Does your library have a policy, process, form - that allows patrons to challenge a challenged book?

Do you post or communicate to your communities when a book was challenged and who challenged it?

(this is more a vendor issue) i’m a youth services librarian at a small library and i saw a thread from four years ago, but i was wondering if anyone was having issues with books being back ordered from baker and taylor? a cart i put in yesterday was half back ordered and half awaiting release! a bunch of libraries in my system are having similar issues but we were thinking we might go to our reps collectively to see what is the problem. i heard maybe it was the publishers but this seems a bit much? (i still haven’t gotten my copies of the new Wimpy Kid) which came out oct 22). at this point it’s affecting our circ counts :/

I was looking at Alternative Cert programs and called one of them to talk to a real live person.

After hearing my questions he laughed and said an alternate route was unnecessary for me.

I have a ALA accredited Masters in Library and Information Science

When he heard that he said I just needed to take the Praxis 5312 and pass with the score needed and I would get my teachers license just like that.

He also said when they see my transcripts from my Bachelors I would automatically(small paperwork) get the English and Science endorsements, and would be able to teach those subjects at the 5 grade and above level as well as work in a school library.

Is that it seriously? And here I was about to go through Iteach or something and be out of $4000.

Note: I wanted to be able to teach 3rd grade too,but said that would be bigger hoops even with my Masters. Basically I would have to go back to school and get at least 18 hours. :(

Hi! I am hoping someone could give me advice about cataloging. I have gone back and forth the past few cycles about applying for MLIS programs, but have decided to apply for fall 2025. Likely UW and SJSU online programs, but would love go to UBC if in person makes sense next year.

I work at a Native nonprofit/cultural center/museum basically doing anything with text (writing, editing, copy editing, design). I really enjoy my job but have been interested in librarianship for a long time and I think that the detail-oriented nature of this job and the cultural heritage/language revitalization/community aspect would be somewhat helpful background. I also worked as a metadata and cataloging assistant in college (two different jobs, digital archives and also print materials), and I have also done a museum cataloging internship. I’m really interested in critical cataloging and was excited to learn about/use Homosaurus in my internship.

I’ve seen a few older posts about cataloging librarians, but was wondering if anyone had any advice about MLIS programs, classes to take, skills I can learn on my own, types of internships and/or jobs to look for, etc. It seems like maybe jobs that are strictly or mainly cataloging are few and far between? I’m aware of the general competitiveness/lack of jobs in the field, but I’m not sure about cataloging and related roles. Happy to hear about adjacent paths as well if there are other types of librarianship that I should think about too. TIA!

Application Link

From the job posting:
The Head of Access and Technical Services provides leadership and oversees the daily operation of access services and technical services in the Law Library. This position has administrative and supervisory responsibilities and collaborates with other law librarians to develop, provide, and expand library services for students and faculty.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Working knowledge of an integrated library system and experience effectively using and managing acquisition and cataloging functions.

• Working knowledge of current metadata standards such as MARC, Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), Library of Congress Classification (LCC), and other emerging standards.

• Experience cataloging physical and electronic materials using a cataloging utility such as OCLC or other shared data repository.

• Demonstrated ability to supervise, train, and manage library staff.

• Ability to respond effectively to changing needs and priorities, show initiative and flexibility, and thrive in a changing environment.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a dynamic environment.

• Excellent organizational, time management, and analytical skills.

• Excellent interpersonal communication skills.

• Demonstrated strong work ethic and commitment to excellent patron service.

• Willingness to learn and grow professionally.

My own notes:

We're really looking for someone who 1) has supervisory experience and 2) can manage our catalog (which is in ALMA, so experience with that is a plus), which is part of a statewide consortium. You'd regularly be communicating with other institutions in the consortium, as well as your counterpart at the main campus library. You'd be supervising four full-time staff and up to two student workers. You'll be scheduled to work a few hours a week at the service desk. You'd also be involved in the budget, invoices, vendor payments, etc.

This is a full-time staff position. We're encouraged to attend faculty workshops and maintain good relationships with the faculty as a whole (they're a good chunk of our user base, after all).

No JD is required for the position, but an MLIS is.

Unfortunately, we cannot convince HR to post the salary, so I have no idea what it is, nor can I find out for you even though I'm on the hiring committee (due to another HR thing). We do get great benefits, but I have no info on the salary.

We're located in Chicago, one block west of Union Station (and about a seven-minute walk from the Sears Tower). Almost all of us take transit to work, but there is parking available nearby.

Please feel free to DM me if you have any questions!

I've seen many questions on here asking for advice, and as someone who has both been in and conducted many interviews, I wanted to share my two cents. Now that I work as a supervisor, here are some of the things I look for when building a team. Please keep in mind this is all my perspective and is in no way gospel. YMMV.

Research the library you're applying to. Get an idea for what kinds of programs and services they offer. Look up the demographics of the area you'd be serving. Not only will it help inform your answers, but it also tells your interviewer that you know *how* to do research.

If you've never worked in a library before, please ask someone who works in a library what it's like. Find ways in which your previous work experience is applicable in a library setting. One of my best employees worked as a waiter for many years and he knew how to offer excellent customer service.

When applying, answer the supplemental questions thoroughly. I'm not talking about an SAT multi-paragraph narrative, but please include things other than "I like books!" or "The staff seem really nice." Fill out the whole thing (even though it's annoying to copypasta your resume into the application field, if that's how it's laid out.)

Write a cover letter! Your cover letter shouldn't be a rehashing of your resume, it should be a genuine letter about why you want to work in libraries, why you want to work at that specific library, and what kind of person you are. For the love of all that is good and sacred, don't use AI to write your cover letter.

Reread the job description. Don't go into an interview for adult reference and spring a surprise story time on your interviewer (I say this from actual experience.) Understand what the expectation is and make sure to tailor some of your follow-up questions to that.

ASK FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS! Please, don't get to the end of your interview and then say "Okay, cool, thanks." Even simple things like "What is this job like on the daily?" or "What does your ideal candidate look like?" is better than nothing.

Send a follow-up thank you email. This isn't a requirement, but it's nice. "Thanks for taking the time to interview me, it was nice to meet you," etc. Please spell the interviewer's name correctly. Do not guilt trip the interviewer into wanting to hire you (again, speaking from actual experience.)

That's it for now. I'm sure I could think of more things but this is what came up off the top of my head. If you want help, feel free to DM me!

Hello, I'm a future librarian from Europe, and for my bachelor thesis I would like to work on the visibility of the librarian's work/job ?

During my studies and internships I have noticed that the users/patrons don't always know what librarians do when the library is closed to the public or when they stay behind the desk. Even though the patrons come on regular basis some still think that a librarian doesn't do anything else than putting books at the right place and read.

I have reached out to one of the association that is helping librarians in my country and they have noticed the same thing, and agree that it would be nice to do something about that.

So is there any resources or testimonies I could use to see what have been done in your country or other countries ? I was thinking about looking into ALA and see if they have anything about that. But I would like to see more point of view and perhaps gather some personal experiences on that matter.

Sorry for my English, it if no my first language.

Thanks for reading, have a nice day.

I stepped into this role earlier this year. It encompasses all youth ages 0-18. As I get more into it, there's more that just keeps piling on.

My duties are ordering, processing and cataloging, weeding, audits, grant writing (currently working on 3), creating social media posts and scheduling (at least one per day but our director prefers 3), program development and supervision (usually around 18/mo interactive and passive programs daily), outreach (besides schools/child care centers there's usually around 5 community events I attend per month-like resource fairs, festivals, or special gathering), attending meetings of community partners (revolving around youth - usually around 5 per month), creating displays, decorating, working the desk, assisting patrons, occasional custodial duties, seasonal youth reading programs, health literacy and financial literacy programming on and off site, helping the Friends with their programs and sales. We're also in the middle of massive relabeling updates, along with new section labeling. Plus, updating all the SOPs. Then theres allllll the spreadsheets and reports. There's probably more I can't even think of right now because I'm so brain dead.

And if that's not enough our director (who is great, honestly) usually sends 3-4 messages per week of ideas for programming or events she wants us to do. She always says it's my decision, but I also feel like if I don't do what she wants it will cause an issue. It's about to the point where I have to be there open to close every day just to keep up with the work load. Its overwhelming. I've been fighting a panic attack all night thinking about everything we have coming up. Is this a normal workload for librarians and I'm just not cut out for it? This was my dream job, but I really had no idea how much was going to go into it. I left my old job to take a step back and spend more time with my family, but now it seems like I'm headed right back in that hole.

If this is normal, does anyone have any tips on how I can better manage my time?

Hello!

I have recently joined this sub as I have been considering perusing a MLIS for a couple of year now.

Right now I’m a public education teacher and I’m considering going into academic librarianship. Although I love my job as a teacher, I am burning out quickly from the high demands of the job.

I am just looking for some advice on if this is the right path for me. -I want a job that does not require me to work outside of contracted hours. As a teacher I spend at least 10 hours a week outside of contracted hours working. -I still want to teach in some capacity. I have seen several videos of academic librarians teaching media literacy classes. -I am not considering public school librarianship for the same reason I want to leave my job now. The demands are impossible to meet and I find myself constantly working outside of contracted hours. -I would like to work at the college level with the intentions of going back to school to get a doctorate in early literacy eventually.

Will there be job opportunities available for me in this field, with my educational background? Does this job require a lot of time outside of normal hours? Can I still teach in some capacity?

I'm an academic librarian and just passed my 3 and a half year mark in my job. I made a post on here back around 3 years ago about having a hard time adjusting to this work and wondering if it will eventually get better. This is my first professional job out of grad school (went straight from high school to undergrad to grad studies, working part-time jobs throughout) so I gave myself some grace about adjusting to professional and librarian life. Someone commented on that post that, no it doesn't really get better with time. I work with people with very high standards and with values that doesn't always align with mine. I've been having breakdowns in my office maybe once a week because I feel so burnt out and not valued. I keep wondering if I'm in the right career pathway, if switching to public or another area of librarianship would help, or if I just need to find better coping mechanisms?

I work with e-resources, assessment, and licensing so I feel like the skills I cultivated are really specific to my role and academic librarianship. I enjoy being creative and leading workshops/teaching, which I do little of either in my role.

I guess I'm wondering, for those who left the profession, at what point did you know it was time? And for those who are academic librarians and went through a rough patch -- any advice?

Hello! I am Australian-American. I have citizenship in both countries, but I was predominantly raised in America. I am completing my U.S. Master's degree in Information and Library Sciences, and I was hoping to maybe complete my PhD in Australia. I'm not very well-versed in what one normally need to apply to a PhD program in Australia. Most of the websites I've looked at give conflicting information. Any advice? Thanks!

Hello!

Currently I'm admitted into a fully online BA program for Library Science through University of Southern Mississippi. Technically, while I just transferred, I'm a sophomore currently.

I'm asking for the professional opinion about getting a bachelors instead of a masters, and the funding capabilities going into a BA Library Science program.

Job wise, I do not think I would have an issue. I've been employed twice as a LAPP2 for two different libraries, one academic and the current government. With the amount of hands on experience gained in real world applications of library science, is it necessary to pursue a masters after gaining my bachelors or should I change my bachelors?

I understand it doesn't necessarily matter what your bachelors is in, and that bachelor programs aren't ALA accredited in the United States. That's actually the most issue I've had with getting scholarships from the association.

I work at an academic library for a university. We do not have our own ALA Accreditation program for people to get their MLIS. However, I personally think that our library, librarians and staff are incredible and that our institution should absolutely make the efforts to implement this into our university. How does a place even go about working on making that happen? Is there anything I can personally do? Are there any resources I could look at?

Hi everyone,

I've been at the library now for a few years and not until a couple months I got transferred to a new position where i work a lot more with Spanish speakers and i am a native Spanish speaker. i speak Mexican Spanish. If you know you know. I don't consider myself a no sabo kid but i feel stuck sometimes translating library terms and rules. Any similar experiences?

I’m literally in my first semester of college at a community college right now (although I am 27), so I don’t have to have it figured out right now but I overthink and overplan a LOT as someone with anxiety haha. Within the past year or so I’ve been heavily considering being a librarian as a career, even more so now that I’m actually pursuing a college education. My biggest concern with it is I think I’d definitely want to be in a public setting (although I’ve considered school librarian as well. Can’t make up my mind). Problem is, is that I’m a huge introvert and very socially anxious. I can fake it at jobs though, as I’ve done that my entire adult life so I’m sure I could probably handle it I just was curious to what other people’s thoughts were? I know librarians are primarily customer service oriented of course. I would absolutely love all the aspects of being a children’s librarian as well, as I do like kids, but again the socially anxious part of me is already worrying about story times and if I would be able to come out of my shell enough to sing and act out books for kids in front of parents. As well as the social anxiety aspect, I also worry about being able to find a position, so I was wondering how the job market is? I plan to try and get in part time to somewhere in the nearish future just shelving books at least to see if I like the environment and also gain some experience.

hi so i am a junior in high school and I learned about law librarianship and it seems like something I want to do. However, I am looking for any advice for or against the field. Is it true that I need both a JD and an MLIS? Or is it possible to just get an MLIS and find jobs? what colleges/programs would you recommend? is there even jobs available? (plus any other advice would be great in general)

Hello all! - I am a current grad student in need of a librarian to interview for a research class. The assignment is quite short but I am struggling to find someone available in my area, if anyone could help that would be greatly appreciated! :)

Update: I was able to find someone to assist me thank you all so much for your support!

Hi Folks, this research is from one of my students:

Hi everyone! I am conducting research on Canadian public library workers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you worked in a Canadian public library between January 2020 and December 2021, then you are invited to participate.

To participate, you’ll take a voluntary and confidential online survey that should take less than 20 minutes to complete. Click on the survey link for the full letter of information.

Hi there! I currently work as a preschool teacher, but I have always loved books and after doing a lot of soul searching I believe I would like to start heading towards becoming a librarian.

I of course have a lot of questions about becoming a librarian. I would like to work for my local county or within the local area, but I don’t know what tasks I would be asked to do. I believe that research and having a love of books is important. I also want to know about the curriculum I would have to learn to get a bachelor’s in Library Sciences (I have my A.S. in Liberal Arts). What would I have to know?

Thank you for reading this and sharing your knowledge. :)

I'm a new faculty librarian looking for a listserv to join so these opportunities come to my email. I've joined ARLISNA, but are there others? I want to receive calls to review exhibits, technology, software, short books, or to work on projects, like the ones NNLM has for example, or to teach, or to mentor, or to write editorials. I'm mostly interested in technology and computing, but I'm also interested in art, metadata, anything really; as many opportunities as possible for service and publications.

Hi all, sorry if this feels selfish in light of everything that’s about to happen but I have been looking to transition into a career in libraries for a while now. I currently work in low level positions at museums and have been searching for entry level part time work for a bit now to begin to make the switch.

I know it’s a highly competitive field. I know it’s not easy to break into and advance in. I know it’s being attacked by conservative movements. I accepted that but with the results of the election I know libraries are going to be under immense and increasing scrutiny and pressure. I know no one can know for certain but how badly do you all think the field might shrink over the next 4 years? Would I be a fool to continue to try to make the switch? Regardless I might continue to try to make the switch but I want to hear from people in the industry, especially those who worked from 2016-2020.

EDIT: Thank you all for your input and support 😭 I think I just let my nerves get to me and was assuming a worst possible scenario that wasn’t entirely realistic. If anything this has just affirmed that I am making the right choice in career as I care deeply about community, organizing and want to support people’s right to information. You all are champions.

Had a question asked by a faculty member and I could not find a good answer online, so I thought this might be a good place for discussion.

Since some AI tools let you summarize PDFs, is uploading an item received through ILL for summarizing okay?

Technically, when receiving an item it’s for your own use… and some AI tools save inputs for its learning and use that information to respond to others (the example of the Samsung employees who shared proprietary code to ChatGPT comes to mind…).

Asking on behalf of my wife:

Hello. I’m a high school librarian. One of the most important roles I have, I think, is advocating leisure reading. Recently, I asked students to recommend books they enjoyed for our library newsletter. While many students were eager to share, they all requested to remain anonymous. This experience highlighted for me that reading is still perceived as 'uncool' by many students, which makes them reluctant to admit it in public. Do you have any insights into this or ideas on how to shift the school culture to make reading more socially acceptable?

I’m going back to finish my bachelor’s degree in history after a long break. My overall goal is to get an MLIS (I would prefer to work at a public library but academic librarianship also appeals to me). I’m deciding between Management and Information Systems as a minor. In your opinion, which would help me most long term as a librarian? I would like to become a manager someday, and the Management minor seems like the more general/easier option, but I also know Information Systems knowledge would be extremely helpful in today’s workplace. The IS minor electives include things like “Data Structures & Java”, “Data Warehouse Design & Implementation”, “Programming with Python”, etc. It would be more focused on business world application, not librarianship, but I believe it would still be helpful.

So what’s your opinion as librarians/MLIS students? Would you choose management as a minor or Information Systems? Neither? I'm thinking forward to what would make me most hire-able and capable in the job.

Hello everyone! I am in the final year of my undergraduate degree and am in the process of applying to an MLIS program. This is a course-based (not thesis-based) program. The application asks for a CV/resume.

I've never made a curriculum vitae before. I tried to do a lot of research on how to make one, but I still had some confusion so I thought you lovely people might be a good resource :)

The headings I have currently are education, awards, and experience (volunteering at libraries, relevant school extracurriculars). I don't have any research/teaching experience, publications, etc so I didn't include those.

Are there any categories I should add or omit? I know educational interests is a common heading, but I wasn't sure what to include here, especially with no research and such. Since the application says "CV/resume" should I include things from my resume like jobs?

And just overall... any tips?

THANK YOU!

Greetings, librarian subreddit!

I'm an American high school senior (final year of secondary school(?), for non-Americans). With the new election directly threatening my wellbeing and my friends, I have considered moving to Canada if my Early Decision application doesn't get accepted. I am planning on getting a Master's degree in Library/Informational Science, and I've heard McGill is a pretty good place for it. The last post that I saw about it was dated from 7 years ago, though.

So, those who went there (or to any Canadian university with the program), what was your experience like? Would you say it's worth it? Cost is thankfully not an issue (unless it is, if so, please mention). Please and thank you for your input!!

I’m thinking of applying to be a branch manager at a branch of a city public library. It would be managing one of their large (+185,000 circulation per year) branches.

I'd like to get a feeling for the work that managers of large branch libraries do. I have spent my career in special libraries. The majority of them have been open to the public (and faced some of the same challenges with public patrons that public libraries do), but I know that isn't the same as being a public library.

Can you describe the kind of work you do? Is it totally administrative? How internally political is it? Aer you involved in your library branches in any kind of programming/ patron services way? What kinds of things would you consider normal job duties for the manager of a large branch library?

Thank you in advance for your insights!

I recently found out that I'm pregnant (YAY!), but I'm not sure how to handle the symptoms alongside my library responsibilities. I'm the manager of a rural library. I have 3 part time staff who work 17 hours per week and their only overlap is at lunch. For safety, our policy is two people have to be in the building at all times, so that's me and one library assistant. However the few times morning sickness has made an appearance (so far) I've felt awful and totally useless as an extra set of hands. That's how I found out I was pregnant.

There are system staff that could help with coverage, but with holidays approaching they're spread around the system and not available to cover for me last minute. Right now, I'm considering coming in just before we open to give myself a little extra time to get out of bed and get ready. But that's not going to help my programming.

I have two programs today and I've been working really really hard to promote them. But the thought of playing Music Bingo or leading a kids program is making me feel worse.

The other issue is I'm due in early July. Right in the middle of Summer Reading. I am able to plan for my absence (I plan on taking my full maternity leave), but I can't pack the summer with programs like I normally do and leave that on everyone else. And what if something happens and I have to stop working ahead of time? I've been working so hard thpast few years to grow my library and I don't want to lose momentum, but I am going to take time to spend with my baby and family before returning to work.

On top of all of that, my library is supposed to be getting a renovation this year. We'll have a team doing the hard stuff and my director should be coordinating everything with them0, but I was looking forward to weighing in on choices. Now it feels like one more thing I'll have to show up for.

This ended up being a little longer than I thought, but I'm just looking for advise on how to handle this. My staff already know because we're a pretty tight group and my symptoms were getting obvious (they called it before I took the test). How/when should I tell my director? I feel like sooner rather than later. Should I cut back my programs and maybe put more focus on passive activities? What about summer reading? Any advice is welcome! I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing right now.

Tldr - I've started to feel morning sickness and anticipate things will only get worse. I need advise or anecdotes on how to plan for coverage, programs, etc.