{"id":60311,"date":"2014-02-06T12:00:08","date_gmt":"2014-02-06T17:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=60311"},"modified":"2014-02-06T17:22:20","modified_gmt":"2014-02-06T22:22:20","slug":"the-skinny-on-cruise-ship-librarianship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=60311","title":{"rendered":"The Skinny on Cruise Ship Librarianship"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Rebecca Vogler, Head Editor, INALJ Nevada<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Skinny on Cruise Ship Librarianship<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"rebeccavogler\"<\/a>If you\u2019ve been around INALJ.com<\/a> since the beginning of last year, you may remember a couple of Success Stories that were written about newly minted MLIS graduates going to work as a cruise ship librarian.\u00a0 One was written about me<\/a>.\u00a0 That article, plus a couple of comments on LinkedIn, brought me in contact with far more people who were interested in cruise ship librarianship than I ever imagined.\u00a0 For many, it\u2019s a dream job!\u00a0 So many romanticize the position (and, yes, it does have its perks), but I also wanted to give a truthful account of what work on a cruise ship really is like.\u00a0 Here are the 10 things you didn\u2019t know about being a cruise ship librarian.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You are an officer on a ship.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

That means you are responsible to attend all drills.\u00a0 Some drills just last a few minutes and only entail gathering in one location with other people in your team to time how fast you get there, respond to whatever instructions are given, and then you\u2019re let go.\u00a0 Some are a lot longer, and involve getting your life vest and gathering at your life raft station on the outside decks.\u00a0 You\u2019re also expected to give all respect to the captain and other higher-up officers.\u00a0 When they say jump, you ask how high!\u00a0 It\u2019s a little like being a real navy.\u00a0 You\u2019re on a ship, in the middle of the ocean, so knowing what to do in an emergency is paramount.\u00a0 This can cut into fun time since most drills occur when the ship is docked, so know your drill schedule and make sure you don\u2019t leave the ship until it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>You have a Master\u2019s Degree?\u00a0 No one cares!<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The cruise line I worked for is one of only two that I know of that employs full time librarians.\u00a0 Up until recently, they often employed someone in the entertainment cast or an officer\u2019s wife to run the library.\u00a0 Now that they have started hiring more of us professional librarians, their solution is to put the librarian in a room with another employee (often someone in the youth department).\u00a0 The issue I had with this is that other people on my team (the DJ, the Travel Guide, the Piano Bar guy, the Lifestylist, et cetera) all had their own room, which was often twice the size of the one I shared.\u00a0 Speaking of which\u2026.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>Pray your roommate doesn\u2019t snore<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

You share a teeny little room with bunk beds and a bathroom no bigger than a closet.\u00a0 My room constantly had issues with the toilet not flushing correctly, but I heard of my neighboring co-workers with problems ranging from no heat, no air, and no hot water as well.\u00a0 Granted, my ship was the oldest in the fleet, so maybe those who are lucky enough to get contracts are newer ships didn\u2019t have that issue.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>Cruise ships are still stuck in 1996<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Cruise ships use satellite communications to provide internet access, which means when you\u2019re out in the middle of the ocean, the internet is slower than dial-up.\u00a0 Often, the internet will go down for minutes, hours, sometimes even a couple of days.\u00a0 It\u2019s also freaking expensive for guests and employees to access.\u00a0 As an employee you do get 200 minutes for $40, but it costs around $100 for the same amount of minutes for guests.\u00a0 If a guest does not a computer onboard, he or she can use ones provided in the library.\u00a0 Therefore, get ready to have to deal with tons of guests coming to you to complain about the speed, the price, or both.\u00a0 Luckily, each ship also has an internet manager who is based in the library, so you can always refer the guest to the internet manager.\u00a0 However, I hear rumors that my company may be getting rid of internet managers, which will leave all of the work to the librarian.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>Apparently, librarians know everything<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

As the librarian, you are often seen as the most knowledgeable person on the ship.\u00a0 Despite having a future cruise consultant, a travel guide, a person trained to teach guests computer know-how, and concierges, guests will make a beeline to you to ask you every question under the sun about ships, travel destinations, and every trivial piece of information known to man.\u00a0 They assume you either immediately know the answer, can look it up on the internet, or have a book that answers the question.\u00a0 You don\u2019t.\u00a0 There\u2019s no encyclopedia set.\u00a0 Your computer only has e-mail and company intranet access, no free access to the outside interwebs.\u00a0 No Wikipedia to save you.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>There\u2019s a reason why returning cruise ship librarians end up sleeping for a week straight after a contract<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

You will work every single day with not one day off for 6 months straight, unless you\u2019re lucky enough to get the norovirus, gastrointestinal illness, or just present the symptoms of the sort.\u00a0 Then you\u2019ll get to spend at least 24-48 hours in isolation while your library becomes ransacked.\u00a0 Coming back to a million books checked in and piled up in your storage closet is a whole lot of NO FUN.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>Love libraries?\u00a0 That\u2019s good because it\u2019s going to be your home for the next six months.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Each day involves showing up at your library about 10-15 minutes before 8:00AM to open up the library, put out puzzles and quizzes, fold the newspaper sheets, and check in anything dropped in the return box.\u00a0 You close the library up at 10:00PM.\u00a0 Generally you get a couple of hours off at lunch and a couple off at dinner.\u00a0 This means a 10 hour work day on days your ship is at sea, and 6-8 hour work days on days your ship is in port.\u00a0 How many hours you work when you are in port is often determined by your immediate boss on the ship.\u00a0 Some are slave drivers and almost never allow you enough time to have much fun while in port.\u00a0 Others are more relaxed, which means me to the next point\u2026<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>Everybody leaves<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get used to anybody you work with or for, because everyone leaves.\u00a0 My first immediate supervisor when I came aboard at the beginning of my contract was not the sort of person I usually get along with, but I stuck with it because I found out right away that she was only going to be there my first two months.\u00a0 After she left, I got an amazing boss whom I loved to death.\u00a0 Everyone on ships work contracts.\u00a0 Some are as short as 2-3 months long.\u00a0 Others are as long as 10 months.\u00a0 The people who you will meet and grow to love will leave you with lots of crying and hugging and sad good-byes.\u00a0 Others will leave and you\u2019ll feel like throwing a party AFTER they\u2019ve left.\u00a0 Unlike real life, where you may be stuck with a bad boss for years and years, that\u2019s never the case on a ship.\u00a0 Even captains rotate every 3 months.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>Must love people<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

If you are an introverted librarian, don\u2019t even bother applying for the job.\u00a0 You are expected to be a social butterfly on the ship.\u00a0 At least once a week there\u2019s some sort of party for the guests you\u2019re expected to attend.\u00a0 You\u2019re also expected to dress formally twice a week, so make sure you bring some nice suits and dresses.\u00a0 Another rule is to smile and nod when a guest is ten feet away and offer a greeting to any guest you see that\u2019s five feet away.\u00a0 So, when you live on Deck 3 and your library is on Deck 8, and you\u2019re hurrying to get to the library to open it up in the morning, you\u2019ll be power walking through the casino saying \u201cGood morning\u201d to everyone you pass.\u00a0 When you get off ships, you\u2019ll still find yourself saying \u201cGood day\u201d to everyone you pass, even on the sidewalk, for weeks and months afterwards.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>Get used to the lingo of the seas<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

To this day, long after leaving ship life, when giving directions to a patron where I work now, I find myself still saying \u201cThat\u2019s up on Deck 3.\u201d\u00a0 Learn the difference between port, aft, forward, and starboard.\u00a0 Also, get used to frequent time changes.\u00a0 You are now on a floating home, one that goes from one time zone to another quite frequently.\u00a0 You know when we go to Daylight Savings Time and back again, usually about six months apart?\u00a0 Get used to doing that almost every other day sometimes.\u00a0 The crew lives for nights when we gain an hour and dreads the nights when we lose an hour of sleep.<\/p>\n

Despite everything I have just written, I am thankful for the experience I had for six months.\u00a0 I met tons of wonderful new people who I keep up with on their journeys on other ships.\u00a0 I got to see the Panama Canal, stand on an island in the Caribbean, marvel at the beautiful Alaskan glaciers and the biggest mountains I have ever seen in my life, encounter my first volcanos in Costa Rica, and enjoyed the pleasure of running my very own library.\u00a0 If this is a job you want, then go for it!\u00a0 I hope you get the chance to experience life on a cruise ship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Rebecca Vogler, Head Editor, INALJ Nevada The Skinny on Cruise Ship Librarianship If you\u2019ve been around INALJ.com since the beginning of last year, you may remember a couple of Success Stories that were written about newly minted MLIS graduates going to work as a cruise ship librarian.\u00a0 One was written about me.\u00a0 That article,…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,5908,5909,5602,3610,3439],"class_list":["post-60311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-cruise-ship","tag-cruise-ship-librarian","tag-cruise-ship-library","tag-inalj-nevada","tag-rebecca-vogler"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/rebeccavogler.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-fGL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/57160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}