So, I have to ask. What is it with librarians? Now that I've thoroughly offended all librarians everywhere, let me explain :)
I know a lot of people who either are, or would like to be, librarians.
My mother-in-law. She ran the bioterrorism library at a university in Omaha (could be the UNO, not sure). Now she runs a library (I think it's a legal library) at the U of K in Kentucky. She seems happy.
A girl I went to church with as a kid, let's call her Kristen, because I think that's her name. She worked at Barnes and Noble for a while. I asked her once if it paid well and she said, "You have to really like books." So, I guess she wasn't in that job for the pay. But then she went on to go to school to be a librarian.
A girl I went to school with, Stephanie (the spelling may be wrong) is, according to her website, a librarian. She was really cool in school and always seemed happy. She still seems happy as a librarian.
My wife's friend, Suzzanne, is apparantly considering becoming a librarian. She likes books a lot.
Rhia, my peep in Texas, is a librarian. She seems to like it. Or, at least, all the pictures of her I've seen make her look happy.
So again, I have to ask, what's so great about it? Is it the books, is the pay decent (and by decent, I mean somewhat more than teacher salary), is it the kids? I don't know.
I consider myself a bibliophile. Going to a bookstore is dangerous for me because I'll always exit with more books than I will read in the near future. So I really like books, and I don't look down on anyone who is like me. In fact, aside from Donald, most of my friends are book-fiends like me.
So, to anyone who is or knows a librarian, let me know.
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5 comments:
I am a teacher turned librarian. It is wonderful for the following reasons:
1) I spend my days with books. Piles of books. Carts of books. Shelves of books. I just like books. I like opening them. I like organizing them. I like reading them. It's fun to me. Weird but fun.
2) I spend my day with kids and we have fun. There are no tests, no papers to grade, no homework to assign, no parents to call, no behavior to modify, no pressure. I just get to do educational and fun stuff with kids all day long.
3) I get a budget. Ask any teacher how much they spend on their classroom each year and they will give you some number in the hundreds. I am given thousands of dollars to spend on books, supplies, and well, pretty much anything I need for my job. How great is that?
4) I don't have to get a substitute when I am absent. It is so nice to not have to prepare to be sick. Seriously, if you were sick, would you want to sit down and write down a play by play of what your day should be like so someone else could come in and screw it up?
5) Every day is different. On some days, I might see one or two classes and the rest of the time is mine to plan and do all of the other things I need to do.
6) I can go to the bathroom whenever I need to go. *sigh* You have no idea how much of a blessing this is until you are stuck in a tiny room with 22 seven year olds for 4 hours straight after you downed a Coke at lunch.
And that's pretty much all I can think of right now.
How easy/hard is it to get in to? I think you need a masters, but I could be wrong. Is the pay for your job comparable to teachers?
There are several ideas I'm playing with right now. Once we settle, I'll want to start on a real career. With Emily working as a nurse, I'll have the time and money to do anything I want, so I'm trying to figure that out.
But I love books. Reading them, touching them, putting them on shelves, looking at them. I like going on amazon.com and just going through page by page and figuring out which book I'd like to read. I have a long list that will take years to get to.
Hum . . . I have toyed with the idea of becoming a librarian as well. So, I think you're on to something, here, Ware. You are surrounded by librarians or want-to-be librarians. Rhia, you make it sound so delightful. sigh.
Mom runs a medical library-the same thing she has done for years. She loves it. I'm gonna be a nurse but love books too. What I want is a small bookstore where I can serve pie and soda along with new and used books. We can all have dreams. 'sigh'
It's really not that hard and I get paid the same as teachers do in my district, some districts pay librarians more. Yes, you do need a master's degree. Yes, the classes are relatively easy compared to other master's programs. I would look at TWU (Texas Woman's University...it's for me too, don't worry). That's where I'm going but all my classes have been online and there are several people that are out of state that get their degree there. That would be good for you if you guys are planning to do the traveling nurse thingy.
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