“No librarian should feel inadequate for learning the discipline on the ground rather than in a classroom.” At BookRiot, Michelle Anne Schingler provides validation for librarians who don’t have a Master’s degree in Library Science — who “merely live” library work instead of having studied it through a four-year university. Those non-degreed librarians must surely also include those of us who earned a community college vocational certificate or Associate in Science degree.
I don’t share what I read as dismissal of the importance of library theory; I think that’s part of being a good librarian. But I do share the belief that there is more than one pathway to acquire the skills and mindset that make a good librarian — including volunteer and on-the-job experience as well as extra-curricular learning — and I especially appreciate those library employers that recognize alternative pathways to measure a librarian’s proficiency.
Among responses to the BookRiot article, I like this attitude, expressed at “Bryce Don’t Play”:
ReplyDelete“I believe that if you have your Masters of Library Science, you are a librarian.
“I believe that if your job title is Librarian, you are a librarian.
“I believe if you work in a library and people call you a librarian, you are a librarian.
“This is because I believe your existence as a librarian should not impact my existence as a librarian.”
(http://brycedontplay.blogspot.com/2016/03/what-is-librarian-unsolicited-rant.html)