Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E12: Jay

Oh hey, it’s the twelfth episode of season two!

This episode my guest is Jay, who you may know from the Library Punk podcast. If you haven’t listened to it, it’s a leftist podcast, and I find it fun, interesting, and opinionated. I did an episode back in October. While I was there, Jay mentioned that he had recently transitioned from his role as the director of a small academic library to a role in the cataloging department of a public library system. I thought that would be an interesting journey to talk about, so (six months later) here we are. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

An AI-generated and not completely error free transcript is here.

Speaking of links, in this episode we talk about:

• Library Punk
• Homosaurus
• Democracy is Power: Rebuilding Unions from the Bottom Up
• Berserk

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

#CripLib #Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryPodcast #LISCareers #MEAction

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E11: Scott Davis

Oh hey, it’s the eleventh episode of season two!

I taped eight episodes last fall/winter and have been very very slow to edit. I’m happy to be sharing this one!

Scott Davis has a MLIS from the University of Illinois’ School of Information Science and 15 years of experience in the corporate world. This episode focuses on how how librarianship skills can apply to digital asset management roles in non-traditional librarian settings, and more specifically at eCommerce giants and Silicon Valley tech start-ups.

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

Here are links for some of the things we talk about in this episode:

• The Cambridge Companion to Music in Digital Culture
• Cathode Cinema on Instagram
• Cathode Cinema on the interwebs

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

#CripLib #Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryPodcast #LISCareers #MEAction

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E10: Katie Quirin Manwiller (part two of two)

Oh hey, it’s the tenth episode of season two! This is the second of two episodes discussing disability and LIS hiring. This episode focuses a little more on advice for people doing hiring, and first episode focused a bit more on advice for people looking for work. But both of these perspectives come up in each episode.

Katie Quirin Manwiller is the Education Librarian and Assistant Professor at West Chester University. She is chronically ill and dynamically disabled. Katie’s scholarship focuses on improving disability inclusion in libraries through incorporating disability into equity work, addressing disability misconceptions, and creating accessible work environments. She is currently pursuing a second master’s degree focused on disability inclusion in higher education.

A few months ago, I was looking for resources to add to the “Accommodations and Disabilities” section of Interview Resources for Job Seekers. Katie Quirin Manwiller, who had written Hiring Better: Disability Accommodations & the Hiring Process here on Hiring Librarians, popped up to provide several great links. She was also kind enough to agree to come on the podcast to talk about this more (and not just once, but twice!)

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

Here are links for some of the things we talk about in this episode:

• Energy Pacing Guide, from #MEAction
• Disability Accommodations – Resources from Katie’s 2025 ACRL presentation
• Inclusive Workplace Practices guide from Arizona University (archived copy, as they have removed this from their website
• Manwiller, K. Q., Crozier, H., & Peter, S. (2024). Improving Inclusion with Universal Design in the Academic Library Hiring Process. , 123-135. https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/lib_facpub/34/
• Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau – a book for allies

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

#CripLib #Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryPodcast #LISCareers #MEAction

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E09: Katie Quirin Manwiller (part one of two)

Oh hey, it’s the ninth episode of season two! This is the first of two episodes discussing disability and LIS hiring. This first episode focuses a bit more on advice for people looking for work, and the second episode focuses a little more on advice for people doing hiring. But both of these perspectives come up in each episode.

Katie Quirin Manwiller is the Education Librarian and Assistant Professor at West Chester University. She is chronically ill and dynamically disabled. Katie’s scholarship focuses on improving disability inclusion in libraries through incorporating disability into equity work, addressing disability misconceptions, and creating accessible work environments. She is currently pursuing a second master’s degree focused on disability inclusion in higher education.

A few months ago, I was looking for resources to add to the “Accommodations and Disabilities” section of Interview Resources for Job Seekers. Katie Quirin Manwiller, who had written Hiring Better: Disability Accommodations & the Hiring Process here on Hiring Librarians, popped up to provide several great links. She was also kind enough to agree to come on the podcast to talk about this more (and not just once, but twice!)

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

Here are links for some of the things we talk about in this episode:

• #CripLib Website – for access to the Discord support network, and other LIS disability news and resources
• ADA timeline – While we don’t specifically reference this timeline by the American Bar Association, we do discuss the relative recency of the ADA, and talk a little bit about the timeline of Disability rights in the US.
• We Here Job Board – This is a job board for BIPOC in LIS. We don’t know of any job boards specifically for people with disabilities, but this one might be good for BIPOC library workers with disabilities.
• Job Accommodations Network – One of the things this website provides is suggestions and information about possible accommodations for various disabilities, limitations, and occupations.
• Navigating the Academic Hiring Process with Disabilities by Gail Betz – article describing academic librarians’ self-accommodations strategies (and you might also be interested in the synopsis she wrote for Hiring Librarians)

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

#CripLib #Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryPodcast #LISCareers

Call for Participation: LIS Hiring and Careers Research

Hi Friends!

I’m reaching out to a new round of folks for the series I call Researcher’s Corner. This series invites people who are researching some aspect of LIS hiring and careers to share their work in informal language, here on Hiring Librarians. Topics have included but are not limited to job seeking practices and experiences, career preparation, equity in the profession, salary, job skill requirements, and recruitment practices and experiences.

I have combed the databases for current papers and am in the process of emailing people to ask if they are interested. However, my dumb emails tend to get sent to spam by dumb overly-aggressive university spam filters. So, I thought I’d reach out in another way.

Are you a researcher into one of these topics? Would you like to share your research here? If so, would you please get in contact with me, either through my contact form or directly at HiringLibrarians at gmail?

Your Pal,

Emily

#LISResearch #libraries #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryJobs #LISCareers

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E08: Meggan Press

Oh hey, it’s the eighth episode of season two!

I taped eight episodes last fall/winter and have been very very slow to edit. I’m very pleased to be able to share this one!

Meggan Press is the author of Get the Job: Academic Hiring For the New Librarian. This is a really good book about getting hired! She offers non-generic and empowering information for folks looking to start librarian work in academic libraries. It’s as if you had a smart, kindly mentor walking you through the process – not just the how but the why. But don’t take my word for it! In this episode, you’ll here more about her advice and opinions – we talk about the book and much more.

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

#Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryPodcast #LISCareers

Can you help? Do you need help? Crowdsourced Resources for YOU

Hi Friends!

There are a number of crowdsourced services and resources here on Hiring Librarians that rely on your help to stay relevant and robust. Would you care to be part of the crowd?

1. Are you interested in getting a lot of eyes on your resume or CV?  

If so, try crowdsourced resume and CV review, here on Hiring Librarians.

Here’s how it works:

We post resumes or CVs from any library or LIS job hunter who submits one. Other job hunters, as well as a few ringers (hiring managers) and other members of the public will be able to provide feedback in the comments section. Folks who submit CVs or resumes for review must also agree to comment on at least five other posted resumes/CVs (it’s a pyramid scheme mutual aid!)

We will do our best to moderate comments, but please do be aware that this will truly be public review – anyone and everyone on the internet will be able comment.

To have your resume or CV posted:

• First, take a look at the comments on previously posted resumes/CVs and see if any would apply to yours.  Edit if necessary
• Your CV or resume will be posted as-is, so please remove any information that you are not comfortable having publicly available (I suggest removing your email address and phone number at a minimum)
• Then, send it as a PDF to HiringLibrariansPeerReview@gmail.com
• Please include a short statement identifying if it’s a resume or CV and describing the types of positions you’re using it for (institution type, position level, general focus)
• Finally, you will also need to confirm that you agree to comment on at least five other posted resumes/CVs

2. Have you been on a library interview recently?  Or are you prepping for one?

Do you know about The Interview Questions Repository?

The Interview Questions Repository is a Google sheet with questions that have been asked on more than 600 library or LIS interviews over the last decade.

If you’ve had a library interview recently, help this resource grow by reporting the questions you were asked.

3. Are you interested in salary transparency?

Interested in viewing Salary Info from more than 300 LIS workers? The second page of the Interview Questions Repository shares that data. If you are interested in adding your own salary info, please use this form.

I have collected additional salary transparency resources here.

If you have feedback, I’d love to hear it. Please feel free to email me or use the contact form.

4. Do you have opinions?

These surveys are still collecting responses:

• 2024 State of the LIS Job Market (for folks who hire in a LIS field)
• 2023 Job Hunter’s Survey (for people who are currently job searching)
• Hiring Library Workers and Other Information Professionals (for folks who hire in a LIS field)
• All About Cover Letters (for folks who hire in a LIS field)
• Personal Professional Websites (for people who have a personal professional website)

5. Thank you!

Please help these resources grow by participating early and often, and sharing widely with all your friends and colleagues. I love feedback, so happy to hear from you about any suggestions/questions/comments etc – hiringlibrariansATgmail

Your Pal,

Emily

#cvReview #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryJobs #resumeReview

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E07: Alison King

Oh hey, it’s the seventh episode of season two!

I taped eight episodes last fall/winter and have been very very slow to edit. I’m very pleased to be able to share this one!

In addition to being a former librarian, Alison King is a nationally certified resume writer, career coach and job search guide. In this episode, she talks about what it’s like to work with a career services professional, and then she gives specific and practical advice about searching for work, including the nitty gritty of creating a great resume and what to never ever do in a cover letter. I think this episode will be especially interesting to people who are currently looking for work (or preparing to look).

Alison’s website is www.kingcareerservices.com or, as she says in the episode, she loves to connect on LinkedIn. If you’re interested in her classes, they are available here. The coupon code she provides to listeners toward the end of the episode will be valid through May 31st, 2025. She was gracious enough to let me interview her for my series on career coaches, so if you can also read more about her and her services here.

In the podcast, Alison recommends the book Switchers by Dr. Dawn Graham, and (unrelated to hiring) talks about how she really enjoys the podcast The Pitch.

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

#Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryPodcast #LISCareers

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E06: Dr. Colleen Harris

Oh hey, it’s the sixth episode of season two!

I taped eight episodes last fall/winter and have been very very slow to edit. I’m very pleased to be able to share this one!

Dr. Colleen Harris has been one of my “people who hire librarians,” responding to regular questions with opinions and advice for almost as long as Hiring Librarians has been around. In this episode, we turn the tables and talk about her own job search, in her quest to become a library director. I thought this conversation – and the lessons she learned – was so interesting that I’ve talked about it on several other episodes this season.

Colleen’s most recent book of poetry is The Light Becomes Us The Light Becomes Us. If you have any post-episode questions, you can find Colleen on LinkedIn here.

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

#Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryPodcast #LISCareers

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E05: Joanne Fitzpatrick

Oh hey, it’s the fifth episode of season two!

Now that I’ve posted interviews with all the ALA Presidential candidates (and voting is open), I can return to posting the podcast episodes I taped last fall/winter and have been very very slow to edit (and edit poorly!)

I’m really happy to share this interview with Joanne Fitzpatrick, who is one of the founders of NLISN, the Neurodivergent Library and Information Staff Network. We cover her career path, her work with NLISN, and her tips for inclusivity in interviews. I’ll spoil this part and say, sending the questions in advance is one of her top tips! When I checked in recently in preparation for posting this episode, she offered a little refinement on this recommendation:

“where I say my 1 tip is to share questions in advance for interviews for everyone, I’d suggest going one step further and stating exactly which parts of the job description that question is linked to and is looking to assess. I realised that’s the main reason I need questions in advance so I can have time to work that out, so if that’s explicit then that’s a huge barrier removed.”

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

#Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryPodcast #LISCareers

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E04: Lindsay Cronk

Oh hey, it’s the fourth episode of season two!

As I mentioned last week, the thing that galvanized me to get this back up and running is that I wanted to do episodes with the candidates for 2026-27 ALA President. Voting starts March 10, so that gave me a pretty firm deadline.

I posted an episode with Andrea Jamison on Tuesday and last week I posted an episode with Maria McCauley.

This is the third candidate and final episode, with Lindsay Cronk. Normally I would post this next Tuesday, but voting will already be open by then, so here it is on a Friday.

I enjoyed talking with all of the candidates. My hope is by listening to all three episodes, you’ll have a better sense of their unique perspectives on the work that faces ALA in our current extremely challenging time.

Some links to things Lindsay and I discuss in this episode:

• Lindsay mentions Fobazi Ettarh’s work on Vocational Awe
• I talk about resilience as a property of the organization, rather than the individual. My thinking on this was catalyzed by this article:
  • Berg, J., Galvan, A., & Tewell, E. (2020). Responding to and reimagining resilience in academic libraries. Journal of New Librarianship, 3(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.21173/newlibs/4/1
• We talk about the ALA-APA, ALA’s Allied Professional Association
• Lindsay recommends Kate Woodsome’s Substack Invisible Threads
• Lindsay also recommends the concept of critical hope, especially in the work of Kaetrena Davis Kendrick. You can learn more about Kaetrena’s work on critical hope here and here. And if you’ve got your own thoughts about critical hope, she and Ione T. Damasco are editing a book on the topic and the call for proposals is open.
• I mention the poem Even in a Time of Intolerance by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, which I found through the newsletter of yoga teacher Vickie Russell Bell

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

#Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryPodcast #LISCareers

Your Participation is Requested!

Hi Friends!

There are a number of crowdsourced services and resources here on Hiring Librarians. Would you care to be part of the crowd?

1. Are you interested in getting a lot of eyes on your resume or CV?  

If so, try crowdsourced resume and CV review, here on Hiring Librarians.

Here’s how it works:

We post resumes or CVs from any library or LIS job hunter who submits one. Other job hunters, as well as a few ringers (hiring managers) and other members of the public will be able to provide feedback in the comments section. Folks who submit CVs or resumes for review must also agree to comment on at least five other posted resumes/CVs (it’s a pyramid scheme mutual aid!)

We will do our best to moderate comments, but please do be aware that this will truly be public review – anyone and everyone on the internet will be able comment.

To have your resume or CV posted:

• First, take a look at the comments on previously posted resumes/CVs and see if any would apply to yours.  Edit if necessary
• Your CV or resume will be posted as-is, so please remove any information that you are not comfortable having publicly available (I suggest removing your email address and phone number at a minimum)
• Then, send it as a PDF to HiringLibrariansPeerReview@gmail.com
• Please include a short statement identifying if it’s a resume or CV and describing the types of positions you’re using it for (institution type, position level, general focus)
• Finally, you will also need to confirm that you agree to comment on at least five other posted resumes/CVs

2. Have you been on a library interview recently?  Or are you prepping for one?

Do you know about The Interview Questions Repository?

The Interview Questions Repository is a Google sheet with questions that have been asked on more than 600 library or LIS interviews over the last decade.

If you’ve had a library interview recently, help this resource grow by reporting the questions you were asked.

3. Are you interested in salary transparency?

Interested in viewing Salary Info from more than 300 LIS workers? The second page of the Interview Questions Repository shares that data. If you are interested in adding your own salary info, please use this form.

I have collected additional salary transparency resources here.

If you have feedback, I’d love to hear it. Please feel free to email me or use the contact form.

4. Do you have opinions?

These surveys are still collecting responses:

• 2024 State of the LIS Job Market (for folks who hire in a LIS field)
• 2023 Job Hunter’s Survey (for people who are currently job searching)
• Hiring Library Workers and Other Information Professionals (for folks who hire in a LIS field)
• All About Cover Letters (for folks who hire in a LIS field)
• Personal Professional Websites (for people who have a personal professional website)

5. Thank you!

Please help these resources grow by participating early and often, and sharing widely with all your friends and colleagues.

Your Pal,

Emily

#cvReview #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryJobs #resumeReview

Job Hunter’s Web Guide: ECLAIR

I’m pleased to share with you some information about the Early Career Library and Information Resource Community (ECLAIR), an England-based, FREE membership network.

What is it?  Please give us your elevator speech!

The ECLAIR Community is a dynamic, inclusive network created for library and information students and early career professionals. ECLAIR offers free access to valuable resources, support, and opportunities to connect with peers at a similar stage in their careers as well as those in more advanced positions. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to build meaningful connections in the field, ECLAIR is a community for growth, collaboration and empowering the next generation of library and information professionals. 

When was it started?  Why was it started?

ECLAIR was founded in 2022 by a group of young library professionals recognising the challenges faced by individuals at the start of their career – such as navigating the industry, accessing relevant resources, and finding a supportive network. ECLAIR was established to provide a dedicated space where individuals can connect, share experiences, and support one another. 

Who runs it?

The ECLAIR Community is run by a full team of committee members, initially formed by a group of early career professionals when it was founded. As the community grew, additional committee members were recruited to help achieve ECLAIR’s aims and continue building and maintaining the network.

Are you a “career expert”? What are your qualifications?

ECLAIR’s focus is on fostering a supportive environment for individuals to confidently navigate their career journeys through peer support, and a range of free career development initiatives and resources. Our Employability Officer has recently qualified as a Registered Career Development Professional with the CDI, so we will be working on developing our career and employability offerings.

Who is your target audience?

Our target audience primarily includes library and information students, as well as early-career professionals in the library and information sector. This encompasses individuals who are just beginning their careers, those currently studying or recently graduated, and those transitioning into the sector from other fields. We are proud to have a diverse membership that represents a wide range of library sectors, including academic, health, law, and school libraries, with a broad geographical reach spanning the UK and beyond.

What’s the best way to use your site?  Should users consult it daily?  Or as needed? Should they already know what they need help with, or can they just noodle around?

The ECLAIR site is designed to be flexible and can be used both proactively and reactively, depending on your needs and preferences. We have designed it as a resource bank, so it doesn’t require daily visits, but checking in regularly will keep you updated on new resources, events, and opportunities.

For frequent updates, such as job listings and upcoming events, we recommend engaging with us on social media. Additionally, we encourage you to become an ECLAIR member, which grants access to our Discord server. This informal networking space is organised into categories and areas of interest, allowing you to start conversations, share experiences, and exchange useful resources with others in the community.

Whether you already know what you need help with and are seeking tailored advice or just want to explore, the site and Discord are designed to accommodate both approaches making them versatile spaces for all users. 

Does your site provide:

√  Links

√ The opportunity for interaction

Should readers also look for you on social media? Or is your content available in other formats? Please include links, subscription information, or other details if pertinent

√  Twitter: https://twitter.com/ECLAIRcommunity

√  LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/company/the-eclair-community

√  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eclair.community/ 

√ Other: 

• Discord server (link provided to individuals when they sign up for membership: https://eclaircommunity.wordpress.com/eclair-membership/

Do you charge for anything on your site?

No. All resources and events are free and open to all. 

Anything else you’d like to share with my readers about your site in particular, or about library hiring/job hunting in general?

We’d like to encourage new professionals and students to get involved with ECLAIR! Our platforms are designed so that you can engage as much or as little as you like. We offer a wide range of free resources to support your career development, including events focused on careers, networking, and skill-building.

We’ve already hosted free career-focused events and social opportunities for networking, and we’re excited to continue expanding these offerings. Whether you’re just starting out, transitioning into the library and information sector, or looking to connect with peers, ECLAIR provides a welcoming and supportive community to help you on your journey. Best of all, there’s no cost to get involved, so we encourage you to explore and make the most of the resources available.

#jobhunting #Librarian #librarians #libraries #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs

"reasonable commute from home, opportunities for growth, no library experience required" #LIS #GLAM #LibraryCareers #LibraryWork

http://hiringlibrarians.com/2024/09/22/trying-to-re-enter-the-workforce-after-being-a-sahm-caregiver-for-for-15-years/

Welcome back to Author’s Corner! This series features excerpts or guest posts from authors of books about LIS careers. 

In this installment, we hear from Brandon K. West and Elizabeth Galoozis. Their edited volume contains a diverse variety of mid-career voices. I was particularly interested to hear discussion about what it means to be mid-career when you are not interested in management or leadership positions – a quandary mentioned somewhat frequently in the most recent job hunter’s survey here on Hiring Librarians.

If you’re interested in reading beyond this post, the citation for the book is:

West, K. and Galoozis, E. (Eds.). (2023). Thriving as a mid-career librarian: identity, advocacy, and pathways. Association of College and Research Libraries.

We have each been professional academic librarians for more than a decade. We have often felt like we were running on a hamster wheel, rarely pausing to catch our breath as we moved from one project to the next, or through the processes of tenure and promotion. Before long, we had achieved many of our early career goals and began asking new types of questions including, How do we continue to grow professionally if we don’t want to move upward? How do we make decisions about whether to stay at an institution (or in the profession) or go? What strategies do we use to sustain ourselves amidst burnout, constant change, wage compression, or even boredom? How do we navigate cultures of white supremacy, patriarchy, and hierarchy?

This led us to exploring the concept of what it means to be an academic librarian in mid-career. We explored the literature and were disappointed by leadership and management dominating the conversation. Leadership can be a natural part of career progression, but being a library director or administrator is not a high priority for either of us. Brandon had already been promoted to a mid-level manager position of his library’s reference and instruction services and was comfortable in the position, while Elizabeth moved her career from a large R1 system where she was a faculty member and supervised no one, to a liberal arts college consortium where she is a staff member and supervises two people. Because we were not finding resources that spoke to our personal questions about entering the mid-career phase of our respective careers, we decided to create one–an edited volume, Thriving as a Mid-Career Librarian, published by ACRL Publications in 2023.  We are both at similar points in our careers and wanted to see what other mid-career librarians were doing, which resulted in 26 chapters that range a variety of topics such as advocating for yourself, engaging in informal leadership, dealing with boredom and much more. 

One of the first things we needed to do as we conceptualized our book was to define mid-career, which turned out to be trickier than expected. In the literature, mid-career is often correlated with age.  However, many librarians or information professionals enter the profession as a second career, while others start working in libraries as teenagers.  Are you still early career if you have 10 years of experience by the time you are in your late 20s? There is a high level of subjectivity to this which is further complicated by factors such as if you are tenure-track, or part-time, or on temporary contracts. For these reasons, we decided to reject a standard definition of mid-career. It’s an amorphously-defined time period that could be shared by people of varying ages, positions, and identities. Given our experience, we view mid-career as a mindset: Your priorities have shifted from when you first began your career, some of the excitement of working in a library has waned or changed, and/or you are learning that pushing through burnout is not sustainable.

When we were talking about mid-career, it become clear that we, along with people in our peer networks, had a lot to say about it–although conversations were often turned to complaints. With that in mind, we decided to make a conscious effort to frame our book more positively. This is why we decided to use the word “thriving” in the title. 

Thriving can mean to prosper, to flourish, to progress toward or realizing a goal despite of circumstances. If something thrives, it sustains itself. To us, a good analogy of thriving is growth cycle of a flower: There is a period of growth that results in a flower blooming. The flower will last for a few weeks, before it wilts and retreats back underground to re-energize and sustain itself until it is ready to bloom the next spring. Our careers can be like this over time as well—we can have highs, but we cannot sustain that forever (that’s when we burn out); we need to retreat in order to re-energize and figure out the next thing. Therefore, thriving doesn’t always look like the concept of  “success” that many of us envision or are given during our early careers.

With this in mind, our book covers many different aspects of navigating your mid-career. We organized the book into four sections: Staying Engaged, The Role of Identity, Advocating for Yourself, and To Lead or Not to Lead? Through the combination of theses themes, we feel that our authors have better described the complexities of being in one’s mid-career. Throughout the book, the authors share their personal feelings about being mid-career and how they are managing to thrive. Some examples from of stories shared in section one–Staying Engaged–include:

• Developing a research community to fill a gap in association and institutional support 
• Staying engaged in reference and instruction despite burnout, through setting boundaries, taking time off, and supporting 
• Sharing knowledge and advice through informal mentoring relationships
• Reflecting every few years on what is most important and what is no longer important – both in life and in work 
• Periodically evaluating the impact of your work and improving your productivity 
• Pursuing a doctorate

The longer you work in libraries, it can feel like everything gets harder, more political, and further under-resourced with each passing year. It is easier to become cynical than remain positive when you have been in your career for a long time and have witnessed the revolving door of administrators, colleagues, and dreams that go unfulfilled.  Nevertheless, we think it is possible that through the strategies of community, support, and advocacy detailed in our book, it is possible for us to take more control of our career narratives. Our hope is that our book will help librarians think more strategically and sustainably about their careers. At mid-career, some of our enthusiasm may have waned, but we have other things: the contributions we make to our communities, and the wealth of experience we have built up since we began.  

Brandon K. West (he/him)is the Head of Research Instruction Services at the State University of New York at Geneseo’s Milne Library. He has a M.Ed. in Educational Technology from Grand Valley State University, a M.L.S. from Texas Woman’s University, and a M.S. in Curriculum Development from the University at Albany. He was awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Librarianship in 2019. He has edited three volumes through ACRL Publications, including Creative Instructional Design: Practical Applications for Librarians (2017), Reflections on Practitioner Research: A Practical Guide for Information Professionals (2020), and Thriving as a Mid-Career Librarian: Identity, Advocacy, and Pathways (2023).

Elizabeth Galoozis is DEIA Strategies Librarian at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests include critical and feminist pedagogy, and identity in library workplaces. She was educated at Simmons University and Amherst College, and has presented and published widely, most recently Thriving as a Mid-Career Librarian: Identity, Advocacy, and Pathways (ACRL, co-edited with Brandon K. West).

https://hiringlibrarians.com/2024/09/10/authors-corner-navigating-the-mid-career-phase/

#jobhunting #Librarian #librarians #libraries #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryJobs #midCareer

This is the third of an unknown number of posts that will present statistics and results from the 2024 State of the Job Market survey. Please note I don’t use representative sampling, so it would be inappropriate to draw conclusions about the larger population of LIS Workers as a whole. These stats posts take forever to write, so unfortunately I’m generally neither timely nor thorough with getting them out.

The 2024 State of the Job Market survey collects information from people who hire library and other LIS workers on current hiring practices, their most recent recruitment, and a few other key details about their workplace and personal characteristics and opinions. There are 39 questions (all optional) in 4 sections. It is an update of my 2015 survey on the state of the library job market.

I opened the survey on February 8th, 2024. It will remain open indefinitely, but as of March 7th the response rate has trickled to a near halt. There are 183 responses. Most chose to fill it out anonymously; only 14 people left contact information (about 8%).

For context, the 2015 State of the Job Market Survey ran from January 6, 2015 until I shut down the blog in late January 2016. There were 27 questions (all optional). I gathered 269 responses. The bulk of those (254) came in that first month. 31 people left contact information (about 11%).

Question 1 asks, “Where do you advertise your job listings?”

I did not ask this question in the 2015 version of this survey, but I did ask it in the 2023 Job Hunter’s Survey. I may circle back and do a cross-reference/big old list at a later date. This post is long enough already!

In this post, I’ll talk about both larger categories and specific places. If you’d like to see the full list of places mentioned, it’s available here. I alphabetized it and left all the repeats in so you can get a sense of frequency.

The most frequently mentioned places to advertise were:

• The American Library Association (JobLIST, but also affiliated organizations and groups such as the Black Caucus of the ALA)
• Indeed – many people specified they used this for non-librarian library jobs
• LinkedIn – both on organization’s page and by individual staff members on personal pages
• Facebook (pages, groups, or announcements) – I was kind of surprised by how frequently this came up
• ArchivesGig
• The Chronicle of Higher Education – A few folks listed “CHE” which I eventually decided was the Chronicle, rather than some job board targeted at library revolutionaries
• Higher Ed Jobs
• INALJ – Otherwise known as I Need a Library Job
• Society of American Archivists

Everything Mentioned, Grouped in My Weird Ideas about Categories

For a deeper dive, I’ve tried to group things mentioned into categories that might be helpful in thinking strategically about how to advertise (or find) job listings.

Word of Mouth

Only one person wrote verbatim “word of mouth.” Others didn’t specifically use this phrase, but talked about things such as advertising on their personal LinkedIn, to individual contacts, and one specified that they email “a casual group of 30 area library directors.” One person wrote that they used “Facebook (some patrons share our posts).”

When job hunters are told that networking is important in the job search, this is one of the ways: simply hearing that a listing exists. Beyond that is the support that one’s network provides in encouragement, reading application materials, providing insider tips, and putting in a good word.

For people who hire, consider how “word of mouth” recruitment interacts with diversity in hiring. Robust personal networks can provide a larger candidate pool. But if your staff and their networks are a monoculture, you will only reach folks who are just like you. In addition, “word of mouth” advertising privileges people who already have connections.

Word of mouth recruitment will happen whether or not it’s part of the plan. If you are interested in more equitable hiring, you will need to reflect and strategize on how personal networking and use of connections can be employed in the service of a more diverse candidate base. OSU’s Search Advocates program has a five point resource on upstream recruiting that might be interesting to folks thinking about how personal networking practices can align with improving diversity in hiring.

Social Media

Facebook and LinkedIn were both among the most frequent listing places mentioned, but others talked about using “social media” in general, as well Twitter and (in one instance) Instagram. Using Facebook included posting on the institution’s page and in announcements, as well as sharing listings in relevant groups (Troublesome Catalogers and Magical Metadata Fairies was the only library group specifically mentioned; others included a qualifier such as “local Facebook groups”). As mentioned above, LinkedIn was used both to post to the institution’s page and in sharing of posts by individual staff members.

For both job hunters and hirers, the “social media” category requires similar considerations to “word of mouth” advertising – thinking more carefully about how you are networking. Writing this makes me think of my time in library school (2010-2011) when there was this big emphasis on future librarians creating their “personal brand” and a general feeling of paranoia around employers finding and not liking your social media presence (which all made me a bit barf-y, to be frank). I’ve also got a few feels around the loss of Twitter as a robust library forum, and also the increasing crappiness of Facebook as a place to actually talk to my friends. But I digress. Social media is a tool by which you can broaden and deepen the reach of your personal network. There are plenty of folks with all sorts of advice about how to best utilize your social media presence, but I have no one in particular to point you towards.

In list form, the specific social media sites mentioned were:

• Facebook – local and industry-specific groups (including Troublesome Catalogers and Magical Metadata Fairies), as well as organization pages and announcements
• LinkedIn – Organization pages and personal accounts
• Twitter (X)
• Instagram
• Reddit

Newspapers

Nine people said they advertise jobs in newspapers! Well, one of those said “town pages,” which I assumed meant newspapers so really only eight said it specifically. I was shocked. This is totally not on my radar at all. I’m so curious to hear from folks who have found a job in the last few years via newspaper, or folks who have hired via newspaper. If you’re reading this, drop me a line, will ya?

Vendor User Groups

One person said they advertise in vendor user groups. This was actually a person who had filled out the survey and left an email address, so I followed up to ask more about what, how, and why he used this avenue. He said,

“Vendor User Groups are email groups made up of people who use specific products.  Right now, I am part of the following:

• Ex Libris Users Group
• ALMA Users Group
• ProQuest Users Group
• EBSCO Users Group

As these groups are made up entirely of a vendor’s customers, or in some cases the customers of a specific product, emails tailored to those specialized user groups can be easily sent out.  It also allows position postings with specific requirements, such as “must have experience with ALMA” to be sent to groups where those people are.”

One other person did say they posted on “Exlibris”, which I am assuming also means they post on the Users Group.

State Specific Job Listings

Several people said they advertised on a state library job board, site, or list. It was a little difficult to parse from the survey who meant that it was a state-focused resource, who meant that it was a resource run by the state library, and who meant that it was a resource run by the state library association. Maybe this is a fairly unimportant distinction nevertheless I will now discuss it for several paragraphs.

States vary in who runs their job boards!

“Library Jobline” or “Job line” was mentioned several times. Many organizations call their job board a “jobline” so there is a little opacity around what precisely this might refer to. However, Library Jobline is run by the Colorado state library in cooperation with the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services (as an IMLS funded project). Beyond Colorado and Rhode Island, it actually has national listings organized by state.

Contrast this with Florida Library Jobs, which is also funded by the IMLS, through the LSTA program. However, they show IMLS, the Florida state library and the Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN) as site authors, and specify that SEFLIN operates the site. Florida Library Jobs is not national, and only lists Florida Library Jobs.

In another example, the California state library does not run a job board (other than listing jobs AT the state library). If you are looking for jobs across the state of California, you’ll want to visit the job board of the California Library Association and/or the job board of California Academic and Research Library Association (CARL). There is also a California Association of School Libraries, but I don’t believe they have a job board. They do have a discussion forum, CALIBK12, which might be a place to find a few listings…

The upshot of all this is that it can be difficult to find exactly where to look for or post statewide listings, particularly if you don’t already know something about the various library organizations in the State.

For example, I know California well enough to know that the California Library Association tends to skew a little bit more towards public libraries, probably because many academic librarians are already active with CARL. So I know that I’m probably more likely to find public positions on CLA and academic positions on CARL. In another example, I know that Georgia doesn’t have it’s own arm of the ACRL so the Georgia Library Association is full of academic librarians trying to get their service requirements (and be collegial and all that too I suppose). The Georgia Library Association links to the joblist run by Georgia Public Library Service (which is what the State library of Georgia is called). While “public” is in the name, the scope of this list is actually “job announcements for any type of library within Georgia and the Southeast.”

So if you are looking to find or post a job with a state wide reach, you may need to do some research to figure out where to look. Luckily, Naomi House over at I Need A Library Job has already done a lot of this work for you. If you check out the jobs page, you’ll find a list of states. Clicking through will send you to a list that includes state-focused job lists, individual public and academic libraries, and other associations and organizations at the national, state and regional level that will post jobs located in that state.

Networking is also helpful here. Joining a membership organization or just getting to know folks in the region can provide better understanding of the interplay of different associations and where you might be most likely to find what you’re looking for in that particular state.

Note that the states may also have distinct rules about employment. For example, Colorado and Illinois require by law that employers disclose salary in the job ad. The Colorado board, Library Jobline, has a very clear field for each listing that either shows the salary or “wages not specified.” And they they remove Colorado-based postings if wages are not provided. RAILS (the Illinois job board) requires that “listings posted here must include the position’s pay rate or range in $US.” There are at least six other states that require salaries be listed, and a number of municipalities. Most of my information on the topic comes from this article, which is already a year old as I write this (article from 2023).

Specific State-Focused places mentioned were:

• California State Job posting site – As discussed above, this might be CLA, CARL, CALIBK12 or even jobs at the State library.
• California Library Association – Like many other associations, uses the YM Careers platform. $199 is the lowest price to post a listing.
• CLA – This is almost certainly the California Library Association, as the person who wrote it was talking about hiring in California. Incidentally, the Connecticut Library Association doesn’t seem to have a job board (although there is one run by the Connecticut Library Consortium) and my browser wouldn’t let me visit the Canadian Library Association because it said it wasn’t safe. The Colorado Library Association uses the acronym CAL.
• Florida Library Jobs – As discussed above
• Georgia Library Association listserv – My insider note: I’m actually on this listserv and I don’t see a lot of job postings. The job board run by the Georgia Public Library Service is a more robust list (and includes academic postings, despite the name.)
• “state of Idaho employment website (always)” – I think this is probably referred to IdahoWorks, which is the job listing site run by the Idaho department of labor. It is free to post jobs. The State of Idaho does have a careers listing page. And the Idaho Commission for Libraries also has a page, although that seems to be jobs working at that organization specifically.
• Illinois library rails board – “Reaching Across Illinois Library System serves more than 1200 academic, public, school, and specialized library agencies in northern and west-central Illinois” RAILS job board does also include some out of state listings. There does not seem to be a fee to post.
• Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives Job site/Kentucky Government Website – I think these are the same thing, although Kentuckians please feel free to correct me. This site is run by the State library of Kentucky and listings appear to be free.
• Library Jobline – I’m assuming this refers to the site run by the Colorado State Library. I profiled this site back in 2022. There is no charge to list a job. Postings in Colorado must include salary (by law). Those searching jobs can filter by region or state (out-of-state listings are included).
• Maine State Library – When I checked the board on April 18, 2024, most listings were for public libraries, but there were also a couple for special and academic libraries. The site says they also post New Hampshire jobs by request.
• MBLC Job Board/listserv – “All jobs posted must be in or near Massachusetts and must be clearly library-related.” A cool feature on this page is a chart of “Job Posting Frequency on MBLC Jobs Board” with data from 2014-October 2023.
• Metronet Jobline (Minnesota) – Metronet also runs a regional job board, which will appear in the next section. Metronet itself is a regional organization, serving “all types of libraries—school, public, college and university and special libraries—in…the seven county metropolitan area including the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.” Postings are free of charge.
• State Listserv (NY), “New York State Nyline.” – The New York State Library listserv, NYLINE, is an unmoderated listserv for “information about library developments in New York State, announcements from the NYS Library, library-related job openings in and around NYS, and networking and training opportunities.” There is also the New York State Library Association JOBLine (job postings are free for NYLA members and must include a salary).
• OLC job line – From the paucity of other results in my Google search, I think this is probably The Ohio Library Council JOBLine. Members post free, non-members pay $40.
• Texas Library Association Jobline – Only members may post to TLA Jobline. Listings show up in a bulletin board format.
• TLA – was mentioned 4 times, twice by respondents from the Southeastern US and twice by respondents from the Southwestern US. So, I think that this refers to the Tennessee Library Association and the Texas Library Association, respectively. Anyone can submit a job at the Tennessee Library Association, even if it is not in Tennessee, and no fee is listed.
• UC job listing site – this respondent mentioned other California sites so I think it’s most likely the University of California’s jobs page
• Virginia Library Association Jobline – There is a fee of $150 to post.
• Wisconsin Library Association – Non-members pay $60 to post.

Local/Regional Organizations and Consortia

Many other respondents wrote that they advertised in local or regionally-focused places. This included generalisms like: “local Facebook groups,” “regional library sites,” “regional organizations, “other public libraries in the area,” “local job boards,” “local library association job boards,” and “regional email lists.”

Considerations for finding and using regional and local job advertisements are similar to the above discussion of state-focused library resources. INALJ’s jobs page includes listings for many. Networking continues to be a key force here, maybe even more so than on the state level. I am thinking of the person who wrote that they email job listings to “a casual group of 30 area library directors.”

In addition to professional member organizations, local and regional sites might include consortia. In my head the distinction between these two groups are that the former serves individuals and the latter serves organizations, but I think there is sometimes significant overlap. So, I’ve lumped them all together here.

Local and Regional sites include both regions that are smaller than a single state and regions that comprise multiple states. Sites that comprise multiple states might be navigating differing employment laws and minimum wages, as well as the differing practices of member or target organizations.

Specific Local and Regional sites mentioned:

• ACRL NEC – I think this is the Jobs group for the Association of College & Research Libraries New England Chapter
• Amigos Library services – “one of the largest library service networks in the nation.” Member libraries can post listings for free. When I looked, listings were primarily from Texas.
• ASERL job postings – guessing the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries
• BayNet – a member organization for “librarians and information professionals from all varieties of organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area.” Fun fact: when I was starting out and working primarily as a pool (aka substitute) librarian, they let me start a listserv for pool librarians.
• Boston Library Consortium jobs list – “Our strength lies in our diverse membership network of public and private universities, liberal arts colleges, state libraries, public libraries, and special libraries united by a commitment to champion innovation through collaboration.” The Consortium accepts members from the “northeast” (beyond just Boston). The page is a “list of library job opportunities available across all member institutions.”
• CARLI (Illinois) – “CARLI is a membership organization for libraries, providing services at scale to Illinois academic and research libraries.” The listing page includes only member organizations, and there does not seem to be a fee to post.
• Chicago Area Archivists – From the website, “Since 1982, the Chicago Area Archivists (CAA) has worked to provide opportunities for local archivists, historians, librarians and others in the Chicago metro area to meet together for discussion, social interaction, and education. Our membership include archivists, librarians, and records managers in academic, corporate, governmental, institutional, library, and museum settings.” When I visited the site on 3/20/2024 there was only one job listing.
• Five Colleges email list – Five Colleges is a consortium that encompasses Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I’m not sure about any more specifics for this email list. Is it for the member libraries? Alumni?
• GWLA – Greater Western Library Alliance “is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation chartered in Missouri with staff offices also located in Houston, TX and Morgantown, WV.”
• MARAC – The mid-Atlantic Regional Archvies Conference is an organization, not actually a conference: “MARAC is an association of individuals interested in the preservation and use of archival and historical research materials.”
• MetroNet Job Board – MetroNet is a regional association that maintains both a state-focused and a regionally focused job board. The regionally focused job board linked here serves all of the Midwest. They say, “We regularly check for library-related jobs in Minnesota and the greater Midwest area” so that seems to indicate they find listings as well as accepting requests to post from institutions. This seems to be unique! There is no charge for listing.
• MPLA – “The Mountain Plains Library Association (MPLA) is a twelve state association of librarians, library paraprofessionals and friends of libraries in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.” There is a $50 fee for listings outside the region, but otherwise they seem to be free.
• PNLA – I assume this is the Pacific Northwest Library Association, which “is the oldest regional library association in the United States and the only binational association in North America. Members come from Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and beyond”
• SLA New England – I had a problem getting to this organization’s website. My browser didn’t want to send me to one link I found, and the other gave me a message that it was “scheduled for deletion.”
• New England organizations – There are several and I’m not sure which the respondent is referring to. The State of Rhode Island provides this list:
  • ACRL New England Chapter (ACRL)
  • Connecticut Library Association (CLA)
  • Law Librarians of New England (LLNE)
  • Maine Library Association (MLA)
  • Massachusetts Library Association (MLA)
  • New England ADA & Accessible IT Center (NEADA)
  • New England Archivists (NEA)
  • New England Document Conservation Center (NEDCC)
  • New England Library Association (NELA)
  • New Hampshire Library Association (NHLA)
  • North Atlantic Health Sciences Libraries, Inc., a chapter of the Medical Library Association (NAHSL)
  • Vermont Library Association (VLA)
• Nor Cal HERC – the Northern California Higher Education Recruitment Consortium. You can “Browse thousands of available jobs in higher education in Northern California and Nevada and create email job alerts for your precise area of interest.” Member organizations post for free. HERC specifically mentions diversity and inclusion as a recruitment focus. If you’re interested in this kind of job board but not interested in the high cost of Northern California living, there are a bunch of other HERCs!
• ServingSchools.com – “an online job board providing schools, agencies and job seekers in Maine and New Hampshire a simple way to connect.”

National, International and Affinity-based Professional Member Organizations

Professional organizations were mentioned both generally, (i.e. “library organizations related to the job specialty”) and specifically. We talked a little bit about state and regional professional organizations above but there are of course also organizations that focus on a particular affinity or specialty within the profession.

As I’ve been writing this, I’ve been a bit surprised that so many organizations charge fees to post listings; I hadn’t realized they were so common and so large. What does this mean for job hunters? I think sometimes about the concept of green flags – things a job hunter can point to that might indicate a good workplace. Paying posting fees doesn’t seem like a strong green flag, but maybe a lighter, lime green one; it indicates that a fee-paying employer is both resourced and motivated to fill a position. Additionally, if an employer pays a fee to an association for librarians of color, it shows that they’re willing to put some resources toward EDI work. But of course the posting might be lip service, or just part of the normal way of doing things, and not indicate anything at all.

Specific National, International, Affinity, and Specialty Organization sites mentioned:

• ACL – There are a few regional associations this could be, but my guess is the Association of Christian Librarians, because in another answer the person says “Our university isn’t allowed to post on the ALA Joblist because we are a private religious institution.”
• ACRL/College Libraries section of ALA – I’m a little confused by this one because as far as I can tell, ACRL doesn’t have a specific job board – they want folks to use ALA JobLIST. And there isn’t a specific College Libraries section other than ACRL? Unless folks mean on ALA Connect? Happy to hear from academic folks who know more than I do
• AILA/American Indian Library Association – AILA has a listserv that will post job ads for a $100 fee. They also have a newsletter.
• ALA JobLIST I kind of think of this as the mother ship for national library job listings. It’s run on the YM Careers platform, which means there is a careers portal that links to general (as opposed to LIS specific) articles, research, and fee-based “premium services” such as resume writing and coaching. Fees start at $249 for employers to post a job listing, and the highest end package is $650 (non-members).
• APALA – Asian Pacific American Librarians Association has their own job board and career center. More info about the APALA Careers page is available in this Hiring Librarians profile. Like ALA JobLIST, it’s run on the YM Careers platform. Starting price is $299 for employers to post a listing.
• ARL – I think this one is the Association of Research Libraries, which is “a nonprofit membership organization of research libraries and archives in major public and private universities, federal government agencies, and large public institutions in Canada and the US”
• ARSL – my guess is the Association of Rural and Small Libraries
• Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services – Ok, the association is spelled out, but I don’t see an obvious “job listings.” They do have a listserv, which is maybe what they meant?
• BCALA/Black Caucus of ALA – BCALA’s job listings are on a careers page that is also on the YM Careers platform. Starting price is $399 to post a listing.
• certifiedarchivists.org/jobs – From the website, “The Academy of Certified Archivists, founded in 1989 at the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists, is an independent, nonprofit certifying organization of professional archivists.” Employers submit listings through a Google form. The form requires that the employer choose salary information from options of ranges or “commesurate with experience.”
• CLIR/DLF – the woman who runs this also sends out a weekly round-up email. In this email she sometimes also includes links or news that might be of interest to job hunters. Employers must include a minimum salary amount and support fair employment practices to list their jobs. Posting is free for members and $200 for non members.
• Code4Lib/Code4Lib jobs board – From the website, “code4lib is a niche within a niche: an international community of software developers, designers and architects who happen to work in the cultural heritage sector (libraries, archives, museums, galleries, etc). There are a lot of esoteric tools, projects and people to know. The idea is that this job board can help people get an idea of what kinds of skills and experience are useful to acquire.”
• CONUL website – This is the consortium of National and University libraries in Ireland. There was only one job on the page when I looked in March 2024. Senior job opportunities can also be included in the newsletter. Included here because it’s national, although maybe it should have been under consortia? That distinction grows increasingly fuzzy.
• IFLA – the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions has run a “Library and Information Science jobs mailing list Since 1995.” Employers do not have to subscribe to post.
• Library Publishing Coalition Job Board – “The LPC maintains a list of jobs that incorporate library publishing roles. To be included in this list, the position must be located administratively in a library, or report directly to a library-based supervisor.” Cursory noodling around on the website did not immediately uncover how an organization might submit a listing for inclusion. The organization itself works toward “a scholarly publishing landscape that is open, inclusive, and sustainable.” Membership includes many universities, primarily US-based.
• Metadata Librarians – I actually think they might be referring to the Troublesome Catalogers and Magical Metadata Fairies Facebook group but it’s also possible they mean the discussion board for CORE’s Metadata Interest Group on ALA Connect
• NCPH – “The NCPH Jobs listing is a free service our organization provides to the public history profession.” Postings must include salary and it must meet the organization’s standards of ethical compensation.
• Partnership Job Board – I understand this to be the Canadian mothership, for LIS job postings. “The Job Board was developed and is managed by the British Columbia Library Association to support members of The Partnership, Canada’s national network of provincial and territorial library associations.” There is a fee of $66 Canadian for employers to post jobs.
• RBMS website and listserv – Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). They do not seem to charge for listings.
• REFORMA – “The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking.” Posting is free for REFORMA members and $50 for non-members.
• regional ACRL job listserv.
• RIMPA – “RIMPA is a leading organisation that represents Records and Information Management Practitioners worldwide.” Their careers page includes links to mentoring, scholarships, and information for emerging practitioners. Members can post jobs for free, non-members pay $280.
• SAA (announcements/job board/listserv/section FB groups) – Respondents mentioned different avenues under the Society of American Archivists. Prices start at $189 to post on the website. In addition to listings, the SAA has a Career Services Commons run by their Career Development subcomittee. It offers career counseling, mock interviews, and resume/cover letter review. It looks like it’s free for members (and maybe non-members too).
• SLA – Special Library Association. Another YM Careers site, although there is some industry-specific Careers information on the Career Center landing page. Prices start at $199 for posting.
• Spectrum Scholars
• We Here/ We Here FB group – “We Here®️ seeks to provide a safe and supportive community for Black and Indigenous folks, and People of Color (BIPOC) in library and information science (LIS) professions and educational programs.” The We Here job board is for members only. Listings cost $50 and reach 4,000 subscribers.

Listservs/Discussion Boards

I have a fondness for listservs and am still kind of sad that ALA Connect rounded up and shot superseded so many of them. And now that Twitter is fatally contaminated with terribleness, and blogs are really just a feeble gasp of the past, I mourn the loss of online library discourse in general.

That being said, listservs are not dead yet. They seem to be kept alive by technical services folks in particular.

Listservs and Discussion Boards Mentioned by Name:

• Autocat – Good old Autocat! Autocat is a listserv for cataloging and authority control. They say that “General announcements such as Courses, Conferences, Jobs, Surveys, freely available Articles, etc. can be shared at will.” It’s been around for at least a decade, probably a lot more. If anyone can point me to a concise history of the Autocat listserv, I would certainly read it.
• Code4Lib/Code4Lib jobs board – From the website, “code4lib is a niche within a niche: an international community of software developers, designers and architects who happen to work in the cultural heritage sector (libraries, archives, museums, galleries, etc). There are a lot of esoteric tools, projects and people to know. The idea is that this job board can help people get an idea of what kinds of skills and experience are useful to acquire.”
• Diversity-L – I found this list of listservs on REFORMA. The list is of unknown age, but it includes “divers-l@psuvm.psu.edu- Diversity librarians” which looks like a Penn State listserv. I can’t find other confirmation of the location of this list.
• GAY-LIBN-L – I found a few posts from the 90s that mention the creation of a new list at GAY-LIBN@VM.USC.EDU . So, at one point this was administered by USC. I can’t find the current location of this list (although it may still be at USC).
• IDS list – I think this is maybe an Interlibrary Delivery Service list somewhere? I doubt it’s interior designers.
• listserv for central Texas librarians – not sure what this is specifically referring to but I did come across the TexShare mailing list which is “available to help disseminate important information and provide a forum for discussion. The list is for use by librarians and staff at TexShare member institutions.” TexShare seems to be statewide.
• OCLC-ILL list – OCLC still maintains a number of listservs. This one is “A discussion forum for all topics related to resource sharing among libraries.”
• PUBLIB – I remember when PUBLIB used to get pretty raucous. I think it’s more subdued nowadays. It is for “discussion of issues relating to public librarianship.” Maintained by WebJunction.
• Radcat – another cataloging listserv, this one for radical catalogers, who are interested in social and ethical issues in cataloging. I had no idea there was a book! This listserv is maintained by the University of Georgia.
• RapidILL list – I maybe shoulda put this one under vendor user groups. This is a listserv for users of exLibris’ RapidILL, “a fast and cost-effective interlibrary loan tailored for article and book chapter requests”

Government Listings

These are the two main platforms for local and federal government jobs. This post is already huge, so I’m not going to do a deeper dive into the nuances here.

• gov jobs.com – for local government jobs. This is a product of NEOGOV. Prices vary from $199 for a single post, to an unspecified amount for unlimited posts.
• USA Jobs – Run by and for the Federal government.

LIS Schools

Many LIS Schools maintain listservs or job boards. They may be available to current students, alumni, the general public or some combination of the three.

Hilary Kraus has created a wonderful spreadsheet that lists the ALA accredited library schools, their career center or job posting site, and notes about requirements, alternatives, etc. Many schools use Handshake as their career center platform.

LIS Schools Mentioned by Name:

• LIS Schools – Simmons Jobline
• LIS Schools – sjsu and other college job boards
• LIS Schools – Toronto iSchool Job board
• LIS Schools – University of Iowa’s SLIS listserv
• LIS Schools – Western University Job board

Independent Sites

These sites include LIS-focused sites run as passion projects (e.g. ArchivesGig) as well as for-profit sites like Glass Door.

• ArchivesGig – Meredith Lowe has been collecting and posting archives jobs for over a decade. Her site has been profiled on Hiring Librarians and Meredith was a guest on the Hiring Librarians podcast.
• libraryjobs.ie “The site is owned and managed by Margaret Irons, a librarian with over 20 years experience in third level, medical, academic and specialist libraries.”
• Chronicle of Higher Education, Chronicle, Chronicle.com, CHE – A basic job posting starts at $435. Its free to browse jobs.
• DiversityJobs.com – Not LIS or academic specific. Postings start at $295. “When you post a job with DiversityJobs, powered by Circa, we will share your job with our community of hundreds of sites targeting active job seekers to bring the right candidate directly to you. This includes dedicated niche sites for people who identify as Black and African-American, Asian, Hispanic and Latinx, Native and Indigenous, women, military veterans, individuals with disabilities, older workers and LGBTQIA+”
• Glass Door – I know this site primarily as a place to review and read reviews of potential employers but they also have job listings. Not LIS specific.
• HigherEdJobs – Job postings start at $370.
• HERC – I talk about this a bit earlier in the post. Higher Education Recruitment Consortium. Single postings start at $400.
• HotJobs – not sure what this person is referring to, but maybe it’s hotjobs.vet? hotjobs.com is now Monster…
• Idealist.org – Pricing for nonprofits and government agencies starts at $125. They are currently running a salary survey of nonprofit workers.
• INALJ – a one-stop shop for LIS jobs all over the US and abroad. Free listings appear once in the daily PDF, sponsored listings start at $20/day. Other listings are gathered by Naomi House, who runs the site, or submitted by job hunters like you.
• Indeed.com – Respondents noted a lot of caveats for this site such as “sometimes,” “for certain jobs,” “for non-professional jobs,” and “not my choice.” This was also a site that came up when folks were asked if there was a source that seemed to generate lower quality applications.
• Inside Higher Ed
• jobs.ac.uk – According to the site it is “the leading international job board for academic, research, scientific, and professional careers.” It is free to find jobs (and you can sign up to be sent regular emails. Listing jobs ranges from £255-£455.
• LibGig – run by the recruiters LAC group.
• Libjobs – For “Corporate employers as well as Public, Academic, Private and K-12 libraries.” Postings start at $100 for $30 days. Located in Canada. Maybe run by WebClarity software? Or run on that software?
• LibraryJobMate.com – I believe this site is no longer in business. The URL does not seem to be maintained, and the Facebook and Twitter profiles have last posted in 2022.
• We Hire – “A leading IT Recruitment company, WeHire IT Recruitment Company provides rich quality recruitment solutions to IT / Technology Service Providers, Companies and Outsourcers.” This is a recruitment company. I didn’t see a publicly accessible job board.
• YMCA Job Board – I found plenty of jobs at the Y, but I didn’t find a YMCA job board for non-YMCA jobs
• . Maybe this is a regional thing?

Uncategorized Mysteries and Mistakes

• MLC listserv – I am not sure what this is.
• http://libraryjuicepress.com/librariansofcolor.php – not a job site, but it looks like an interesting book!
• “S&S to advertise in professional listservs and social media” – I believe this person is talking about Library Systems & Services, the for-profit system that manages municipal libraries for cities that don’t want to pay union workers cities that are into that kind of thing. I’m not sure about what they mean with the “to advertise in professional listservs and social media” part. Maybe S&S has a central listserv and social media job posting person?
• Workday – Workday is an HR platform, so presumably this runs the job listings for the person who wrote it down. But it isn’t a job board per se. Although this is a long post and I’m tired, so I am prepared to be mistaken.

This survey is still open. If you are someone who hires library or LIS workers and you’d like to take it, click here.

Up next in stats posts:

I’m hoping to return to the survey All About Cover Letters (which is still open, if you want to take it). This was a unique survey in that I never posted responses on the site. Instead, the spreadsheet of responses is available for anyone to look through. There were a number of closed ended questions that would be interesting to look at as a whole.

https://hiringlibrarians.com/2024/05/24/stats-and-graphs-where-we-post-our-jobs/

#jobhunting #Librarian #librarians #libraries #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs

Please note: this is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling hiring practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest. If you are someone who hires Library, Archives or other LIS workers, please consider giving your own opinion by filling out the survey here. 

This anonymous interview is with someone who hires for a:

√ Public Library 

Title: Librarian Supervisor

Titles hired include: Librarian

Who makes hiring decisions at your organization:

√ The position’s supervisor 

Which of the following does your organization regularly require of candidates?

√ Online application

√ Cover letter

√ Resume 

√ Proof of degree 

√ More than one round of interviews 

Does your organization use automated application screening? 

√ No 

Briefly describe the hiring process at your organization and your role in it:

HR posts and distributes a job posting and shares all applications with the hiring committee, who chooses the candidates HR calls for an initial screening to confirm continued interest. Final interviews are held by a hiring committee that includes the position’s supervisor and the unit’s manager.

Think about the last candidate who really wowed you, on paper, in an interview, or otherwise. Why were they so impressive?

The candidate’s resume showed they had performed similar duties for a similar population and also showed they understood the nature of the role and made a persuasive argument for why they would be a good fit for the role.

Do you have any instant dealbreakers?

Lacking the legally required master’s degree in library science. Submitting resumes and cover letters that clearly are aimed at a different position (for instance, archivist or young adult specialist).

What do you wish you could know about candidates that isn’t generally revealed in the hiring process?

Their level of interest in the role — surprisingly, most candidates don’t express curiosity about the role, don’t ask questions, and don’t make a persuasive argument that the specifics of the role are appealing to them.

How many pages should each of these documents be?

Cover Letter: √ Only One!  

Resume: √ As many as it takes, but keep it reasonable and relevant 

CV: √ We don’t ask for this  

What is the most common mistake that people make in an interview?

Failing to make a case for themselves, by articulating a persuasive argument that they are a good fit for the role. Failing to ask questions that demonstrate they have a genuine interest in the details of the role.

Do you conduct virtual interviews? What do job hunters need to know about shining in this setting?

No

How can candidates looking to transition from paraprofessional work, from non-library work, or between library types convince you that their experience is relevant? Or do you have other advice for folks in this kind of situation?

A candidate can persuade us by providing specific examples of instances where they have performed similar duties, for a similar audience, in a similar setting.

When does your organization *first* mention salary information?

√ It’s part of the job ad 

What does your organization do to reduce bias in hiring? What are the contexts in which discrimination still exists in this process?

The hiring committee doesn’t see any demographic information about candidates.

What questions should candidates ask you? What is important for them to know about your organization and the position you are hiring for?

Candidates should be willing to ask for clarification about the role to demonstrate what they understand and don’t understand about it and to express curiosity about the role. 

Additional Demographics

What part of the world are you in?

√ Northeastern US 

What’s your region like?

√ Urban 

Is your workplace remote/virtual?

√ Other: All librarian work is required to be performed on-site, even virtual programs.

How many staff members are at your organization?

√ 201+ 

Is there anything else you’d like to say, either to job hunters or to me, the survey author? 

Candidates should tailor their materials to the specifics of the role, to show they are a good match.

Hey, thanks for reading! If you like reading, why not try commenting or sharing? 

https://hiringlibrarians.com/2024/04/29/all-librarian-work-is-required-to-be-performed-on-site-even-virtual-programs/

#Librarian #librarians #libraries #libraryCareers #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs

Hey a study! I was recently asked to share the following:

Are you a librarian who has taken a break of six months or longer before returning to librarianship?
#Libraries #Librarians #LibraryCareers #LibraryJobs 📚 📜

Library vacancy at Chatham House in London for an enthusiastic and experienced librarian who enjoys working with people, systems and a whole range of other tasks in this busy special library.

Read full job description here:
https://careers.chathamhouse.org/jobs/3585648-librarian

#LISjobs #LibraryJobs #Libraries #LibraryCareers

(this is a rejigging of my former role but feel free to ask me about it!)