Alan’s Comments (group member since Dec 29, 2008)

Alan’s comments from the Public Librarians group.

In the few years I have been a librarian, I have found the market to be pretty darned good. In Chicago, there seems to be an intermittent hiring freeze, but in the suburbs, it's a different story. This http://www.mls.lib.il.us/jobs/results... is a list of what's currently available in the 80-library system alone. Building falls under LSTA grants, which has nothing, unfortunately, to do with when and whether hiring can occur.
Regardless, if you are geographically flexible, you can find your dream job somewhere.

It's true that most jobs require an ALA accredited education, so it's really only useful to get that degree as opposed to another which is usually much less costly.

There are few ALA accredited schools in the entire country, so if you're not geographically flexible, then a distance learning program, such as Madison or University of Illinois LEAP program might help.

I went to Dominican, the only game in the Chicagoland area. It had its ups and downs, but the important thing to consider is that when you finish it is your ticket in to the profession. That and working part time (in your chosen type of library) while you earn your degree.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Hi all,

I am a recent grad. adult and teen services librarian who does the movie ordering for a large library in suburban Chicago. I also teach a film history class at a local college. When I have time, I enjoy classic romans noir and get a lot of good use out of GoodReads. This question came up before and bears repeating:
Has anyone seen a good equivalent to GR for movies or music?

Monster by Walter Dean Myers--about a kid who gets into just that kind of trouble; all his stuff would probably move well, though.