24 March 2011

Some Things that Really Bug Me About Librarianship

So I admit, this is not about a book I read, but rather some of my own thoughts, but since this is a blog about books and myself, I must digress.



1.  Paraprofessionals.  Why?  It has absolutely nothing to do with competence.  The facts are there are many "librarians" who hold no professional degree.  Let's face it, they work for less, and in our world it seems all too often less is more.  However, what bothers me, is that although they can learn the job and do it quite well, they do take jobs away from those who have sought the necessary education.  Now, I'm not saying that they have to have their degree in Library Science yet, but they should be currently enrolled in a program, deliver their degree plan to their employer, and be required to stay on track in order to keep their job.  For me, it's like saying 'ok, we need to shave a few bucks off the budget, so we are going to stop highering teachers with a degree and certification and start replacing them with anyone that has ever taken a class in a particular field, i.e. if you took an English class one semester of college you can teach English.'  Let's face it.  There are enough tools out there that they could learn how to put together an teaching plan, and teach, but they are not truly equipped for the task.

2. The fact that you not only need a Masters in Library Science but also a Teaching License in most states to be a School Librarian.  I guess I just don't understand the logic here.  I know that as a School Librarian you would be teaching children.  However, in a masters program, I have the option of being a Teaching Assistant, which would have me teaching undergraduate courses.  So while I'm only working on my Masters, I can teach college students, but once I actually have my Masters, I can't work in a School Library without an additional teacher's license?  Seriously, if you've figured that logic out, other than it allows school districts to shunt you away from the library and into a teaching position because they want to save money by removing an actual librarian, let me know!!

3. The fact that there is so little help/socialization/networking in an online LIS program.  In this digital world, it is getting far more common to find people attending school online. In my case, I can't move to where I can actually attend grad school, and so I had to find an ALA accredited school that had their program completely online.  While I absolutely LOVE my program, it bugs me that there is no real socialization going on.  We have so much social media out there available, and I wonder why it is not utilized.  Plus it always completely and utterly dumbfounds me that out of a large group of online students, only a small minority use social networks.  I miss the social aspect of actually going to college; it would be nice to at least obtain a virtual representation of that now that I am in an online program.

Okay, that's enough venting for now, and I do apologize if I overly offended someone, but please remember that these things bother me.  Maybe they don't you, but they do me.  I welcome commentary, but be civil.

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