being a librarian

[ecks]

Since I have no idea what to do with my life yet, i'm contemplating different career choices I can pursue. Becoming a librarian and reading books all day seems very tempting to me. But I wonder, how much is the pay for a librarian? Is it enough to pay the bills? It seems like a very easy and relaxing job

 

[novella]

At least in the US you need to have a masters degree in library science to be librarian. I think, as with being a teacher, you can get hired without the masters, but you need to complete the degree within a certain number of years in order to keep your job and get full pay.

Not sure what undergraduate degree you need to enter a program like that. The librarians I know don't read books all day, though I'm sure there's some time for that.

BTW, have you thought of teaching? The world needs passionate, literate teachers!

 

[ecks]

So you would need a master's in a college in order to become a librarian? I'm just wondering why it would take so much knowledge for that. I thought it would be something in the type of vocational school or associate's degree. I've thought about teaching, cause I like working with kids and helping people out, but I would have a hard time grading papers, because it is hard to decide for me what paper is good quality and what is not. Also, my sympathetic nature would probably get me in trouble.

 

[SFG75]

So you would need a master's in a college in order to become a librarian? I'm just wondering why it would take so much knowledge for that. I thought it would be something in the type of vocational school or associate's degree. I've thought about teaching, cause I like working with kids and helping people out, but I would have a hard time grading papers, because it is hard to decide for me what paper is good quality and what is not. Also, my sympathetic nature would probably get me in trouble.

As far as I'm aware in my state, library studies is exclusively an area that is only at the advanced degree level. The number of "baby-boomer" educators retiring is expected to be HUGE this coming decade. Undoubtedly, you would be able to find a job as a "media resource" specialist in a school. On another note, I've never worked with a teacher who had an associates in teaching, I could be wrong, but I would imagine that is the exception rather than the norm.

 

[Ronny]

If you don't like giving grades you could focus on the lower grades, many schools don't start grading until 4th grade or so. It's also great working with young kids, they have a lot of enthusiasm for learning.

 

[Ronny]

If you are seriously curious about teaching and have some spare time a lot of schools are eager to have volunteers and you can see the everyday reality of working at a school. I did this all of last school year and loved it.

 

[Mari]

...reading books all day...a very easy and relaxing job

Uh oh. You need to talk to some librarians.

 

[Ronny]

Most libraries, have a volunteer program as well.

 

[leckert]

Since I have no idea what to do with my life yet, i'm contemplating different career choices I can pursue. Becoming a librarian and reading books all day seems very tempting to me. But I wonder, how much is the pay for a librarian? Is it enough to pay the bills? It seems like a very easy and relaxing job

So, basically what you want is to be able to relax and read books all day - no pressure, no deadlines, and enough pay to make a decent living?

When you find that, please let me know. In fact, post something here, I am sure a lot of folks would be interested in such a career path!

I have been in the job market since I was sixteen (over 20 years now) and have worked in more than 12 different career fields looking for that job that I would love to do. Here's what I have found:

1. Every job has something about it that you hate doing.
2. Most jobs that seem "fun", are fun for about 1% of the time. (10% tops). The remaining 90% of most jobs is tedious and boring.
3. Even the fun part ceases to be fun when you have to do it to pay the bills.

Here is where I am now:

I have tried many different ways to make money. My goal was to make enough money so that I didn't have to work, and could spend my time writing. I am realizing that (duh) maybe I can write well enough, and often enough, to be able to make a living at it. If not, at least I will be writing while I am earning a living. I think if we can honestly look at what we would do with our lives if money were not an issue, then find a way of making money at that, then we will be on our way to a satisfying job. When I tell this to people, many times they reply "How do I make money playing video games and sleeping." My answer to that is eventually, you will become bored, and need to find something to do; what will that thing be? If you can't get beyond sleeping and playing video games, then it is probably best to plan on working for someone else until you die.

Another thing I am learning, and I am not sure how relevant it is to this thread, is that we often seek happiness outside of ourselves. We look for our jobs, or our spouse/mate, or our hobbies to make us happy. These things INVARIABLY let us down. I am learning to find a source of joy in myself. although we all disappoint ourselves, we never abandon ourselves (like it or not). Finding joy in us (whether that is God or Allah, or just our own conscience), gives us a rock to rest on when the job goes bad, or the world gives us the bird.

sorry to ramble. good luck with your career search.

 

[geneviv]

No matter what you do your job will be frustrating, boring, and continue to provide seemingly endless work.

Some people find their work more interesting than other people do. I think these people were wise and pursued a study they found extremely interesting and were really good at and then worked really hard at it.

My advice is to learn about the workings of the field you are interested in and know you like it when you begin your education. Don't waste alot of money on degree you don't really want to use.

 

[Kookamoor]

No matter what you do your job will be frustrating, boring, and continue to provide seemingly endless work.

That's depressing! I agree that every job comes with ups and downs, but my current job is enjoyable at least part of the time, and I enjoy the interaction with my colleagues. If you're really in a job that's boring 100% of the time, you need to think about a change, IMHO.

...reading books all day...a very easy and relaxing job

Uh oh. You need to talk to some librarians.

Indeed. My mother is a librarian and there's very little book reading to be done! While there's the fun of purchasing inventory (and dragging your daughter along to assist ) there's far more work in the cateloguing and media side of things. Librarians these days are far more multiskilled in information provision by a number of mediums, internet, video, audio etc. If you want to talk to someone who is currently training to be a librarian, talk to KristoCat. She's loving it, but I think you need a bit more information about what is involved.

I think you should consider being a teacher if you want to share reading with people - my literature teacher in high school was amazing. Consider starting out taking an english/literature major and then see where it takes you. You may be surprised where you end up! Just don't lock yourself into one thing only - keep your eyes open and you may find that there's something else amazing out there. Remember that you can have hobbies that are unrelated to your career - it took me 5 years to realise that .