{"id":73348,"date":"2014-06-05T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=73348"},"modified":"2015-01-05T00:43:36","modified_gmt":"2015-01-05T06:43:36","slug":"free-advice-literally-for-new-librarians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=73348","title":{"rendered":"Free Advice (Literally) for New Librarians"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Naomi House, MLIS<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Free Advice (Literally) for New Librarians<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"DSCN0229\"<\/a>INALJ<\/a> along with many other jobs blogs out there, is full of great advice for new and transitioning professionals.<\/p>\n

Go to conferences! <\/strong><\/em> Tailor your resum\u00e9s and cover letters each time!<\/strong><\/em> Take professional development classes!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em> Network!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em> Join associations!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em> Actively participate IN associations!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em> Volunteer!\u00a0<\/strong> <\/em> Take on an internship!\u00a0<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

This is really great advice with a HUGE<\/strong><\/span> caveat- every single thing you seem to read about how LIS pros (librarians, staff, etc) can advance their careers has a significant cost<\/strong><\/span> associated with it whether it is in dollars or in time or both.\u00a0 Unpaid internships require time and offer no monetary reward for work given that should and is paid to others, for example.\u00a0 Everything has a cost.\u00a0 So lets start with what inspired me to write this post, two tweets that came across my feed.<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/a> \"Sarah<\/a> Credentialism<\/strong> Yep- both of these apply to our field.\u00a0 When I started in libraries ten years ago as staff I had no problem finding jobs.\u00a0 I was offered 5 jobs when I relocated from Ithaca, NY to Washington, DC in mid-2007.\u00a0 Shortly after that the economy dropped and the jobs dried up.\u00a0 They were already well off the peak and growth in our field is slower than average<\/a>.\u00a0 Every type of library saw funding slashed if they even remained open at all and staff were made to do more with less (I hate this term, btw) or lost their jobs.\u00a0 As Sarah Kendzior<\/a>, a writer on politics, economy, media and columnist for @<\/s><\/strong>AJEnglish,<\/b><\/a> points out credentialism and the debt just from the degree is already a very heavy burden for recent grads in a down economy, and most professional librarian positions require at least one Master’s degree.\u00a0 And this isn’t going to change. I do want to add that LIS programs often have some fantastic faculty and I was very lucky to have the professors I did at Rutgers SCI<\/a>. High Cost<\/strong> This post was initially inspired by Chris Magnifico<\/a>‘s tweet above about the economics of the advice given to new grads and transitioning professionals.\u00a0 While at INALJ.com<\/a> we strive to offer articles on free and low cost tools and services, we also offer plenty of good but ultimately expensive advice.\u00a0 I am not attending my absolute favorite conference this year, SLA in Vancouver<\/a>, because I did not have the funds.\u00a0 If I had the funds I would be going, but for many local conferences are all they can ever afford.\u00a0 Lets face it we are often grossly underpaid in our field for a group with MLS\/MLIS degrees.\u00a0 Conferences do have great value, but also have high costs for many.\u00a0 Professional development costs money, too.\u00a0 Associations have discounted rates for the unemployed but there is a cost involved.\u00a0 Other advice often given requires many hours of your time and many people have other commitments and cannot give more.\u00a0 They also resent being required after paying for a degree and getting experience feeling obligated to give their time away for free. FREE Advice<\/strong> So what can we do to help ourselves develop and become recognized in our field that has zero cost at all?\u00a0 Nothing<\/strong>– there will always be a time component that has to go into any professional development.\u00a0 We just have to assess what is reasonable with out schedules.\u00a0 However, each of the following suggestions has a cost of $0 <\/strong>and are all online, so they do not require you to go anywhere.<\/p>\n