Skills Needed to become a Librarian
Surprisingly, there are few professions in the last decade that have undergone radical change that can match what librarians have encountered. Even the title "librarian" is almost obsolete and has been supplanted by "library technician" or "media specialist." The names alone suggest that the world of librarianshp has changed and isn't going back.
In this brave new world, librarians must be experts in multiple forms of media in both print and electronic formats. They must be adept at learning new technologies and services as rapidly as their varied constituencies. Often, they are at the leading edge of technology, able to teach it to the general public.
And yet, the "old" skills remain critical, too. A librarian must be a researcher, a lover of knowledge, and a reader. He or she must convey to a wide audience the love of research and the respect for truth, accuracy, and completeness that is the baseline of human knowledge.
The skills required of a good or great librarian are almost too numerous to mention, but here are the top priorities:
1. Research capability. Librarians are called upon by their "customers" (the public, children at a school, or staff at a company) to find information or tell them how to find information. Librarians need to know how to conduct research on any topic under the sun. Along with knowing how to do research, librarians have to convey to their customers how they can do additional research and/or use the information that has been obtained. Also, in public libraries, librarians are often on the front lines of providing people with information about government services and responsibilities (tax forms, driver's license test questions, job applications, etc.), and they need to know how to immediately deliver the right forms to people in need.
2. Technology savant. As noted above, technology has changed the profession. No longer do librarians go to stacks of library cards, filed neatly in alphabetical order, and find the library's three books about the Crimean War. Today, they go online and search through entire library systems, as well as online sources accessible through the library's network. The librarian must know how to conduct efficient online searches through Google or the like with keywords, but also how to use the specialized research tools that have been developed by whichever organization employs them.
3. Teacher. Think of librarians as community development leaders: They don't just give a person a fish, they teach people how to fish. Everything that a librarian does for a constituent can be explained to the constituent for the next time that he or she needs to find information. This comes into play a great deal when people ask librarians for standardized forms for job applications and government assistance. And it also comes into play when a librarian explains to a student how to use research material without plagiarizing it.
4. Linguist. A librarian who knows two or three languages is worth his or her weight in gold and can quickly become one of the most trusted people in a community that has an immigrant population.
5. Accountant and fundraiser. Economic times are difficult everywhere. Librarians have limited budgets from which to purchase new books and maintain subscriptions to periodicals and software services. Making those selections can often be the most rewarding, but also the most stressful, parts of the job.
6. Cheerleader. Libraries are increasingly interested in reaching out to their communities. This puts librarians in the position of leading programs that bring people into their buildings. Whether these are reading programs for pre-kindergarteners, or after-school tutoring for middle schoolers, or history lectures for seniors, librarians are at the forefront of developing (and often leading) the programs.
7. Security guard. Sadly, libraries are not treated with the same level of respect as they were 30 years ago. Visitors are rambunctious and destructive - tendencies that are increased as libraries seek to become community centers that provide computer services, coffee shops, movies and more. Libraries don't "feel" like places where polite quietness is observed, and so librarians are put in the position of having to enforce proper conduct.
Gone are the days when a librarian was a bookish woman who wore a cashmere sweater and horn-rimmed glasses and sat quietly behind a desk. Today, librarians are integral parts of their communities, as they are the key point of contact for so many people seeking so many types of services. Librarians must be technologically savvy but also have the necessary people skills to connect with the people who come to them for help.
