A professional librarian has a master’s degree, usually a Master of Library and Information Science. Essentially, librarians are trained in the operation of libraries. At university, you study information - information literacy, what is information, how do we organize information, how do we access information. Librarians study collection development, policy, strategic and business planning, research methods, data management, technological literacy, reference interviews, organizational management, and many more specific topics. Usually, librarians manage libraries and their staff, and library clerks, technicians, and assistants manage the collection and customer service.
Historically, librarians were “masters of the books,” or “knowledge keepers.” In ancient civilizations, librarians of that time would catalogue and arrange scrolls, tablets, or texts in private collections or scholarly institutions. The modern library that we’re familiar with today truly came into existence throughout the 1800s, where collections for study shifted to collections for both study and entertainment, and the profession became largely dominated by women. Men went off to war, and schools to specifically train professional librarians began to open and were interested in educating women in this profession. Today, 89.2% of librarians are women.*
*(Gender wage gap? Yes! BIPOC wage gap? Yes! Women still left out of leadership positions? Yes!) (Library Professionals: Facts, Figures, and Union Membership, 2023)
There are many different kinds of librarians, some are highly specialized. For example:
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Public librarians (work in public libraries)
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Children
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Teen
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Adult
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Cataloguing
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Reference
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Acquisitions
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Collections
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Systems
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Outreach
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Etc. (these are very long lists)
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Academic librarians (work in universities and colleges, usually subject specialists)
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Medical librarians (work in hospitals, universities, and research facilities)
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Law librarians (work in law offices, universities, government offices, courthouses)
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Corporate librarians (work for private companies)
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Prison librarians (work in medium and maximum security prisons, community centers) (a personal dream of mine)
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Military librarians (work in colleges, bases, and government offices)
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Special librarians (varies widely, includes some listed here)
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School librarians (work in public and private schools)
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Government librarians (work for all levels of government)
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Church librarian (work in universities, colleges, parishes, faith centers)
Since I haven’t worked in all of these settings, I can only tell you what my day looks like. Librarians respond to research questions from the public, and this could be on any topic imaginable. I’ve been asked and have answered questions about mermaids, copyright, genealogy, collectable glassware, how to donate cadavers to research, sustainable urban farming, property research, barnstorming baseball, the music of Pakistan, how to use a computer mouse, every spouse of every US vice president, homeschooling methods, election results, and far more than I could ever possibly remember. Yes, I have helped someone find the book with the blue cover, more than once. I help people do family research and search for birth certificates or death notices. I have answered questions about real or current events, for people searching for information beyond word-of-mouth or news media. I have answered questions from people who are scared that they’re getting scammed by email or phone. I have answered many questions from tiny humans who are in the “why” stage of life. I do consider understanding and answering questions to be one of the primary functions of my job.
I work in a large urban library. My role includes managing issues that might come up with the public or with the building. I’m one of the managers who will respond to a group of teens fighting, a power outage, a complaint about a book, “artwork” in a washroom, a screaming person, a lost child, or a broken piece of furniture. It is a public library after all, and the public are an unpredictable bunch of people.
I plan events at the library from book launches with authors, to cosplay workshops, to poetry readings, to presentations about money management. When I worked as a children’s librarian, I would teach early literacy skills to children, parents, caregivers, and staff. The library functions as a community gathering space where people can learn or be entertained.
Outside of answering questions, training, and planning programs, I spend time researching and understanding current events in the world, along with current trends in my library and in other libraries. Understanding what’s going on helps us choose what books go on the shelves, what programs the community is interested in, and helps develop policies and strategic plans. In a nutshell, my time is split between answering questions at the reference desk, writing reports, and meetings.
From this list, some librarians are highly specialized and will spend their time researching case law, clinical trials, theological publications, business data, music collections, government intelligence, and so much more. These librarians are responsible for negotiating access to scholarly research for students, they may curate lists of relevant publications to support learning, they may train instructors, students, or other professionals on any step of the research process. I remember telling my high school history teacher that I wanted to go to university to become a librarian, and he was so excited and proud, and said “good, because you can do just about anything with that degree.”
Some of my friends are copyright librarians, public librarians, college instruction librarians, library directors, and many others are library assistants and library support workers. I love all of them so much.
So that’s what this librarian does. There aren’t many librarians who have time to “just read all day.”