[Publib] RE: Employement laments

[John Leonard]

Theyer, Hillary wrote:

> I can share the wisdom my advisor shared with us when my class entered 
> library school in 1992 and asked if we were about to make the biggest, 
> most expensive career error of our lives.  She said public libraries 
> swung on a pendulum, and the jobs would swing back.  My first four 
> years of MLS employement were at the "39 hours a week as hourly with 
> no benefits technically called an on-call but worked as if full time" 
> rate - but I soaked up everything I could and learned a ton that made 
> me a viable candidate when the full time with benefits opportunites 
> came again.   Three years later I was sitting having breakfast with my 
> boss at ALA and she was lamenting that a children's librarian could 
> basically name their price, she was so hungry for good ones.  I has 
> the good fortune to be able to afford to wait, but I know people now 
> who are working part-time in libraries, part time in other 
> organizations, learning all they can so they can pounce on the right 
> opportunity when it comes up.  No laments, just charge in and love the 
> job.  if you don't love it, that's another story ...
>  
> Hillary Theyer

Absolutely. Fortunately, I love it, much more so than publishing and 
journalism, which were supposed to be "in my blood" since my parents 
both came from those industries. I only work three hours a week on the 
children's desk right now, but damn if it isn't some of the most 
valuable three hours I'll ever spend...
JL

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