For those who didn’t know, I spent from January 2021 to May 2022 in grad school pursuing my Master’s of Science in Library Science (otherwise, more conveniently, known as an MSLS).
I was not, as it turns out, kidnapped by dragons, forced to accept the bone throne, and become their blood queen. Yeah, I know, I’m pretty freaking disappointed too. I am, however, officially a Librarian® now, which is almost as good I suppose. (Also in significant debt, which is . . . less good.)
Since I spent all this time (and money) learning things, I thought I would share some of the more interesting things I discovered. For free. You’re welcome.
I won’t even quiz you on them or make you write an essay or take a test or anything. Aren’t I generous? Pffft, you don’t even know how easy you have it.
Of course, these are my opinions and takeaways and in no way reflect the beliefs, lectures, or actual coursework taught by my professors. Sometimes exactly the opposite. What can I say? I’m just a contrary sort of person.
1. Dewey Decimal absolutely sucks as a classification system.
Listen, don’t come at me. I’m just stating facts. Sure, there are still some very niche instances where Dewey does the job adequately (though I’d hesitate to say sufficiently). By and large, though, Dewey Decimal is a system that was created in 1873, and it’s been just a minute since then, and one or two things have happened in the meantime. You might see where this one is going.
The biggest problem that exists with the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) is that it’s old and rigid and isn’t flexible enough to adequately evolve with the changing times, which results in a system that “others” anything that isn’t a cisgender, heterosexual, white Christian male.
Come with me, child, on a journey for a moment, back to 1873 to the dark, musty stacks of what constituted a library back then. If it seems a little bleak and uninviting to you, that’s a fair assessment. The main goal of these libraries was preserving information. They were not—get ready to clutch your pearls—open to the public. No lovely bay windows to read in. No skipping through the stacks with glee and wild abandon. Actually, if you were female or any ethnicity/race other than white, you were completely SOL and wouldn’t have been allowed within ten feet of the building to start with. Know your place, folks. *whacks you with a rolled up newspaper*
Given the context, it’s pretty easy to see how inherent bias ended up baked right into the very essence of the DDC. For example, it obviously takes a Western (read: American) approach to classification. Which is every bit the dumpster fire you imagine it is. Look no further than the 200s, which has numbers from 201 – 299. Plenty of room for lots of different beliefs, right?! Pshaw. Don’t be silly. In fact, 200 – 289 are all about . . . you guessed it . . . Christianity and its various sects, beliefs, holy texts, and theology. Aaaaall the other religions in the entire freaking world are neatly sardined into the 290s.
Have I not convinced you yet?! Fine. How about the fact that the DDC isn’t flexible enough to be properly updated, resulting in adding a truly ridiculous amount of numbers to create sub-classifications to fit all the many things that have changed in society since 1873?
You know, like technology and all the things that come with it. Airplanes. Science. Wars (all the freaking wars). Since these don’t fit neatly into categories that Dewey defined (and since there’s really no way to meaningfully add new subcategories to the system), that means subcategories are added with an ever-increasing decimal number. Which is every bit the nightmare it sounds. It sometimes results in numbers that are too long for me to comfortably deal with when I’m just trying to find a book about dragons, yo. Is this a library or is this math class?! It’s not uncommon to look on a shelf and see a number such a 931.3592. Which means something entirely different from 931.359, which is also different from 931.35. And don’t ask me what any of those mean, because I have no freaking idea, they were just random numbers that are in the DDC range that popped into my head. See the problem here?
Now, for transparency’s sake, there is a modified version that most libraries use called the Melvil Decimal System created by LibraryThing which attempts to make sense of a classification system that inherently makes no sense. Kudos to them for that. Admittedly, their system is easier to use, but still has the same inherent biases and issues baked into the DDC.
Which leads me to my next point . . .
2. There are a surprising number of classification systems that libraries have experimented with, to varying success, including my personal favorite: reader interest.
Imagine: you walk into a bookstore. A veritable hoard of books line the shelves, each one screaming, “Pick me,” in their own little undeniable way. But what you really want is a book detailing the different types of dragons that exist in various mythologies (and who the heck wouldn’t want that book?!). So you veer off to the right, where there’s a large sign that reads ‘Mythology’ and you browse the shelf until you find the section on mythological creatures, find your dragon book, and off you skip to cement your mad scientist plans to create the first living dragon. Good on ya.
This classification system, the one that you’ll often see in bookstores, is a reader-interest classification system known as the BISAC. And according to my research for my independent study, when smaller libraries switch to this system, it increases the findability, browsability, and circulation of their books, particularly when it comes to nonfiction!
I feel like this should come as no surprise, because if there’s anything I’ve learned in the almost three years at my library, it’s that people don’t know where to find what they want in Dewey. Because what even are numbers?! Ugh. The biggest problem is that if they can’t find what they want on their own, a majority of patrons tend not to ask library staff for help, either, for different reasons. They just wander off into the greater world, cold and alone and sorely lacking information about the various types of dragons. That’s enough to turn anyone bitter.
Of course, the caveat to this one is that it’s really only effective in relatively small libraries. My library has approximately 10,000 nonfiction books and would be well-suited to a system like this, because nothing we have is particularly granular and is more or less easily shoved into a box. A library with 100,000 nonfiction books, though? That’d be a messy problem that current reader-interest classifications would likely be unable to solve. And if you’re talking about an academic or specialized library, forget it. So it’s niche. But hey, it’s still pretty freaking cool!
3. Library school is filled with people who have never actually worked in a library and are trying to get in the field.
I don’t know if I’m just extremely naïve or what, but this blew my mind. Why would you spend enough money to buy a fairly nice car on a degree in a field that not only pays in peanuts and high blood pressure but a field in which you’ve never even worked?! I mean, I guess many of us do it as 18-year-olds when we get our undergrad degrees, but I guess I expect people who are old enough for grad school to have a better plan than that.
It never even occurred to me that I could get my degree before working in the field. Not that I would have wanted to, because being a librarian wasn’t exactly a goal of mine. I just sort of tripped and fell into it. Even if I had planned on being one, it’s entirely possible to work in a library without a master’s degree. This obviously varies from place to place (and my understanding is that libraries in large cities tend to prefer degreed employees), but where I live, at least, you only need a degree if you’re going into administration.
I know you didn’t ask for it, but I’m going to give you my advice anyway: don’t pursue your degree until you already know the reality of being a librarian.
There, I said it. There is a lot of misinformation about what the job entails. For example, I swear if I hear another person imply that I spend all day reading books, I am going to literally throw a book at them. A big one. One of the heavy, brainer sorts. Library work is difficult and draining and exhausting and often frustrating, and it pays horribly. I’d be remiss to let you believe otherwise. Of course, on the other hand, it’s also fabulously fulfilling, extremely entertaining, and everything I ever wanted in a job. It’s just not well-suited to everyone, and it’s hard to know how you’ll react to it until you’re there doing it.
Plus, you get a lot more out of school when you’re already in a library and can compare everything you’re learning to your professional experiences. I mean, it was absolutely invaluable to be able to learn about classification systems and then be able to talk to my director in depth about why we chose our classification system (interestingly, genrefication in fiction and reader interest in young children’s). Or to take a digital library class and be able to create one for my library’s genealogy section. I don’t think I would’ve gotten nearly as much out of school if I hadn’t been working in a library at the time!
4. Libraries should seek to be nonpartisan, not neutral. And there’s a big difference!
To be neutral means to not take sides, to be neither benevolent or malevolent. It’s a very middle-of-the-road, status quo approach. Unfortunately, given our society, the status quo is inherently flawed and skewed to benefit the people who have always been in power (namely, white Christian males).
You may ask, “But Sammie, why does it even matter?” And I’m glad you asked. Even if it you didn’t. It matters because there’s still an ongoing discourse among librarians about what should and should not be allowed in libraries.
These were always the most active discussions in grad school, and they’re had elsewhere, too, such as on social media. The discourse usually goes something like this: well, in order for a library to be neutral, they should have books that show both sides of an argument. So, for example, including both books about the Holocaust and books denying the Holocaust. Sure, that’s neutral. But that’s also not what libraries are for. Hence, it’s of utmost importance that libraries are nonpartisan.
Given that there’s no real consensus on this, I’ll give you my thoughts on the matter. Libraries should show both sides of anything that is an opinion, but they also have a duty not to shelve books that blatantly spread misinformation as fact.
I add the “as fact” part because there is definitely a place for conspiracy theories and books that aren’t necessarily true and are presented as theories. However, it makes perfect sense to weed books that are demonstrably false. I mean, you wouldn’t keep a medical textbook on the shelf that says the best way to treat any illness is with blood-letting, would you? Of course not.
That being said, there’s a place for opinion books. For example, you wouldn’t want a book in geography that tells all about how the Earth is flat (hint: it’s not). However, it would make sense for a library to shelve books about the flat-Earth theory or books written by flat-Earthers talking about their beliefs.
To me, the difference is the way it’s presented, as fact vs. as opinion. Of course, that’s just my opinion on the matter, but it’s a widely contested issue!
5. 99% of librarians uphold intellectual freedom and believe it’s a crucial tenant of librarianship. Unfortunately, none of them agree on what “intellectual freedom” actually means.
Which is fascinating. Okay, maybe not for everyone, but for a geek like me who absolutely adores moral questions and debating the hard questions in life? Oh my gosh, YES. Intellectual freedom, basically, is a person’s right to seek and receive information without any impediments or barriers.
Here’s the scenario that came up in my class: if you have a meeting room that’s available for public use, could someone in the community request to use it for a KKK meeting?
Shockingly, there were people that said yes! If it’s available to the public, to be fair to everyone and “neutral” (see the dangers of this word here?!), then even the KKK would be allowed to use the meeting room.
As if it’s not clear enough by now, my opinion is that, no, not everything in the library will be open access to everyone, because there are ways that patrons can actually impact other patrons’ intellectual freedom.
Many meeting room policies require that the room use be free and open to the public, which a Klan meeting would not be (for obvious reasons, even if they claim to be). Putting that aside, though, do you really think that your minority patrons or LGBTQ+ patrons would feel safe and comfortable patronizing a library where there are regular Klan meetings? This is why “neutral” is dangerous. Neutral prioritizes the rights of the majority over the minority when, in fact, everyone’s intellectual freedom is important. When you look at it that way, the equation becomes simple. Having a KKK meeting in the library impedes certain patron’s intellectual freedom, whereas not having the KKK meet at the library impedes no one’s intellectual freedom. The decision seems simple in this case (though it isn’t always).
But also . . . hate groups are hate groups. Eff ’em. I said what I said.
6. Too many librarians aren’t reading enough new releases and it shows.
Did I . . . did I throw a little shade there? Why yes, I think I did. Just a tiny bit. It got a little cloudy, just for a moment. I don’t really mean to call anyone out on this, but I definitely feel it’s something that needs to be said.
Now, obviously, librarians can’t (and shouldn’t) read all the books. That’s silly. There are great methods to find out about new releases, what they’re about, how they landed with their audience, and who the target reader is for that particular book. Sites like Goodreads, Edelweiss+, Common Sense Media, and NoveList are part of many a librarian’s toolbox.
Still, Reader’s Advisory is very important to most librarian’s jobs, and you need to have some method of knowing new and relevant books that you can recommend when someone asks.
I realize this might be judgmental, but if someone asks for a Reader’s Advisory for a ten-year-old who is a reluctant, struggling reader, it is not a good look to only be able to list off classic books you were forced to read in middle school English.
Sorry, not sorry. If your list of recommendations doesn’t include a book published in the last ten years, let alone the last five, you need to refamiliarize yourself with your collection. A reluctant reader doesn’t want to read the classic version of Oliver Twist! Heck, I don’t even want to read Oliver Twist. Reader’s Advisory should be tailed to the reader, and I saw too many people in grad school who sort of missed that point. I see it in some of the library groups I’m a part of on Facebook, too, which is why I’m saying if you want to be a librarian, work on your Reader’s Advisory skills!
Heck, become a book blogger. Then you’ll spend all day recommending books that you think people will like and you’ll become a veritable pro at it! See? Look at me solving all the hard problems.
7. Grad school flips the traditional established school hierarchy in weird ways. Some of your professors will let you call them by your first name. Don’t do it. It’s probably a trap.
Okay, that’s false. It’s probably not a trap. It is weird, though. I still won’t call my former high school teachers by their first name, even though I’ve been out of school now for over a decade and my language teacher said, “You’re 30. I’m pretty sure we’re on a first-name basis by now.” Which, okay, first, I feel a little bit called out, throwing around my age like that. *clutches pearls* But second . . . I’m 99.5% sure that’s also a trap.
So imagine my surprise when, on my first day of a new semester, my professor got on and said we could just call him Spencer. Weird, right? My mind short-circuited just a little bit. I mean, he really was a Spencer, in every possible sense of the word, and it obviously just fit for him.
The truth is that grad school is a whole new dynamic, because most of the students are older. Some professors will still want formal titles, but it’s not uncommon for some to be perfectly fine having students refer to them by their first name.
Of course, it makes it a little easier considering that the professors tended to be contemporaries (or even younger than) the students in their graduate classes, in my experience at least. For some of us, they are literally our peers, running in the same circles. I just received an email from one of my former professors about my library participating in an upcoming class project and she was quite tickled to find a former student responding to her request!
In the end, this comes back to personal preference, but prepared for it to be a totally different student experience! More is expected of grad students, sure, but we also had several liberties that I didn’t have as an undergrad, and it was pretty interesting how the entire dynamic changed.
8. There is legitimately an entire field of study dedicated to proving how playing video games and board games positively affects literacy and the benefits of incorporating it into a library setting.
Which I obviously took a class on, because how could you not? At which point, I then took all that lovely information and used it to justify establishing a collection of video games at my library. (We already had a collection of board games, so I didn’t have to argue that one . . . which was a tad bit disappointing, if I’m honest, but oh well).
I learned two things from this experience. One, people (especially older people) will push back really freaking hard at the idea that video games are a worthy investment and inclusion in a library. Two, said people will also back down really fast if you start spewing facts and information and studies at them because, for the love of God, they just want you to shut up already and if having video games makes you do that, then by all means. I didn’t say it was a good tactic, but it’s an incredibly effective one and I’ll take it. Also, their eyes glaze over for about the first 45 seconds before they get this ‘deer in the headlights’ look. It’s marvelous. You should try it.
If you have no desire to read these studies but are still curious about the justification, the TL;DR of them is basically most video games require a certain amount of reading (thus improving reading comprehension and logic), the ability to process said information and use it meaningfully to accomplish a goal, and enhanced critical thinking and strategy skills.
That is a very, very quick and condensed version of several decades’ worth of research and papers that you should definitely go read but you almost certainly won’t. Basically, I spent an entire course talking about, playing, and developing games. The caveat is that the intentional use of games, whether they be board games or video games, can create all sorts of meaning and learning in any given setting. Pretty cool, right?
9. Librarians are such giving people, willing to share pretty much everything to make a fellow librarian’s life easier. Honestly, they give me a modicum of hope in this terribly bleak world.
All melodrama aside, not to toot my own horn or anything, but yes, librarians are amazing. School librarians especially, though public librarians as well. My experience mostly deals with school librarians, though. I had to take two lit courses (one for children and one for young adults), which involved me, a public librarian, thrown in with a whole slew of school librarians and, like, maybe two other public librarians. We were a little lost, but we were welcomed into the flock like we belonged.
These librarians were willing to share everything. Favorite books they read. Upcoming books that looked good. Pertinent news articles that came out and impacted us. When all the drama over Maus broke, updates were shared in the class chat and discussed. Strategies to handle similar things in your library should they arise were passed around. Heck, in my young adult class, we had to make actual programs and/or displays, and these were shared wholesale amongst the group and everyone was welcome to steal someone else’s program idea and run with it. It was beautiful.
Of course, I’ve seen the same sort of sharing in places like the Programming Librarian Interest Group on Facebook. Librarians in general are very giving people. This was really reinforced during my degree, though, while we were all overworked and super stressed and just doing our best to keep each other afloat.
10. There’s a big gap between theory and practice. Like, big enough that Evel Knievel would be tempted to try to jump it. Most theory is adapted for large libraries and doesn’t take smaller or rural libraries into account.
I was super fortune to be able to work in a library while attending grad school. So I was already aware of how my small, rural library did things versus how we were being taught to do things. Of course, the grad school way isn’t always feasible or desirable in my setting. When you’ve got a small staff and almost everyone is doing the job of at least two people, it’s hard to follow all the best practices. Some days, it takes everything you have just to keep your head above water.
While I think it’s absolutely crucial to learn the principles and theories behind things, I think it’s equally important to realize that every setting is different. Every library is different. Knowing the best practice and the theory is useful to be able to adapt it to something feasible for your setting, but it often requires just that: adaptation.
11. Vocational awe is a thing that threatens all librarians, and it can have extremely detrimental effects not just on individual librarians but on the profession as a whole.
Vocational awe is the idea that libraries are good, sacred institutions that are above reproach and that librarianship itself is a calling that librarians should dedicate themselves to simply for the sake of the community. It doesn’t sound terrible, in theory, but you’d be surprised by how much harm people can do with the idea that librarians should do their job just because it’s a “calling” and not for any other reason.
Briana and Krysta at Pages Unbound have written some really great blog posts about vocational awe in librarianship. If you want a little more in-depth reading, Fobazi Ettarh has a great article about it titled “Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves“.
So what’s the danger of vocational awe? It can cause things like:
- Overwork and burnout
- Under-compensation (because, you know, if it’s a calling, it’s easy to say that you don’t get into it for the money!)
- Job creep
On their own, these things don’t sound huge. Sure, lots of fields include overwork and burnout. That’s fair. Under-compensation is a real issue, though. Many librarians are educated when they take a position, with either a four-year degree or a Master’s degree, depending on the position. Even if they aren’t degreed when they go in, librarians are expected to have a certain amount of continuing education credits, and they need to have a high degree of savvy and skills to be able to help the general public with their questions. “I don’t know” isn’t a thing librarians say. They say, “I can help you find the answer.” But it sometimes takes skills and creativity to do such.
The idea of under-compensation becomes even worse when you take into account the job creep. Librarians aren’t just keepers of books anymore. They’re yoga instructors, educators, legal form specialists, Notary Publics (sometimes), workforce experts, tutors, programmers, babysitters, therapists, technology experts, and so many other things. Librarianship is one of the few jobs where if there’s a community need and if there’s no one else to fill it and you don’t know how, you learn.
You wouldn’t walk into a grocery store and tell your cashiers that, due to COVID, the rates of unemployment claims will spike and there’s no one to help people navigate the process so their job is now to do this, would you? Of course not. Or if you did, people would look at you funny and ask you to leave. However, this sort of thing is commonplace for librarians. If a certain service isn’t provided in the community and it’s deemed necessary or essential, it basically falls to the library. I mean, it already exists and it’s already paid for, right? So why not just tack on one more thing?
Even though some of these points may sound like complaining, the biggest thing I learned is how much I absolutely LOVE librarianship, and I look forward to doing it for the rest of my life.
Well, maybe not the rest of my life. Even though retirement for my generation seems like a pipe dream, I’m still crossing my fingers and holding out hope!
Still, I wake up every morning excited that I have the opportunity to go to work and do this thing I love. How many people get to say that? There are times I’m disappointed to go home because I’m enjoying working on something and I just want to finish this one thing before leaving. It’s a weird feeling, loving a job so much that I can’t wait to go in and I don’t want to leave. That’s how you know you’ve got a good one. 😉
My old kindergarten teacher is one of the board members at my library. I cannot call her by her first name. I did try it once, but it was too weird. Her husband was also a teacher in the past but I never had him, still by association I can’t call him by his first name either.
Isn’t that such a weird thing? So funny how that works.
Lots of interesting points. And yeah, I wouldn’t suggest getting the degree if you haven’t worked in a library. I got my MSLS when I was working at one and I STILL couldn’t get a full time library job. So yeah, I love libraries and I loved getting my Master’s, but I don’t actually use it. LOL
-Lauren
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Ooof, sorry to hear you were unable to get a full-time position. D: Like you, I had a great time getting my Master’s, but I never would have done it if I didn’t have a position already in mind where I would need it (especially since I never used my undergrad degree lol). Library science is a hard field to get into.
This is such a great, detailed list!
I do think some prior experience in a library, even as a page, can be useful. I have not gone to library school, but I have heard things from friends about people who seemed really surprised the job isn’t sitting around reading books and is instead very customer-service oriented or social services-oriented. I think many programs require you to work as part of the degree or get an internship or something, but at that point you’re already enrolled and have paid to discover the job might not be for you.
I also think getting experience in a library, or at least talking frankly with current employees, about job prospects would be useful. I learned, for instance, that my hometown library essentially has no full-time positions, which is not obvious from the outside and is something people discover only once they work there. They start working there part-time thinking they will be offered a better opportunity if they stay long enough or are a stellar employee, and they never are. If someone full-time retires, that person is not replaced with a full-time employee; they are replaced by two part-timers.
So if someone working there needs more hours/money/benefits, they need to leave. If they are lucky, some other library within commuting distance will have a job for them with the salary and benefits they want. If not, they need to sit down and figure out how willing they are to relocate for a job, possibly to an entirely different state. Which is just to say that anyone who is unable/unwilling to move to get a full-time position might want to seriously look into what the library job market is like where they live before committing to paying for a graduate degree.
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Thanks, Briana! The whole misconception that librarians just read all day is SUPER pervasive and extremely confusing to me. Even if that had ever been the case (which it was not in this area, at least, for the entire 46 years this library has existed), it *definitely* hasn’t been the case for decades now, because librarians have too dang much to do lol.
But exactly as you said, I know a lot of people who give it a try and realize that it’s not what they expected and they really don’t like it. Which would be a shame if you had to pay thousands of dollars for that realization.
That’s such a sad situation for your hometown library, but it’s not uncommon. It’s the same at my library, to a certain extent. We have X amount of full-time positions, so unless someone in one of THOSE positions moves on, no one really gets moved to full-time. Those positions are basically for the “staple” roles that the library needs to function, like cataloging, bookkeeping, etc. The sad fact is that it’s cheaper to hire two people working part-time at 32 hours a week than pay someone to work full-time at 36 hours a week plus benefits. Depending on the position, you might even be able to get *three* part-time workers for the same cost. At that point, while I’m sure every library would love to have mostly full-time employees with benefits, it’s really a numbers game of what the library can justify spending on staff and still be “responsible stewards of public funds,” essentially.
I’ve seen some librarians on Twitter suggest they would like to read at the desk to “model reading” and (while I am not a librarian so my opinion is based on that), I think the effect would be more along the lines of people storming in like, “I AM PAYING YOU MY TAX DOLLARS TO SIT HERE AND READ?!?!?” and less along the lines of people being “inspired” by seeing a library worker reading. If they’re in a library in the first place, they maybe are there to get a book anyway, or if they are using some other service, they probably get the idea that there are books in the building they can check out. :p
I worked briefly as a page at a different (not my hometown) library, and it was long enough to get the inside scoop like, “This library doesn’t pay a lot, so people generally use it as a starting point to get experience and then leave.” I also saw the circ supervisor retire, and her replacement was a guy who’d worked at the library 10 years. To finally get a full-time position that paid $50k (in a high COL area where this was not a really great salary). Though I think this was not technically a “librarian” position and he probably didn’t have/need an MLIS for it.
So it’s unfortunate, but I do think getting enough experience to get a sense of what one’s job prospects will realistically be should be a priority for people thinking of grad school, especially if they know they need a certain salary to cover their bills or child care or whatever. I looked up “average librarian salary,” and it looks not bad, but the question is how likely the library you want/need to work at will be able to provide you a full-time position in the first place.
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Yeeeah, my library used to let people read at the front when it was slow, because there are texts that librarians read for their job (ie. book club books so they can lead discussions). But that’s exactly the response that they received. Didn’t even matter if the reading was actually technically work. People get whatever notion they want and then there’s no changing their mind.
Yeah, unfortunately, library workers are so severely underpaid and undervalued. It’s very sad. It’s hard to argue the value of libraries to people who are vehemently against them. Especially considering the basic level of knowledge that all library workers need. The experience in your library isn’t uncommon, from what I understand. Where I am is very rural, so most of my library experience comes from working and interacting with rural libraries, which is slightly a different sort of beast, but a lot of the same struggles and principles apply. Except that there really *isn’t* a particularly readily available influx of highly educated people who are willing to work for peanuts in the area, especially considering there is basically always a commute to get there.
You also have to remember that average salary is extremely misleading. Generally, they only take into account positions that require a master’s degree, which is obviously going to be higher, but also harder to get into. It’s not really counting pages, circulation assistants, etc. In looking up the average for my state, I know way too many directors who make at the lower end (or even below that) of the average range and very few who make the higher end or more. That’s for public libraries, of course. Other avenues may prove a bit more financially rewarding. xD
Great post! You bring up so many fascinating points! I don’t know if I can respond to them all in a comment, but there’s so much to discuss!
I really agree with your assessment of the Dewey Decimal System. It’s outdated, it’s biased, and it’s not working the way we want it to work. But I still prefer some sort of organization like that over the bookstore way because I feel like, for me, that gives me a better sense of where to go. For fiction, I go by author last name. For non-fiction, I just use the catalog to pull up the call number. I don’t have to guess what genre a book was shelved under.
What I would really like to see is a new Dewey system created for the modern age. Something all libraries can use so I don’t have to relearn a new system for every library I visit. But I understand that’s a massive undertaking and I don’t really know who’s going to get that rolling for us, and then get all the libraries on board.
I’ve also heard other librarians say that they wish their fellow students in the Master’s program would get some job experience first–because it would truly benefit them. I have one friend who was truly baffled that there were apparently a lot of really eager students in their classes who were all there because they “loved reading” and thought the job was some cozy sort of thing you see in movies where you just sit behind a desk all day and recommend books to precocious children like Matilda. My friend who had been in libraries for several years really wanted them to understand that the job is more about customer service and often about acting as a social worker. And there’s a lot of bathroom incidents, and sometimes the threat of violence. But apparently the program didn’t always cover all those aspects, which are ones they learned on the job.
I can also totally see librarians wanting intellectual freedom and being neutral/nonpartisan, but not always agreeing on the definitions of these things or how to implement them. But, I think it’s important that these things are constantly being discussed! The conversation needs to happen to make sure that libraries are fulfilling their functions and are being welcoming to all. As long as they libraries keep openly sharing their experiences and resources, I have hope that they will get where they need to be!
I was just thinking I don’t have a lot of issues with the Dewey Decimal system as a library user in the sense that I look up the call number and go find the book, and it’s generally easy to find because you just follow the numbers. It only gets ridiculous when the number is like 943.28383838391110 and I’m wondering exactly how many digits after the decimal point we’re going to get here!
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I’ve found that in my library, people tend to be averse to using the catalog. I suspect that’s because I live in a very low-income, low-educational-attainment area with a high population of older patrons. So their first instinct is to simply ask a librarian. I talked to several other libraries who had this same demographic of patron, and they said when they went to reader-interest classification instead of Dewey, they found that their patrons were more self-sufficient and less likely to make that initial point of contact with the front desk to ask where something was located. Instead, they went and browsed the shelf and were able to find what they wanted on their own the majority of the time. Which freed up a bit of front desk time to help other patrons, too.
But as you said, it gets a little tricky when there are a lot of decimal points. xD And the way our stickers are done, when we get that many decimal points, if the book isn’t that thick, the sticker sort of wraps around to the front and you have to pull books out to see their full DDC number, which is such a pain. (Shelf reading in non-fiction is an absolute nightmare for this reason alone.)
Thanks, Krysta! I find that so interesting, because in my area, our patrons have said the exact opposite. They would like to know that, for example, if they want a cook book, they go to the cooking section, browse, and go. For the (very few) people who prefer using the catalog, they can easily find it in the catalog, find what they want, and still easily find it on the shelf (the modified BISAC model I’ve studied and prefer for libraries involves a category, subcategory, and then author’s name for quick and easy findability, so Cookbooks — Low-Carb — Schmoe, Joe).
My library has also had the fiction section done by genre for probably 13 years now, and patrons by and far prefer it. Our patrons tend to read by genre or author, though, so it makes it easy for them to either find their favorite authors or find new authors based on their preferred genre. Then they can also browse the catalog if they’re looking for something a little more specific.
I definitely agree that we need a new system to replace Dewey, but I’m also going to say NOT IT. xD I’m not even entirely sure what it would look like, but I firmly believe that there has to be some enlightened person out there somewhere that’s good with organization and classification (which . . . *waves hands around blog* obviously is not me!).
Oh gosh, “bathroom incidents” made me laugh. xD Exactly! The master’s program is very focused on technical expertise and theory, which is great if you’ve had the hands-on experience of library life already. It can be misleading otherwise. My particular degree focused a lot on administrative stuff, which wouldn’t even benefit most library workers, if I’m honest, unless admin was their ultimate goal. They’d get a lot more good out of shadowing a librarian for a couple months.
I was actually super impressed by how well the discourses went and how open librarians are about it. I mean, it probably shouldn’t surprise me that much. But librarians getting their degree? Super able to have an intelligent and factually informed discussion about policies and best practices and where they think their role in everything is. I absolutely loved it!
I do seem to be an outlier in not wanting the library to be like a bookstore! I think it’s maybe because I approach my book search differently than a lot of people? Either I already know the title I want and just need to confirm its location via the catalog, or I like to browse an eclectic mix . If I go into a bookstore, I probably just go into the fantasy section, but the reality is that I actually do like reading other genres like historical fiction, mystery, and maybe even romance. Having all the fiction together is going to expose me to those books that I might not have picked up if I just go by genre. Because, in my head, I a primarily a fantasy person and I don’t really like romance, and so I’m never going to enter the romance section. But if I happen to see a cute rom com on the shelves mixed in, I might actually pick it up. So I like an organization that encourages me to read outside my comfort zone.
Yeah, from what I’ve heard from others, the library degree tends to focus on a lot of theoreticals and some of it is more geared towards admin or even roles like catalogers, than towards frontline staff. Personally, I think a lot of jobs should go towards an apprenticeship model instead of putting the burden on jobseekers to pay a bunch of money for a degree they might not even like in the end. It’s hard to ask someone who just graduated school to go back and do two more years and spend thousands of dollars, only for them to realize that the job wasn’t what they thought it was.
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It makes sense, though, if you’re just wanting to efficiently find a book. DDC seems to be better at that, in theory (though especially if there’s a lot of books).
The discoverability of new books is something that we’ve thought about a lot, since we’ve had our books organized by genre for over a decade now. However, patrons do tend to enjoy this more. We have new releases on display, and we rotate displays in general, where we try to have a variety of books, so that helps somewhat. I definitely think organization by genre lowers that discoverability of different books in the sense you’re talking about, but we’ve found that our patrons don’t generally do that. I mean, you do and I do, but most people we deal with will either go to the one or two genres they want or they’ll just wander through our entire fiction section (which is still clustered together). I find the different ways people use and search the library to be super interesting, though.
I definitely agree. There is so much that can be learned from an apprenticeship that is ridiculously important. I’m not even sure why we moved away from that model as a society, because it just makes good sense. (Now that I think about it, maybe that’s why.) I definitely think getting work experience somewhere and then getting a degree is a better way to do it, since most positions these days want experience in the field anyway when you apply for them on top of the degree. That way, you’ve not only got experience but you know it’s something you enjoy and want to do for many years!
This is such a fascinating read, Sammie! Even for a non-librarian. Thank you so much for sharing with us. It makes me so happy to hear how much you love your job. <3
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Thank you! I’m glad you found it interesting. ^_^ I really do. Not to brag or anything, but I’ve got about the best job ever. 😉
My daughter was considering a library master’s degree but changed her mind. This is so interesting, I’m going to share this with her.
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Hope this helps her! I actually had a friend of a friend ask me recently about getting a public library position and asked for some advice, which I gave her. She had been considering getting a degree, too, and I highly recommended that she wait until she already had experience in the field. First, you know whether you like it or not! Which is always a bonus. Second, that experience plus degree looks even better on your resume when looking for new positions. Third, there are grants and scholarships you can apply to once you’re working in a library that may not otherwise be available for grad school, which can be very helpful!
I love this post! I worked in a library over a couple of summers when I was in college, but it was all shelving books, checking out books, putting books on hold, wrapping new books in that mylar stuff, being the first to read new books that came in. In other words all fun things! I can’t imagine all the hard behind the scenes things you must have learned😁
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Oooh, you got to do a lot of the front-end things! The back-end things are also interesting. Of course, in a rural library like I work, everyone does a little bit of everything, so there’s always something new and an interesting challenge to overcome. I like the unpredictability of the job.
[…] THINGS I LEARNED IN GRAD SCHOOL (LIBRARIAN EDITION) – What a fascinating post by Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den. […]
Thank you so much for this incredibly informative and heartfelt post!
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You’re welcome! Thanks for reading it. 🙂
Great points! You hit the nail on the head. I’m jealous though that you got to take a class on Gaming as literacy. They didn’t teach that 11 years ago when I started library school.
I really need to right about my experiences with Vocational Awe in my last place. It leads to so much toxicity.
Bwahaha, it was definitely a highlight of my program! I absolutely LOVED that class. I was able to use some of what I learned to write a grant to establish a video game collection at my library, so that’s very exciting. 🙂
You really doooo! I’ve been keeping an eye out for it, hoping you’d write it down, because it’s such an important thing to talk about.
First, huge congrats on your Master’s! Second, this post was awesome! I may not be a librarian but I absolutely agree with so many of your points. Especially the DDS, and the whole neutrality issue (and that any and all hate groups suck!) which is quite a relevant topic of conversation these days. It’s so bizarre that we even have to have like, a classification for factually false books, it’s mind boggling- especially with something like flat earthers- you can SEE that it is not, people! This was so informative and really entertaining! So glad you are able to work at your dream job, too!
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Thank you! It’s a really weird balance between people having a right to information and libraries not knowingly peddling disinformation, especially since it’s such a huge thing these days. But hey, the fact that these conversations are being had is a good sign!
Thank you so much for this post!! I’m a writer and book blogger primarily; I recently published my first poetry book, Reality Check in April 2022. On the other hand, I also have a book blog where I discuss books and reading and some mental health issues too. On another hand, I also have a deep interest in becoming a librarian. Not only for my love for books and reading, but for gathering research and collaborating with other librarians on issues within the field. I’m considering grad school too, but since I haven’t been working in a library for a year, it’s like I’m scared to take that risk! My first library experience didn’t work out as much as I thought it would, being that it was my first job during COVID and I wasn’t prepared. But I still kept within the library community through working with my state’s library association, even gaining a leadership role that I’ve had for almost 2 years now. I think now I’m just trying to find my place in the library world that benefits me.
PS. I know you’re usually a public librarian but do you have experience in research/university librarianship too?
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Sounds like you’re juggling a lot, but that you love all of it. I’m happy for you! That’s awesome.
Librarianship during COVID is/was a whole different ball game than pre-COVID librarianship. I started only six months before COVID, so I didn’t get a whole lot of pre-COVID experience, but even I could tell there were vast differences. It’s only just starting to feel a little more like pre-COVID now, so I might suggest giving it another try, if that’s something you’re interested in and able to do? Stepping into any position during COVID would be strange, but especially a library position.
Sounds like you’re active and going about it in a great way! Everyone’s road to librarianship is different. 🙂 Being involved with the state library association is a great way to stay in the field.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience in research or university librarianship. I’ve solely done public librarianship. I did have the opportunity to assist with some research during grad school, and it’s been an amazing experience, and one that I would gladly undertake again. Unlike you, I went a completely different route and had my job in a library before getting involved in (or even being aware of) any professional associations or anything, so that’s something that I’m only just getting into more heavily now.
Thank you!! Yeah I am juggling a lot, mentally lol. I try to take it one day at a time, without feeling overwhelmed and stuff. I love that I’m still involving myself in this library world, even though there are moments of adversity and struggling to find my place. It really shows my determination to make things happen for myself.
I do want to try another library job, but probably not public. Maybe academic or research. That’s why I asked if you had any other experience. But that’s okay! At least you liked your research assistance in grad school, which is helpful.
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100% agree that you need to work in a library before you can fully understand the job, and therefore really know if you want to do that enough to get a Master’s. It’s so important.
I also agree with your points about nonpartisan vs. neutral and the Dewey Decimal system needing to be thrown out and replaced with something modern, flexible, and plain-old not icky. 😉
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Especially considering the amount of time and money that goes into a master’s which might never be recouped if you decide it’s not the field for you.
I LOVED reading this post. I, too, am a public librarian with a masters degree in library science and I agree with everythingggg you’ve said. I’ve got so many thoughts, but I don’t want to bore you with an essay, so I’ll just pick out my favourite points.
On your third point about people getting MLS degrees before working in the field, I agree it’s a bad idea. I would actually push people away from getting a library masters degree (even if they have been librarians for years) unless they are genuinely interested in the theory and research of library and information science. It’s the difference between enjoying cooking food and studying dietetics and nutrition – you don’t need the degree to enjoy and be good at what you do. (Although, I think senior library managers and directors should pursue qualifications).
Point 11 about vocational awe, job creep and burn-out is one I see far too much in reality. In my library service, many of the staff are the sole manager and staff member of a small-medium sized community library. They love their library, their customers and the community and I see my colleagues regularly working multiple hours a week overtime completely unpaid. Sadly, in my country, public libraries have faced budget cut after budget cut, leaving staff stretched so thin and having to fill multiple roles to deliver the library service.
Finally, point 9 about the generosity of librarians is SO true! My colleagues, and other librarians I have met, are the most lovely, caring and kind people, who are always willing to help out. I couldn’t ask to work with a better bunch of people.
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Thanks, Zalia! I think it’s interesting that there seems to be a belief that you *need* an MLS in order to have a librarian job, which is interesting. As you said, it’s mostly just administrative positions (branch managers, directors, etc.) that might require an MLS to hold that position. In my state, though, you don’t necessarily need a degree to get the position, but you have five years to get it once you accept the position. It really just depends on where you’re applying.
Libraries are in the same state here. Severe budget cuts, lack of staff, and constantly having more responsibilities foisted on them without increasing the money or staff to manage them. It’s unfortunate. I’m lucky that my library does a great job of encouraging work/life balance. I’m lucky to work somewhere that sees that as a positive, because that’s not often the case.
I’ve been lucky enough to never meet a librarian I didn’t like. xD We traveled recently back to where I grew up, and we went to get my daughter some library books with her grandparents, and we had a blast with the children’s librarians there!
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Number three was a surprising to me as well. I mean, I knew since high school I wanted to be a librarian because I was a regular volunteer and knew the program librarian fairly well (she’s now the Director and my boss). But it wasn’t until I got my job at the library that I decided to actually pursue a MLIS degree. I completely agree that more people go into school to get a library degree without realizing what working in a library is actually like, and that’s kind of dangerous (for them, financially).
I’d say I keep up with what’s popular, even if I don’t read it all (especially because I read YA like it’s no one’s business, despite being 31). Along with that, I like how you mentioned that librarians don’t typically say “I don’t know” when we don’t know an answer to a patron’s question. I saw this meme once that said ‘being a librarian is 88 percent saying “I’m not sure, but I can find out for you” which I feel is pretty accurate. Well, kind of.
Also, I need to agree that our past teachers insisting we call them by their first names now is weird. I still see my 5th grade teacher and 10th grade English teacher when they come to programs, but I still insist on calling them ‘Mrs. ___’ instead of their first names. Heck, one of my co-workers who’s my mom’s age still calls her old teachers (or even other elder patrons) Mr. or Mrs. It’s just a sign of respect, which is sadly dying with the new generation.
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