[Publib] RE: Best Library MA Program?

[Julie Bauer]

If you really like that sort of thing, Jesse, you
should consider a career path outside of public
libraries.  For example, large news organizations
employ librarians who have to provide background
information for breaking news stories -- although much
of their time is spent on more mundane tasks.  (But
all jobs are like that really.)



--- Jesse Ephraim <JEphraim at ci.southlake.tx.us> wrote:

> >However, my dream has always been to one day be a
> reference 
> >librarian--like the people at the NYPL who get
> calls from all over 
> >the world and need to answer the question within 5
> minutes. I do not 
> >envision being able to fill that role for the next
> 10 years, however 
> >I would like to be prepared for it.
> 
> Reference work is fun, but in most libraries the
> situation is not the
> same as the one you describe at NYPL.  I get 5 or
> fewer actual reference
> research questions a day, sometimes even less than
> that.  I spend most
> of the time helping patrons with computers or
> working on special
> projects.  From what I have seen at other libraries,
> this isn't an
> unusual situation, especially since many patrons
> turn to Google before
> talking to a librarian.
> 
> I'm not trying to discourage you from becoming one
> (far from it), but
> just wanted to make sure that you realize that
> patrons don't ask as many
> reference questions today as they did a decade or
> more ago.
> 
> Jesse Ephraim
> 
> Adult Services Librarian
> Southlake Public Library
> 1400 Main Street, Suite 130
> Southlake, TX  76092
> (817) 748-8247
> jephraim at ci.southlake.tx.us
> 
> "A circulating library in a town is as an evergreen
> tree of diabolical
> knowledge."
>      - Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) 
> 
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Julie Bauer
Collection Development Librarian
Loudoun County Public Library
Leesburg, Virginia