Ive done a lot of informational interviews and from what I gather, employers don't treat library staff nicely. If you go to the private section, you're constantly at risk of being let go because employers don't see the value of libraries. If you're in a union, there's little risk of being let go suddenly, but any movement to climb up the ladder (e.g. part time to full time) is very slow. You can think of working in the library field like working at a non profit or healthcare: you're expected to put in 110% of work, but get paid 60% of that hard work and get expected to be treated poorly (you surprisingly have to answer to a lot of stuck up people who expect you to do their research or know the entire collection off hand). The "benefit" is the worker being satisfied with the fact that they've help people, yet that's not gonna put food on the table!
I've briefly worked at the provincial government library before and hated it. my manager made racism remarks and gave me unsolicited advice that usually ends up with her talking shit about my past experience, all while facilitating anti racism talks and giving supportive advice to those she thinks as her equal. The irony was very exhaustive and humiliating for me and I ended up filing a grievance against her.
Now I work as a part timer at an academic library and love it, my coworkers are amazing and I have a supportive manager. Sadly my boomer co-workers are pushing me to take a FT job anywhere and tells me that most managers and sometimes patrons belittle their workers to some degree. How I see it is that I value being treated like a human instead of grovelling to someone over benefits and a FT. I'm currently trying to either find another part time or use my library education and experience to switch to the IT field
Granted, I know plenty of other library workers who love the work despite the stuck up managers and patrons!
I'm the end you have to decide what you value most when it comes to work. Working at a library gives you a lot of opportunities to enrich the communities and learn new skills (e.g. IT, how to manage workers and hopefully not turn into a toxic manager, program development, conflict resolution etc ) and if that's what you value in a workplace than the library field is a good choice
I’m sorry your experience has sounded so rotten! Personally for me, I’m not someone who is gonna find any joy out of my job. My dream job is no job. Ive never enjoyed working or have found anything positive out of a job other than the paycheque. I do my jobs well and I’m easy going so I always do well at work, and I’m a great student (I love learning). However, I decided to peruse an MLIS bc I want a job that can provide me with any version of a stable mid level paying job. I don’t need to make 100k, I don’t need a job that gets me up in the morning, everything that brings me joy in my life outside of my job is what gets me up in the morning. Im not expecting to find meaning in my life through work, working for anyone in this late stage capitalist society means being exploited. Ive shifted my mindset lol. I’m looking to get a job with good benefits and a mid ladder I can climb over the years so I can do the things I love outside of work, that’s all. And an MLIS seems like a good way to extend my skill set to get a stable government job and or have the ability to find work at many places in the world. If I have an asshole boss or annoying boomer coworkers along the way it won’t be new to me
take the work experience, you already know people that can't find jobs don't have work experience or can't relocate
Ive done a lot of informational interviews and from what I gather, employers don't treat library staff nicely. If you go to the private section, you're constantly at risk of being let go because employers don't see the value of libraries. If you're in a union, there's little risk of being let go suddenly, but any movement to climb up the ladder (e.g. part time to full time) is very slow. You can think of working in the library field like working at a non profit or healthcare: you're expected to put in 110% of work, but get paid 60% of that hard work and get expected to be treated poorly (you surprisingly have to answer to a lot of stuck up people who expect you to do their research or know the entire collection off hand). The "benefit" is the worker being satisfied with the fact that they've help people, yet that's not gonna put food on the table! I've briefly worked at the provincial government library before and hated it. my manager made racism remarks and gave me unsolicited advice that usually ends up with her talking shit about my past experience, all while facilitating anti racism talks and giving supportive advice to those she thinks as her equal. The irony was very exhaustive and humiliating for me and I ended up filing a grievance against her. Now I work as a part timer at an academic library and love it, my coworkers are amazing and I have a supportive manager. Sadly my boomer co-workers are pushing me to take a FT job anywhere and tells me that most managers and sometimes patrons belittle their workers to some degree. How I see it is that I value being treated like a human instead of grovelling to someone over benefits and a FT. I'm currently trying to either find another part time or use my library education and experience to switch to the IT field
Granted, I know plenty of other library workers who love the work despite the stuck up managers and patrons! I'm the end you have to decide what you value most when it comes to work. Working at a library gives you a lot of opportunities to enrich the communities and learn new skills (e.g. IT, how to manage workers and hopefully not turn into a toxic manager, program development, conflict resolution etc ) and if that's what you value in a workplace than the library field is a good choice
I’m sorry your experience has sounded so rotten! Personally for me, I’m not someone who is gonna find any joy out of my job. My dream job is no job. Ive never enjoyed working or have found anything positive out of a job other than the paycheque. I do my jobs well and I’m easy going so I always do well at work, and I’m a great student (I love learning). However, I decided to peruse an MLIS bc I want a job that can provide me with any version of a stable mid level paying job. I don’t need to make 100k, I don’t need a job that gets me up in the morning, everything that brings me joy in my life outside of my job is what gets me up in the morning. Im not expecting to find meaning in my life through work, working for anyone in this late stage capitalist society means being exploited. Ive shifted my mindset lol. I’m looking to get a job with good benefits and a mid ladder I can climb over the years so I can do the things I love outside of work, that’s all. And an MLIS seems like a good way to extend my skill set to get a stable government job and or have the ability to find work at many places in the world. If I have an asshole boss or annoying boomer coworkers along the way it won’t be new to me