[Publib] From the children's area to the admin offices?

[AMMON, BETTE]

As a former children's and young adult librarian, I would say this is
indeed a myth. While I never thought I wanted to be an administrator, it
seems this was a good move for me. I've been a library director (at 2
different libraries) for the past 9 years and I am doing fine!

Bette Ammon, director
Coeur d'Alene Public Library
Coeur d'Alene, ID
bammon at cdalibrary.org

-----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Maureen K
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 5:07 PM
To: Pub_Lib
Subject: [Publib] From the children's area to the admin offices?

Hi everyone

The recent post about starting out as a children's librarian and getting

into administration got me thinking.

With the ink barely dry on my diploma, I'll be starting my new job on
the 
10th, as a children's librarian. One thing that both my professors and
my 
future bosses seem anxious to assure me of is that the myth that
children's 
librarians never get anywhere is just that, a myth, and that
administrators 
or managers are just as likely to come from children's/YA backgrounds as

reference.

That's good to hear, except that I never heard that myth before they
started 
disavowing it. I actually did an internship in the administration
offices of 
this city's library, and many of the administrators and branch managers
I 
knew had a background in children's librarianship. My theory has always
been 
that they make great administrators because anyone working with children

learns how to roll with the punches and think on their feet (if I may
dip 
into my cliche thesaurus), even more so than any librarian working with
the 
public.

So my question is, how conventional is this wisdom, that children's 
librarians never "get ahead"? And does anyone see any truth in it?

Maureen

"You see, I don't believe that libraries should be drab places where
people 
sit in silence, and that's been the main reason for our policy of
employing 
wild animals as librarians."
-- Monty Python

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