area with super-high standards, management being clueless to the realities of customer service, or both. Who am I kidding, both are true. We're spending thousands of dollars and space we can't really afford to lose to make a fancy new "idea lab" with a 3D printer and embroidery machine and crap that absolutely no one has ever asked for. Meanwhile we get six or more calls a day asking if we have a fax machine and every time we have to say no, we don't. The staff development lady looked at me with confusion and hurt in her eyes when I mentioned off-handedly on break that I don't think the lab is the best use of resources to meet the needs of our patrons. Or it might be the premeditated malevolence option that they're covering their asses in preparation for firing me no matter what I do. I'd like to think they would be smart enough not to, given how bad turnover has been recently and how it's common knowledge among the grunts that morale here at the central branch is awful, but poor management is a huge part of the problem and I wouldn't put it past them to be that heartless or clueless. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Apr 22, 2017 |
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Apr 22, 2017 02:34
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Got a chance to talk things over with a couple of my coworkers today, and briefly with some of our volunteers. They're all as shocked and upset at how scathing my review was as I am, and reinforces the widespread feeling here that management is utterly clueless and/or are just covering their asses before firing me. My coworker who's been here for twenty years in particular was appalled at how vague and difficult to define the boss's main complaint with me was, to the point that he's wondering if this isn't politics and I somehow ticked off someone upstairs. Possibly by not being enthusiastic for our shiny new maker space with a 3d printer and other stuff that's in the pipeline that not a single person has ever asked us for instead of spending that money on things the public has asked us for. I hate to think I may be about to get fired because I, the lowly grunt, have a differing opinion on the library's needs from management and someone upstairs took offense to overhearing it. At this point I'm hoping my other coworker is right and this is all just a game management is playing to scare me into giving 110% and plaster an empty smile to my face not caring that I'm terrified and am second-guessing every single thing I say to people, especially to management. As of next Monday, fully half of the entire customer service department will be people in their six month probationary period. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Apr 25, 2017 |
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Apr 25, 2017 03:31
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We'll see. They never said anything about that, and when I got back to work on Monday I mentioned that I'd done some thinking and research on the makerspace and think it's a good idea, and offered suggestions on the staff blog about how to make it a success. Silly me thinking management would want to hear what patrons actually wanted. I really loving hate how naive I was.
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Apr 28, 2017 12:41
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The bosses have mentioned this week that they've noticed the new positive attitude, which I assume is a good sign. I also caught (but never said a word) them lying to the faces of our volunteers about how things are going here, so who knows.
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Apr 28, 2017 23:41
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Yeah, I interned at a local public library while working on my MLS degree, got me a lot of valuable cataloging experience and made me realize I actually quite enjoy cataloging. If nothing else, folks, volunteer at your local public library.
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Jun 6, 2017 14:12
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U-DO Burger posted:this "there's a better, easier way we can accomplish this" attitude is exactly why you'll never be in a position of real influence in a library And why I got fired from my last job. I am now firmly of a mind to keep my head loving down even if I'm specifically asked for my opinion. It is never not a trap, and friends I made still working there have confirmed that morale - which everyone in the county library system knew was bad months ago - has continued to decline while leadership continues to not talk to each other and proceeds seemingly blissfully unaware that anything is wrong. Incidentally I've also been searching for more general office and computer related jobs.
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Jun 18, 2017 21:48
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U-DO Burger posted:If it's a generic clerk test then my guess is it's going to be a timed test aimed to determine how well you can do basic poo poo like sorting names and numbers, followed by a customer service quiz. I'd imagine also a typing speed/accuracy component, and possibly a "spot the errors on this document" part.
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Sep 29, 2017 01:06
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What galls me is that the First loving Lady thought it would be a grand PR gesture to give... ten Dr. Seuss books to a wealthy school library. Not only a library that doesn't need help, but ten of the most common books that even public libraries in West Bumfuck are all but guaranteed to own and I could probably buy for twenty bucks together.
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Sep 29, 2017 22:21
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Insane Totoro posted:Don't. Date. Librarians. Can confirm, am a librarian and have not had a successful dating life. I have interviews over the next couple of weeks for an IT helpdesk and a secretarial job, though.
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Oct 17, 2017 17:20
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Insane Totoro posted:-every employed librarian who is out of touch So pretty much all the academic librarians, in my experience. The public librarians, on the other hand, have almost universally lodged their head up their rear end with a healthy dose of the lube known as demographic analysis. Don't give the public what they say they want, that would be silly! Give the public in your mostly rural small town county what's trendy in public libraries in places like New York, Seattle, and San Francisco!
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Nov 30, 2017 04:44
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VideoTapir posted:Makerspaces for everyone! And 3D printers! Because that's clearly just the thing in a county with more cows than people!
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Dec 2, 2017 02:13
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VideoTapir posted:Makerspace is the buzz-word for 3D printer setups. Or it was. Remember that for your next resume. Oh, I know. Makerspace is the buzzword in general for every public library I've worked at whether they can afford a 3D printer or not.
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Dec 2, 2017 16:28
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