Real World – The Library

Posted October 5, 2014 by Alison Mitchell

When I decided to apply to SLIS, I wanted to make sure that I actually liked working in a library.  I was about to turn my family’s life upside down, leaving fairly calm and flexible freelance work that allowed me to always pick the kids up at school, for classes, assignments and, ultimately, set hours working in a library.  What if I hated it?  I applied for several positions and, since July, I’ve been working as a clerk in the Children’s Department at the Goodnow Library in Sudbury, MA.   I absolutely, completely love it, and am thrilled to be in school putting this career change into motion.

After only a few weeks of classes, I’m making so many connections between what we learn in school and what I do in the library.  Pulling books for Interlibrary Loan?  It’s all based on what we’re learning in 415!  Answering questions from very different types of patrons?  We talked about that in 401!  The librarians at Goodnow are great resources, too, full of advice about course selection and job paths.

SLIS encourages students to get work experience — paid, internship, volunteer — while in school, and I agree 100%.  Over my 20-year professional career, I’ve benefitted more than I can say from internships.  An internship after college turned into a paying job, and later, in law school, I discovered I hated the kind of law I thought I wanted to practice, and was lucky to get an internship that led me into a different type of practice.  Being in school is definitely the time to try different things and make sure you actually like what you think you like.

For more information, check out SLIS Jobline and the SLIS Career Information website.