General Discussion

I recently got accepted into an MLIS program and I'm excited but nervous. I wondered if there were any other librarians around here! what's it like? ;o;

Congrats on getting into the program! I've never done proper librarian work, but I worked as a library page for years. My job was shelving and organizing books, and occasionally helping patrons find materials. I loved it to death, it was such a wonderful job! Most librarians I know are super nice, though. Libraries attract very like-minded people, so expect your coworkers to be nerdy, friendly, and just generally cool people <3

I got my MLIS about 20 years ago. The best way to find out what it's like is to volunteer at a library. You'll find out what areas you're interested in (corporate, law, medical, children's, academic, public, school, cataloging, reference, tiny little library where you do everything), maybe use some of what you're doing for projects in classes, and that experience will help when you go job hunting.

When I was job hunting eons ago there were a lot of degree holders and not enough jobs and they were telling us not to worry because librarians were going to be retiring in droves. But there's a reason little old librarians in cardigans and pearls are a stereotype, so if they're still pushing that retirement line take it with a grain of salt.

Other than that, I second what Nadir said. Nerdy, friendly, and cool for the most part, although where I work that kind of falls away for the ones that pursue the big administrative positions. Either the nerds don't want to be boss or they are afraid to show it as much.

i am currently in an MLIS program and will be graduating in the spring :) i worked as a library assistant at a university library before moving and am going to start looking for a similar position here soon - however my focus is far more on archiving and preservation/conservation. despite getting my MLIS i don't want to be a librarian haha, i want to be an archivist. there's a lot of crossover though (you'll learn a lot about archives in your courses) and most high-level archivist positions require you to have an MLIS.

overall, i have found people in this field to be extremely kind. there are outliers in every job obviously, but we're all nerds who have gravitated towards working with books for a living, so....

my program is also very trans-inclusive and there are a LOT of trans/nb people in literally every course i've taken??? i never came out as nb in my undergrad, but in my MLIS i am literally never the only trans person in the course so i'm much more comfortable being open about it. it's very nice.

also - congratulations! getting accepted into a master's program is nothing to sneeze at.

Congratulations on being accepted into your program! :)
As everyone has said, it is pretty chill work. People are generally kind and love to help others. There is a surprisingly large social aspect; people from all backgrounds come to the library for assistance, and many libraries have started hiring social workers in the past few years. It's truly an invaluable resource for most communities.
I've worked as a circulation/library assistant in a city library for the past few years, and I love the work. I plan on getting my MLIS someday (I'm getting my Bachelor's in English).
What do you hope to specialize in? I plan to be a teen librarian or work in the technical processing department.

congrats on getting accepted!!
I don't have a MLIS but I'm a library aide who does a whole mishmash of things at a tiny library and I love the work. my fav thing to do is cataloging. it's so wonderful to connect with the community, and I love that the work I do feels truly meaningful. You get to meet and work with great people, both coworkers and patrons alike!

I second the point Mik made about the social aspect - it'll vary depending on location, your position, and the type of institution, but you will definitely meet people from all walks of life. there are some people who come in with over-romanticized ideas about what library work is like (reading all day and chatting about books) and then are taken aback when they are expected to work with patrons who are homeless or struggle with mental health, for example. they are often the people who need us most! it's not always 100% easy work but it is definitely worthwhile and important, and can be very fun and rewarding as well!

may or may not be posting this from work, actually, lol... anyways, I hope you love it! good luck in your program and your career!

@SkykidNadir ; @Sennethe
omg thank you all for your responses!! I honestly wasn't expecting this much support ;o; I feel a lot better reading this. I've been consistently nervous about some unknown factor of it lol. I'm trying to find a place that will let me volunteer there, but so far I haven't found much. I live in a fairly small city (if it can even be called a city lol), and we only have one little public library here ;__; a lot of their volunteers end up being high school kids needing community hours etc.. there is a nearby city that's a little bigger I'm gonna call and check on. it's an hour drive, but I'll take anything at this point for the experience.

@Mik
I'm either considering just doing public library work, or possibly going into archival studies! trying to make a decision soon before fall rolls up so I won't feel indecisive when it's too late haha.

@glitteringearth
honestly, the connection with people aspect is one of the reasons I feel like I'd do well here. I don't do well with constant, stressful, fast streams of people (i.e. retail work, which I am so drained from years of doing), but I cherish one-on-one, genuine interactions I have with people. those sorts of interactions leave me feeling fuzzy and warm all day long. I love helping folks and feeling like part of communities I care about.

@Kuroikumo
re: archival stuff--I'm actually kind of interested in this field! is there anything particular you could tell me about it, maybe something you like or what drew you to it? also congrats on graduating soon!!!!

I'm not sure if this is relevant at all, but maybe one day in the future I'd like to maybe veer towards some sort of museum-related work (not necessarily curation). my bachelor's is in fine arts (major focus in fiber/textile arts and pottery) and I adore art museums and galleries.

@feywilder i was initially drawn to it because of my interest in lost media. i'm very passionate about preserving things so that they will be available in the future. the most interesting class i took was one on physical preservation, where we learned about how to save books in the event of a disaster, how to properly store them, and we even got to destroy a book by submerging it in water and then spending weeks restoring it. that was really fun. i think that society functions on the knowledge we've accumulated over the generations, and this knowledge needs to be archived and preserved so that it will remain accessible. that's my main interest and why i like the field :)

also, i have pretty intense social anxiety, and being a librarian really requires being able to talk to a lot of people. you do still have to talk to patrons as an archivist, there aren't many jobs that allow you to be entirely solitary unless you're self-employed, but it is much less front-facing than being a librarian...i used to work the reference desk and even after being there for 2 years i still got nervous when a patron approached with a question that i didn't have an immediate answer to.

getting an MLIS will also definitely prepare you for museum work! a lot of the ideas easily transfer over to the museum field and we've learned a bit about that as well. if i can't get a job in an archive or a historical society, a museum is my next pick for sure.

@Kuroikumo
that gives me a ton of relief!! I also have anxiety, but I can deal with people as long as it isn't like Starbucks at peak hours, or GameStop during Black Friday busy ;___; I'm so over doing that lmao.

I'm doing mine online so I don't think we'll be doing that kind of hands-on stuff, but that's incredible!! I actually took a bookmaking and papermaking class during my bachelor's, and it was really interesting. difficult, but fun. xD hand-stitching book bindings/pages is not my forte, I found out.

maybe it's something I can talk with my advisor about. I'm a little nervous communicating with her because A. she's also the head of the whole SLIS, and B. a friend of mine that took the same program at the same school said she can be kinda mean @-@ I hate to approach her so indecisively, like I feel as though I should know exactly what I want to do or seem like an incapable fool, etc etc

@feywilder oh you should definitely not be having to deal with starbucks/black friday-style foot traffic at a library haha, it does get busy when there are events but not that busy. (i used to be a cashier at a grocery store and i still have stress dreams about the pre-thanksgiving rush...)

you might get to do some hands-on stuff still! my program is also entirely online, we were just told to submerge our books in water and then document the process.

all i can say for sure about your advisor is that all college advisors are very very used to talking to students who are unsure what path they want to take! it may seem like in graduate school there's an expectation that you should have it more figured out but the reality is that a lot of students are still unsure about exactly what they want to do, especially in a field like information science where there is actually a lot you can do with the degree. i dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome when i first started the program, especially since some of my classmates have been information professionals for decades before getting their master's, but then at the same time i've seen some students who were straight out of their undergrad. if you got accepted into the program then you're qualified for it and will do great :)