Emerging Careers for Librarians Part 1

It appears that many librarians want to change careers or at least want to be outside the constraints of the "traditional" library. The usually large number of attendees at seminars on alternative library careers supports this, but taking the plunge can seem daunting. In this series of articles we look at the changing library profession and how to assist you in following a new path. A librarian who continues to work in a "traditional" special library setting originally presented this material at the April 1997 Saskatchewan Library Association conference. As guests, she asked two colleagues to discuss the evolution of their non-traditional library careers.

Part 1 - Considering a change

There's a growing trend for employing people with library backgrounds in non-traditional fields. Whether because of career aspirations or limited job opportunities in libraries, these people are taking their skills for the collection, organization, and analysis of information into the private sector, where it has been recognized as a valuable contribution to the workings of the organization. Business has recognized that, in order to succeed, it needs precise, accurate, and timely information, and slowly, it's coming to understand that we have the background and skills to handle that information, whether that be in database design, customized research, or sales.

Two SLA WCC members, both with MLS degrees, are doing just this. Denise Bonin, a principal with Andornot Consulting Inc. sells Inmagic software products, designs databases of all kinds - not just for libraries, teaches, and sets up new libraries. Lisa-Jane Watson, the western sales representative for CANEBSCO Information Services, sells a serials subscription service, document delivery, CDROM and Internet full-text databases.

Changing careers sounds like a big deal, and it is. But statistically, you can expect to have three different careers (and that's careers - not jobs) in your lifetime, combining voluntary moves where you're ready for something fresh, and involuntary ones, where you're a victim of the economy.

It's a myth that people only think about changing careers during a mid-life crisis. People can and do change careers at all ages. But experts now think that for the rest of the 1990s, we will see much more "mid-life career changes" since this is the decade when a great number of baby boomers are entering mid-life. Often specific life changes trigger career change. Perhaps you're starting a family and don't want to put in the long hours that you used to; maybe you just want time to "smell the roses;" or perhaps the death of a family member or friend has made you reexamine your priorities.

Bonin had planned to follow in the flippers of Jacques Cousteau and become a marine biologist, but after two university degrees into that career, information management and the newly emerging electronic information age swayed her. It was starting her family however that propelled her into the consulting business. Wanting to keep one foot in the information business, but still spend time with her young children, she started her consulting career on a part time basis.

Watson worked for five years in a public library setting during high school and college. She liked the library world and knew at an early age she wanted to be a librarian. After earning an M.L.I.S. by the age of twenty-three she was keen to take a job in any type of library. At this point, there were no plans to go into library sales.

Looking at what you're doing right now, and deciding that this isn't what you want to do for the rest of your life may trigger a career change. Does this mean that you made a mistake when you chose this career? No, probably not. Jobs in the 1990s can change rapidly - job circumstances change, you get a different boss with a different management style, there are budgets cuts. Also people change. What we want out of our jobs changes. What we want at twenty-five - money for rent and our student loan payment - isn't necessarily want we want at thirty-five or forty - when we're looking for satisfaction from our career. As we grow older, we come to want different things out of our work. Nor is there a perfect time to change careers. Change always involves challenges and risks.

Reasons why information professionals aren't working in traditional libraries include: lack of available library jobs because of staff reductions or hiring freezes, or perhaps the person is just not inclined to work in the "typical" library. However, theses information professionals still have valuable skills for managing information that can be used in the workplace.

The book, What Colour is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles, suggests that you examine the eight components of the workplace:

• the physical workplace setting
• the stated goal of the job (what you are there to do)
• the tasks assigned (or individual duties)
• the tools involved
• the salary (total compensation - wage, bonus, tips)
• the time involved
• the talents or skills involved
• the fields of knowledge needed - you may be working in a field in which you have little interest

The April 1997 issue of Canadian Business has an article about the growing number of corporate executives who are jumping ship and finding satisfaction in unconventional careers. As examples: people who went from being an investment banker to a blacksmith, from an advertising executive to a massage therapist, from banker to a furniture maker. In each case, the people featured had done things the organization's way and now they want to do it their own way. They were looking for more creativity and more control, things that they weren't finding in their organizations. And they were discovering what we already know - employers can no longer guarantee job security, so as the article said ... "why not take care of yourself and do what you like."

Although she liked the idea of consulting after obtaining her MLS degree, Bonin felt that a bit of experience in the corporate world would probably add to her credibility. In retrospect this was a very wise move. By working in special libraries for several years, she could relate to that world when she went knocking on their doors with her consulting services - not to mention that she had built up quite a network of colleagues in the library business.

Watson worked at two special libraries on a contractual basis. Only eight months into her formal library career the sales opportunity at CANEBSCO became a reality. With library jobs hard to find, Watson felt she could take the sales job for a year or so, establish contacts by networking throughout her territory (Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia) and find an appropriate library at which to work. She had no idea how much she would love sales, meeting people, travelling and controlling her own itinerary. She did know that her M.L.I.S. degree plus her experience would give her credibility in the field.

Looking at it from the perspective of the library setting, there are a number of questions you need to ask yourself. Are you happy with where you are and what you're doing?

If the answer is No, then you need to look at the job and at yourself. We're back to the workplace categories from What Colour is your Parachute. Do you like the job environment? What about your boss? Are there opportunities for advancement? Do you like the normal routine of the job? And what about you -- have circumstances in your life changed recently? Have your expectations changed? You may find that you like where you work, but want to do something differently; or that you enjoy what you do, but not where you do it. This information can help you make an informed, well-thought-out change.

So you've decided that you're ready for a change. There may still be some things holding you back. Let's make up a hypothetical job ad - for a company that's looking for a Webmaster. You might not even think to apply for that job, even though, with experience maintaining a Web site and knowledge of HTML, you might be qualified for it. Why not? The words "librarian" or "information professional" probably do not appear anywhere in the job description and the job isn't in a traditional library setting. Also, the writing style and the language used in the ad aren't typical of the wording used in traditional library ads. It is also likely that the salary ranges quoted are outside of the range (as in higher than) a librarian might expect to earn. This job ad probably didn't appear in publications that librarians read regularly.

Watson did not have any direct sales experience, but her degree taught her reference interview skills (asking questions); budgeting, marketing and research skills; and database searching skills among others. All she had to do was attend a few training courses to learn the art of negotiating and gain her confidence in selling the company's products and services. All of these were relatively easy to do because she liked learning about librarians' needs and offering them real solutions.

We're often held back by stereotypes, roles in which we've been traditionally cast, from both within our own industry and from the outside. We tend to define our work in terms of where we work rather than what we do. It's easy to define what we do in terms of reference, acquisitions or cataloguing. But defining your skills apart from the library setting is more difficult. You may have skills in listening, communication & negotiation (that's reference), or database design & maintenance (that's library automation), how about budget administration, purchasing, vendor relations, personnel management, organizing & disseminating information, writing (library brochures), marketing and projects management. You're probably doing many of these. These are all skills that can be taken out of the traditional library setting and applied to other careers.

Without knowing the exact area in which she wanted to consult, Bonin assessed her skills. After working several years in special libraries she looked at the skills she had and which ones she could translate into a business career. She enjoyed doing reference work which included the reference interview, searching online databases, and calling people to dig up information. One task she loved was designing databases to assist in the maintenance of her collection of materials. She took these skills and has translated this into a successful alternative library career where she regularly has to discuss proposed databases with clients and then set out to design them.

It just takes self-confidence in our abilities. Everyone says that they're in the information or knowledge business, the telephone company, every Internet service provider, but we really are - that's what we've been trained to do - to find, organize, & manipulate information. We have the research skills and the computer skills. As an industry, we tend to have a service ethic as well. And since every organization (public or private) needs information, there's a potential market.

But we're also limited by how others see us. When I tell a non-library person that I'm a librarian, they often ask which branch I work at. They've already slotted me into the public library system, because that's their experience of libraries and where librarians work. There's a common belief that librarians can only do what they do in a public or academic library.

If you work in a special library, you're likely a box on the organization chart. Administrators probably have a good feel for what you do, and they know that having a library is a good thing. But they're not sure how to measure the value of the library or how well it's run. And, if they can't judge how well the library is run, it's difficult to consider the librarian for any other position. So, the librarian stays in the library.

In Part 2 of this series we look at the steps it will take to set you on your path to an alternative library career. We look at the what, where, and how of approaching a new career.

For further information:

Bolles, Richard Nelson. The 1996 What Color is Your Parachute. : a Practical Manual for Job-hunting and Career Changers. Berkeley, CA : Ten Speed Press, 1996.

Garoogian, Rhoda and Andrew Garoogian. Careers in Other Fields for Librarians : Successful Strategies for Finding the Job. Chicago : American Library Association, 1985.

Horton, Forest Woody Jr. Extending the Librarian's Domain : a Survey of Emerging Occupation Opportunities for Librarians and Information Professionals. Washington : Special Libraries Association, 1994.

Schachter, Harvey. "Forget the Suit, Give Me an Anvil." Canadian Business April 1997, p.68

You've Come a Long Way, Librarian! : Alternative Career Paths for Librarians [audiotape]. Washington, DC : Special Libraries Association, 1990.