Hello!!!! I just realized that you are a librarian in training. I am currently applying for a Library Science/History masters program (my application is due next week 😬). I am terrified but so so excited. Just wondering if you have any advice for, hopefully, a future librarian in training?
Hello right back, nonny! I am actually no longer in librarian training, since I graduated from my program in May, and since I am not currently working in a library I refer to myself as a once and future librarian, but I am happy to pass along things I wish someone had said to me.
“Terrified but so so excited” was also how I felt when I applied, so that’s great that you feel that way. I do remember during my application process feeling very discouraged by negativity I saw about the degree and the profession in internet places like library Twitter, so if you find yourself in a similar place, I would say don’t ignore it, but try not to let it get you down. Many of the critiques I read as I was applying to grad school turned out to be totally valid criticisms that I later shared as I got further into the profession, but it wasn’t useful for me to get too deep into them before I’d even started classes, and it just compounded the wild emotions I was having in an unhelpful way.
I don’t know how structured your program will be since you’re doing a dual degree, so maybe you won’t have this problem as much, but the MLIS degree can be what some people call “flexible” and what other people call “this degree can’t decide what the point of itself is”, so try to find a focus early and choose classes that stick to that. I went in knowing I wanted to focus on public libraries and youth services, so that’s what I organized my schedule around.
Idk what the expectations are in your program about like, presenting at conferences and writing a thesis and all, but I, a fairly ambitious student who presented at several conferences in undergrad, went to no conferences, presented no papers, did no research assistance, and did not write a thesis (it wasn’t required for my program). I only mention this to say that you can get a lot out of the degree from regular attentive class attendance/work and from library work itself, if you can find it. I had classmates who went to conferences and presented with professors and I admire them for it but I also have no idea how I could have done it between work and regular school and supporting myself, and in the end it didn’t really matter.
Get to know your classmates (I know this is hard when you’re going to school online, which hopefully you won’t have to do for too long if you don’t want to). I had so many classmates I adored and getting to know who they were outside of the three-ish hours a week I saw them made the program so much more enjoyable and made me a better librarian.
That’s what I’ve got, I guess! I hope it’s helpful and encouraging. I think there’s a tendency among librarians of the more radical persuasion (of which I hope I am one) to overcompensate for overly-glorified attitudes about librarianship by mentioning all of the challenges we face as library professionals, and while I understand where it comes from, that’s not helpful to people who are new. Find what it is you love about library work and really pay attention to that, and that will help avoid some of the overwhelm, I think. I personally loved working with the public, even though there’s never a dull moment, because I could always go home at the end of the day thinking, “I helped someone today, maybe someone needed a cheerful face and a patient answer and I was able to give them that.”
You can always stop by my inbox or my DMs to ask about library things! Thank you for sending this lovely ask.
