An hour and half long discussion is certainly not going to teach a person all that they need to know about working in a library, but maybe some ideas will come of it that help new librarians or even those who have been in the profession a long time. The goal isn’t to “learn what can’t be taught.” It’s to offer an honest space for discussion and the offering of solutions.

Annoyed Librarian, you have strong opinions on this. Perhaps you’d care to join the panel and offer your thoughts?

I was surprised and somewhat disappointed that they were in the minority in my program.

When people complain about what they wish they’d been taught in library school, I think it’s half, “I wish I’d had actual experience working in a library so I wouldn’t have been so shocked after library school” and half, “I wish my teachers had given me more realistic and practical information about dealing with bureaucracy.”

While it’s awesome to take a class about the history of intellectual property rights, it’s even more awesome to know how to prepare a budget request or write a grant proposal.

I mentioned before that you are ignorant when it comes to this issue. Librarianship is one of the fields in which, due to NAFTA, a labor market survey does not need to be conducted. AMERICANS are free to get jobs in Canada, too, no problem, and they do. Maybe your daughter should move to Canada.

First… yes… the claim that a librarian may be “web designer,” “marketing director,” and “reference librarian” all in one is, for the most part, ridiculous. It is akin to the claims that mothers are doctors, teachers, chefs, accountants, etc., all at the same time. After years working in large academic libraries, I have taken on a Library Director role in a small public library, and I basically run EVERYTHING. This does NOT make me a systems librarian, webmaster, marketing director, reference librarian, YA Librarian, Reader’s Advisory Librarian, etc., all in one. In fact, in the future, I could probably not get a job in even one of those areas. I could probably either get another Library Director job at a somewhat larger library, or return to working in Acquisitions and Collection Development, my functional area prior to this position.

I do have to say that the MLIS is good for one thing in addition to qualifying people to apply for professional library jobs. I DO believe that it “indoctrinates” people into a “tribe,” of sorts. I didn’t learn much new in library school, beyond certan specific vocational skills (like basic web and database design) but I did develop somewhat more of a kinship with my fellow librarians. I was always the very irreverent library worker, and I still am to a great extent, but I now have a bit more respect for the profession, and feel more of a connection to my colleagues.

But as far as wishing I’d learned more in library school… first of all, I don’t believe anyone in this day and age has ANY business attending library school if they don’t have significant experience in paid positions in libraries. They have no clue what the field is all about, they’re not going to learn that in library school, they probably won’t get a job, and they’ll be sorely disappointed. I consider ON THE JOB experience – both before and after library school – to be of utmost importance. Library school just provides a needed credential. I don’t even think it puts everything into an overall framework – I had a number of classmates who literally cried during classes like cataloging, simply because it was all taught in such a vaccuum. People entering library school without prior library work experience may believe that they are learning some overall context, but they are missing huge areas of information. For some, this is too much to deal with. The curriculum, even in a good program, can seem chaotic and they may not have the mental framework in which to “hang” the information. I think it’s hard for people immersed in the LIS culture to understand just how LITTLE knowledge the regular person with no library work experience has. My Board hired a library assistant (giving her an actual librarian title) shortly before I came on the scene… and she is almost 50, but has never worked in a library before. She’s never held anything but a part-time retail job before!!! She reminds me of me in my first student position. She knows SO LITTLE about library work, that she doesn’t even realize there is stuff she doesn’t know. It’s very frustrating to work with her. Library school actually wouldn’t help her all that much, although it might expose her to some of the more complex she could possibly encounter in a job. But I really think it takes years ON THE JOB in a decent-sized library (preferably academic, because academic libraries most closely follow established library standards) to really GET IT.

Library schools could address this experience demand by requiring applicants to have at least begun work in a library.