Naomi House

Naomi House, MLIS, is the founder and publisher of the popular webzine and jobs list INALJ.com (formerly I Need a Library Job) and former CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of T160K.org, a crowdfunding platform focused on African patrimony, heritage and cultural projects. INALJ was founded in October 2010 with the assistance of her fellow Rutgers classmate, Elizabeth Leonard. Its social media presence has grown to include Facebook (retired in 2016), Twitter and a LinkedIn group, in addition to the interviews, articles and jobs found on INALJ. INALJ has had over 21 Million page hits and helped many, many thousands of librarians find employment! Through grassroots marketing, word of mouth and a real focus on exploring unconventional resources for job leads, INALJ grew from a subscription base of 20 friends to a website with over 500,000 visits in one month. Naomi believes that well-sourced quantity is quality in this narrow job market and INALJ reflects this with many new jobs published daily. She has also written for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 LexisNexis Government Info Pro and many other publications in the past decade. She presents whenever she can, including serving on three panels at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Las Vegas; as breakout presenter at OCLC EMEA in Cape Town, South Africa; as a keynote speaker at the Virginia Library Association annual meeting; at the National Press Club in Washington DC; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; the University of the Emirates, Dubai, MLIS program and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Naomi was a Reference, Marketing and Acquisitions Librarian for a contractor at a federal library outside Washington, DC, and has been living and working in Budapest, Hungary and Western New York State. She spent years running her husband’s moving labor website, fixed and sold old houses and assisted her husband cooking delicious Pakistani food. She is preparing to re-enter the workforce and is job hunting. Her husband is now the co-editor of INALJ, a true support!  She has heard of spare time but hasn’t encountered it lately. She pronounces INALJ as eye-na-elle-jay.

Taking the Road Less Traveled

by Karly Szczepkowski Taking the Road Less Traveled I was always drawn to the non-traditional aspects of our profession. For me, it was never about working in a building with the letter L on it or in a position with L in the job title. No, for me, it was about using those L skills:…

Keeping Current: Low-Cost Professional Development, May Edition

by Adrith Bedore Bicchieri, Head Editor, INALJ Nevada Keeping Current: Low-Cost Professional Development Opportunities in May May is a busy month for many people. If you find yourself with an extra hour, you may be interested in one or more of these free webinars: Extending Access to E-books for Public Libraries: New Strategies, hosted by…

Thinking of Vivian

My former supervisor at the Georgetown Law Library, Wolff International Library, Vivian Villasenor recently lost her battle with cancer.   This is a devastating loss for her family and for her friends and former colleagues.  Vivian only retired a few years ago and I was lucky enough to be able to attend her going away party…

On Thinking Outside the Box

by Fallon Bleich, Head Editor, INALJ Oklahoma On Thinking Outside the Box Now, obviously, as librarians, we all love books and libraries, but many of us also get very specific with our career paths. I can’t tell you how many fellow MLIS students start their intro posts in each class with “I’m getting this degree…

The “Do You Have Any Questions?” Question

by Ashley Crace, Head Editor, INALJ West Virginia The “Do You Have Any Questions?” Question A common piece of interview advice is to prepare questions for the inevitable moment when the interviewer asks, “Do you have any questions for us?”.  Asking questions sounds good in theory, yet it becomes more difficult in practice.  As an…

Professional Associations for Canadian LIS Professionals

by Lauren Bourdages, Head Editor, INALJ Ontario Professional Associations for Canadian LIS Professionals Professional Associations (PAs) are something we’ve all heard about, if only in that we’ve heard about the American Library Association (ALA) because of the fact that all MLIS programs in North America have to be accredited by them. PAs aren’t just about…

Desk Yoga: Job searching & stretching

by Melanie Masserant, Head Editor, INALJ NYC Desk Yoga: Job searching & stretching (Simple stretches to sooth the seated body) How many hours are you seated at your desk every day on average? The total of hours spent searching, online networking, and resume tailoring is a modern-day desk sentence for job seekers. Since our bodies…

5 Basic Tips for Doing Well in the Interview

by Sean O’Brien, Head Editor, INALJ Colorado 5 Basic Tips for Doing Well in the Interview So you got the interview!  Congratulations!  But now, you realize, you still have to get through the scariest part; the interview.  But hey, don’t worry, we’re here this month to give you a few basic tips that will help…

Library Superstar Dream Jobs

by Emily Guier, Head Editor, INALJ Wyoming Library Superstar Dream Jobs Often, I’ll see a news story about a cool space and know that a librarian is the unsung superstar. That’s right, I said superstar. The following is a list of some dream jobs: 1)      GM Heritage Center, http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/about-gm-heritage-center/. I heard about this archive on…

Opt In

by Africa Hands, Head Editor, INALJ Kentucky Opt In Guess what friends? It may not seem like it, but you are in charge of your career, personal development, and advancement. The career website Careerealism has a tagline, Because Every Job is Temporary. Sure it’s somewhat disconcerting, but these days it’s true. You can’t rely on…

The Buddy System

by Caitlin Moen, Head Editor, INALJ Louisiana The Buddy System Job hunting is exhausting. Job hunting is life-consuming. Job hunting can eat up your entire identity until you cannot think or talk about anything else. And here’s a hint: your friends and family will get sick of hearing about that awesome job you hope will…

Give a little, receive so much! Donate to INALJ

INALJ mini-pledge drive Hi Everyone! If you are a regular INALJ.com visitor you’ll know that I don’t ask for donations very often.  The last time would have been sometime last year.  I can’t even remember when.  This is an entirely volunteer project so all hosting and costs come out of my pocket.  Even a small…

Frequently Asked Interview Questions

by Stephanie Altbier, MSLS, ERMp I recently had a job interview where the interview panel asked several personality questions. Here are my suggestions for how to answer the questions. “What is your hobby?” Give a professional response by talking about your volunteering activities and how you grow your professional skills. “What would your supervisor say…

Matt Berlyant …Success Story

This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions My interview with success story Matt (from 2012) Naomi: How did you find your current job? Matt: I found my current job via the job board of the iSchool at Drexel University. Note that I…

Career Counselor

Career Counselor by Kelly Quaye I just returned from the ALA Midwinter Meeting (this was 2012) so my mind is still abuzz with the many great programs and services on offer.  Did you know that ALA has a Conference Placement Service where you can meet with a professional career counselor during conference?  I highly recommend…

Susanne Markgren of LISJobs Career Q&A …In Six

This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions My interview with Susanne of LISJobs Career Q&A Naomi: What made you interested in starting your online Career Q&A? Susanne: Career Q&A with the Library Career People began as a column in the online newsletter…

IWALJ – I Want A Library Job by Qraig De Groot

Here’s the sad fact – I’ve been looking for a meaningful and rewarding job since graduating college…in 1993. Now, I don’t mention that as a scare tactic or to imply that I haven’t worked at all since 1993. Quite the contrary. I’ve held down numerous positions in many exciting and interesting fields. Sadly, some never…

On Finding Stealth Library Jobs (must read)

I was happy to find a posting on finding outside the box or stealth library jobs.  ALAJobList originally shared the link and I re-shared it 🙂 Written by Holly the Librarian, Stealth Library Jobs, covers a very important topic, jobs that are perfect for librarians posted employers who don’t know they need us (librarians) for…

R. David Lankes …In Six

This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions I discovered R. David Lankes wonderful Virtual Dave…Real Blog through The Unquiet Librarian’s blog.  From 1/3/2012 Naomi: What is your dream job and why? R. David: Honestly, I have my dream job. As a professor I…

The Road Less Traveled By Chelsea Jordan-Makely

The Road Less Traveled (Postcards from a Library Job Seeker) By Chelsea Jordan-Makely reposted from 9/26/2012 It has been a busy month. Less than four weeks ago, I resigned from two library jobs I adored, received my MLIS, and moved to Oregon with my husband, who accepted a faculty position at a small university here.…

Thank You Notes = Ace in Hand

by Julie Watson, Head Editor, INALJ Pennsylvania Think thank you notes are just for your grandmother? Think again. According to a 2011 CareerBuilder survey, 22 % of hiring managers say that thank you notes matter. Why do they matter? Neglecting to thank your interviewers shows a lack of follow-through and sends the message that you…