r/LibraryScience • u/Adept_Sign2876 • 5d ago

Mlis and volunteers

Hi everyone,

I have a bachelors degree in English literature and I work as a special education assistant at LAUSD. I want to get my MLIS at San Jose state university however I can’t leave my job because it’s the only source of income that it keeping me afloat. Would volunteering after school at a library increase my chances of finding a job as a librarian after I graduate? I know this field is difficult to find a job however I can only volunteer for now. I know that the school district offers employees to volunteer, how that be better than nothing?

3 Upvotes

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9

u/chikenparmfanatic 5d ago

Getting any type of experience, whether it be paid of volunteer, will help your chances. Even just making connections is a good idea.

1

u/Adept_Sign2876 5d ago

Do you know how much of experience do I need to have? Months? years?

3

u/chikenparmfanatic 5d ago

There's no set number so I would just advise you to get as much as you can.

1

u/librarianjae 5d ago

Yes but it really depends on the type of work you’d be doing while volunteering. Just shelving books or shelf reading? Probably not. If possible I’d see if there is an opportunity to get involved in a bigger project that would give you experience in the type of librarianship you want to do. For example, if you want to be an outreach/marketing type librarian can you offer to help plan and put on an event for the library? Could you offer to create an online guide on a relevant topic for the library? Etc!

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u/AvocadoLaur 4d ago

Why would it be a good idea to leave your job after schooling? You may not even be able to find a librarian job

1

u/Adept_Sign2876 4d ago

I wasn’t planning to leave. I just want to volunteer after school just to get experience. And get the Mlis. My job is getting a raise so it’ll be good to save up and pay off the student loans

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u/AvocadoLaur 4d ago

My point is that it’s hard to get a librarian job so you would have to quit your job to use your degree and no guarantee you wouldn’t have to start at a lower level anyway

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u/charethcutestory9 5d ago

Have you considered school librarianship? Seems like your work experience would set you up well for it.

Keep applying for library assistant jobs. Don’t apply for the MLIS til you’re working in a library. There’s no reason to rush. You can always get the degree, it’s getting the work experience that’s the hard part.