i’m not technically a librarian (yet), but i’ve been working in public libraries for over 2 years now and i love it! every day is a little bit different, so it’s almost never monotonous and i get to help people while also talking about books.… and also, once, telling a patron not to [checks notes] confront another patron outside the library because they saw them apparently [checks notes again] washing raw chicken in the men’s restroom sink.
like i said—every day is a little different.
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You will make about 60k if you're lucky unless you become a manager, and you will have 35k of debt or more from grad school (online grad school is cheaper sometimes and no one cares where you get the degree anyways). And sometimes you work for a university (which is essentially a corporation) or the government. But in general everyone in your field will believe in a code of ethics that raises the dignity of humanity above the mire of misinformation and censorship. And you help empower people with the information literacy to move through the world as confident capable individuals/professionals/scholars. Community college libraries are my favorite environment I've worked in so far because the students are cool, driven, and diverse in age and background. Public libraries also do amazing social work in 2025 to provide services to their communities like harm reduction, networks of resources for unhoused people, language teaching, professional development, basic technology training, literally just being a third space, I could go on forever. It definitely is a career that exists because of neoliberalism I'm not going to lie, like American public libraries only exist because robber barons in the 1900s donated a mind boggling amount of grants to towns across the country to build them (not sure about other countries' history with this to be fair). All that being said I decided I wanted to be a librarian when I was 16 and I've been committed to that path for 11 years with no regret.
To add a personal note to this rec and emphasize how meaningful this work really is, I'm going to indulge in a story because I could genuinely cry thinking about all the kind, interesting people I've met who have chosen to be vulnerable with me about their needs and goals. A couple years ago I helped an older man for multiple hours to remember his email login so he could get a copy of his birth certificate from his son-in-law who had emailed a scan of the physical copy which was in another country. The stakes were incredibly high and the task seemed virtually impossible because we didn't even have an email address to start. He was having trouble reaching his son-in-law to ask for help because of the time difference, and he needed the scan ASAP. We were together for so long I learned a lot about him. He talked to me about Islam and Christianity and angels. And then we got it! It's probably one of the defining moments of my career and to me is one of the most impactful things I've ever done.
So there's my job rec lol!
Mar 13, 2025
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Its not odd but very chill and you can get in contact with every age group, also I work at a youth centre currently and really love that
Feb 9, 2024
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okay so i finally went to the main branch of my local library after wanting to get a card for way too long but always putting it off. and the most wonderful, kind person at the help desk took her time to get me a card, tell me all the different tools and programs the library offers, go over the return/fine policy, and explain how to volunteer at the library. she was so incredibly nice and helpful, and it makes me appreciate my local community so much. and! i checked out two books i’ve been wanting to read forever. everyone go befriend your local librarians and library workers! they rock
Feb 23, 2025
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libraries are genuinely so cool like can you imagine the government creating public libraries today?????? no! they fucking hate the idea of public goods and services that people can access for FREE
Feb 6, 2025
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it’s a struggle to try and stay positive (read: not fall into a deep pit of despair and general hopelessness) throughout all of this. i work in a public library in a purple state that has thankfully yet to see massive pushback from organizations trying to censor resources in public and school libraries, but that may change at any moment. i don’t know if the federal funding freeze will have any impact on public library funding and what that means for me going forward. more importantly, what that would mean for the people who rely on the library. it’s too easy to get sucked into just… general malaise about our current situation.
it certainly doesn’t help that i’ve been sick with the flu for the past three days either.
i recently read anxious people by fredrik backman for a book club i facilitate at my library and there’s a passage towards the end that i haven’t been able to stop thinking about since i finished the book:
“The truth. There isn't any. All we've managed to find out about the boundaries of the universe is that it hasn't got any, and all we know about God is that we don't know anything. So the only thing a mom who was a priest demanded of her family was simple: that we do our best.
We plant an apple tree today, even if we know the world is going to be destroyed tomorrow.”
Feb 1, 2025
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bring back bedtime stories!!!!!!
Feb 4, 2025