The (Pregnant) Elephant in the Room by Jen Park My husband and I had tried for a long time to have a baby. When I finally became pregnant I was in my last term of library school. I was thrilled and very, very nervous about applying for positions. Although I was working part-time in a…
by Ashley Mancill previously published 10/25/13 & 10/30/14 Green Spaces: 6 Structures Repurposed as Libraries I have a thing for repurposed buildings. One of my favorites is a pizza place in Pensacola that is located in the basement of an old hospital, supposedly where the morgue used to be. Eeriness aside, it actually has a…
Amber Clement: My Superior Librarian by Kevin Alexander I am very proud of my fiancée, Amber Clement. She grew up in the Upper Peninsula on the shores of Lake Superior near a small city which boasts the Soo Locks, with accessibility to Soo, Canada, the Mackinac Bridge and other amenities of wildlife and nature. She grew…
by Rachael Altman previously published 3/4/14 Thinking about making a career transition? Highlight your transferable skills. I enjoy a good challenge and I like to learn something new every day so I recently inquired about making a transition from an academic library job to a research position in a corporate or legal environment. I received many useful,…
by Claire Schmieder, Volunteer Manager previously published 8/5/14 You Worry About You (Taking Charge of My Narrative) Both of my boys had the same wonderful Kindergarten teacher. Like most educators, she has tons of bite-sized bits of knowledge for her students. Occassionally, I would end up applying those bits to my own life and one in particular…
by Sarah Roark Schott, former Head Editor, INALJ Arizona previously published 2/26/14 A Few Tips for Transitioning into the Private Sector In October I accepted a position as an Aircraft Records Analyst with a company based in Oregon. I applied for the job on a whim because it looked interesting, it was in the town I wanted to…
by Alexis Rohlfing, former Head Editor, INALJ New Hampshire previously published 1/14/14 The Door closed and a window opened WHERE? Making the most of any opportunity As one year winds down and another starts, this is usually the time that people pause and take stock of themselves, and create a set of New Year’s resolutions.…
My Husband: The Linebacker Librarian by Jaclyn Butz Jesse Butz is 6’2, 365 pounds and looks like a football linebacker. Once, forever ago, he DID play football, but that was many years and a broken back ago…now he’s a librarian. When people walk up to the reference desk at the public library where he works,…
Appreciating Your Staff: It’s Not All Fun, Games and Parties by Laura Birkenhauer This month, I was thrilled to be appointed head of the Staff Appreciation Committee at my library. Planning parties? Thanking awesome staff? Totally up my alley. My first thought after the initial excitement? “Wait… I’m the head of the Party Planning Committee.…
By Karly Szczepkowski previously published 7/17/13 & 7/29/14 How I Found My Job: Moving On From Disappointment (and finding success!) After some time working as a Business Researcher I realized I was ready to move on. One of my LinkedIn connections recently posted a job to her newsfeed so I applied. My connection was the…
12.5 million page views! What a great month! July was such an amazing month at INALJ! It was the one year anniversary of my most popular personal blog post ever, Why I Quit My Library Job and Why I No Longer Want One. My how time flies. It was also the end of an INALJ era…
Ask a Special Librarian – July Edition What to Do With That Stack of Business Cards: Tips for Post-Conference Networking Tracy Z. Maleeff Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia @LibrarySherpa & LibrarySherpa.com Joshua LaPorte Law Library Assistant – University of Connecticut @joshualaporte & https://www.youtube.com/user/JoshuaLaPorte In this installment of “Ask a Special Librarian,”…
by Naomi House, MLIS Why We Should Banish Business Suits for Interviews When I graduated from high school back in 1995 I had no idea just how different college was going to be, especially the costs. We were rural and poor to lower middle class growing up, though lower middle class might be a stretch. …
Heidi Taylor-Caudill, former Head Editor, INALJ Kentucky previously published 5/13/14 Four Things I Wish I Had Done in Library School Next week, I’m graduating with an MSLS from the University of Kentucky’s School of Library and Information Science. As with any milestone, one has a chance to reflect on successes and failures, things done right, and things that…
by Claire Schmieder, Volunteer Manager Previously published 11/11/14 The Job Hunter’s Guide to Positivity Just about one year ago, I started working at my current job. Hooray! This upcoming anniversary has gotten me reflecting on the time BEFORE I started working, when I was a verging-on-desperate job hunter. After I earned my MLIS, I spent nearly…
by Naomi House, MLIS How To Suck At Volunteering Surprise! This is not really and truly a list of how to suck at volunteering! I could have just as easily called it How to be Great at Volunteering. So why the negative slant in the title? Because I have been a bad volunteer and I learned more…
Flexibility in job hunting means considering part-time positions by Crystal Bauer, INALJ Missouri A few months ago I was approaching graduation from my MLS program. As excited as I was at the prospect of graduating, in the back of my mind, I began dreading the job search within the library field. Having volunteered as an…
Wanted: The Next Librarian of Congress by Andy Woodworth The next Librarian of Congress will be the most important job placement in our career lifetimes. Originally, I had written “may be” instead of “will be” because I thought the latter would be a bit hyperbolic. Upon further reflection, I made the decision to remove any…
by Sarah Porter, former Head Editor, INALJ California previously published 12/17/13 Over Prepare Then Go with the Flow Yesterday I opened a fortune cookie with ideal advice for someone prepping for a job interview. It read: “over prepare then go with the flow”. I am actively seeking jobs and interviewing, as I am relocating to…
by Naomi House, MLIS So grateful for another peaceful, uneventful Ramadan for my husband, Sana! It was hot here in New Orleans but we are lucky this year to be in a finished home, with AC and fans. May everyone’s Eid be blessed and here is to another year!
by Naomi House, MLIS Bloggers Desired INALJ.com is a platform for anyone in the LIS spheres, whether they are students, patrons, staff, or in tangential fields. Our main goal and focus is finding and sharing jobs on the Jobs pages, however the blog posts have been nearly as popular over the past few years. Until…
Library Bucket List: On loving all libraries by Jen Li, INALJ Contributor I have a ‘library bucket list’. Although my PhD research focuses on three case study libraries in Sydney, my reading and travels have taken me beyond Sydney and those three libraries. I have a mental list of libraries that I would like to…
by Alphild Dick, former Head Editor, INALJ Washington previously published 6/9/14 You and Me and Library Makes Three: Negotiating Dual-Career Households When I started library school, I was under few illusions that finding the traditional librarian position that I wanted would be easy. And time consuming. And frustrating. It was the reality of pursuing work that I was…
by Rebekah Kati, former Head Editor, INALJ North Carolina previously published 6/5/14 Secrets of a Tech Therapist My previous job was the Information Technology Librarian for an online university. One of the most difficult aspects of this job was helping patrons troubleshoot technical problems with the online databases. At times, I felt like a therapist as I listened…
by Naomi House, MLIS How INALJ Can Help You Get a Job Our extensive jobs lists for the US, Canada and a few virtual & international jobs (6000-9000+ jobs a month) Our advice in articles & blog posts Sponsored jobs Tweets & Facebook posts Private LinkedIn group advice Yup, that about covers it! INALJ, one…