Tag: fyal

Everyone’s path to academic libraries is a little different. Some of us start as public library pages in high school, some of us have been library student workers as undergrads, and some of us found libraries as a second career – whether the first one had to do with libraries or not. All of those paths are valid, and we have a lot to learn from each other and our different experiences.  

One common refrain that’s come up among this year’s ACRLog First-Year Academic Librarians (FYALs) is what we’ve learned from our past jobs – which could be anything from previous careers, library jobs that we had during grad school, and non-library jobs – that we use in our work today in academic libraries. Today, the three of us are sharing some thoughts and suggestions about what we learned from previous jobs. 

Lisa: Approaching all experiences with care…

As with many other students tight on finances, a part-time job was a must for me, ever since I reached the legal age of being able to work. Some positions that I credit my current career to and those that I highly recommend future librarians to think about are student internships and on-campus positions.  

A particular position that I look back fondly upon is being a residence don/assistant (I wrote a whole blog post about it in November in more detail if you’re interested: The Unexpected Overlaps Between a Don and a Librarian – ACRLog). The brainstorming of fun ideas to make sure there was sufficient attendance, conducting user needs analyses, working across campus with different partners, creating a safe atmosphere for everyone, while teaching students in one-on-one sessions, floor meetings, and workshops were so foundational. Especially in the beginning of the semester where first-year students would ask questions on everything and anything, I felt like I was back working at the public library where I was matching the right question to the right resource! This was where I volunteered at my first conference and did my dream project of hosting a month-long screening and events in celebration of the World Cup at a residence for international exchange students. Student engagement and targeting specific demographics for events that they would be interested in is something I think about on the daily, and having experience in student housing allowed me to first become exposed to the transferability of skills and knowledge in a post-secondary setting.  

In graduate school, attending an institution where there was sufficient support for student internship programs was necessary for me. I luckily had opportunities at several different libraries and departments where I feel that experience was incredibly beneficial in securing my current position. Scholarly communication, copyright, health sciences, and user engagement are some of the areas of academic libraries that I was introduced to. Due to the realistic constraints of living in an expensive city, having part-time jobs may be necessary, but trying to approach each opportunity, no matter what they might be, with an open mind and an empathic heart was essential for me to be generous with my time and energy to really apply what I was learning in school to positions outside the classroom.  

M: What does working with reporters and students have in common? 

For me, librarianship is a second career. I worked in my undergrad institution’s library as a student, then spent about six years in the communications and PR world before going to grad school for my MSLS (with a pretty random half-year stint in the federal government mixed in too). In grad school, I was able to work and volunteer in several different libraries. I also worked for a year at the campus performing arts organization’s box office.  

This is a pretty eclectic work history. What stands out to me the most now is that I use something that I learned at all of these past jobs, whether that’s a workplace lesson, a skill, or just general information, in my current academic library job almost every day. A lot of the knowledge, skills, and experience that I use now are also things that I hadn’t thought I would ever use again. I learned how to connect people with the information they need during my time in comms and PR – back then, I was connecting reporters with sources; now, I connect students with books and articles, but the fundamentals are the same. I learned how to intake random requests in communications and at the box office and figure out what people actually needed; now, I know what questions to ask students when they reach out and how not to let their panic get to me when they’re worried about a deadline (because reporters are always on deadline). I learned how to write a great proposal for a conference when I worked for the PR firm; now, I can write them for myself and help out my colleagues too. For my first few years in communications, I was also a scheduler; now, I know how to stay on top of my own calendar and also keep a lot of dates and deadlines in my head (and save my fellow librarians from accidentally scheduling a meeting for a holiday). I volunteered at a public library during grad school and now I know what things like “shelf-reading” mean (something library school doesn’t teach you). These are just the first few that come to mind – I could definitely keep going.  

I think there are a few important points to take away from these examples. First, librarianship is a career where a lot of different experiences can translate – and translate well. It’s also hard to get experience in libraries. I would encourage anyone who’s interested in this career path to think creatively about what past experiences you have and how you can apply them to the library world – there’s more overlap than you would think. Additionally, but on the same theme, I would encourage people who are thinking about this career path or who are early into it to try to say “yes” to jobs, volunteer opportunities, and anything else, even if you think it won’t be relevant. You don’t know which of the lessons you learned in a job five years previously might turn out to be relevant during your first few years as an academic librarian. All experience is valuable – don’t discount or write off anything! 

Eleanor: Jack of all trades, master of some  

One of the most important moments of my MLIS degree happened when I was introduced to SJSU’s MLIS Skills at Work: A Snapshot of Job Postings report. My professor heavily emphasized the “Job Duties Listed Most Frequently” slide, shown here: 

The “Job Duties Listed Most Frequently” slide from the Spring 2025 report. 

At this point, I had no idea what kind of academic librarian I wanted to be; all I knew was how hard it would be to find a job in the economy I’d be graduating into. I made it my mission to acquire experience in as many of these job duty areas as possible before graduating. 

I had already worked circulation at a medical library during my undergraduate degree, and when I began my MLIS, I worked part-time in technical services at a law library. During my second year, I applied for a liaison practicum, gaining experience in instruction and liaison work. While reference wasn’t originally part of the practicum curriculum, I specifically asked to be trained on the desk so I could check off the “reference” skill from the SJSU report. (I was on a mission!) When the opportunity came for a second practicum, I could choose either another liaison practicum or an e-resources practicum. As much as I wanted to keep doing liaison work, I decided to strategically broaden my portfolio of skills, particularly since my program did not offer any courses or other learning opportunities about e-resources.  

Experimenting with all these different areas of librarianship helped me discover the type of librarian I wanted to be. While I loved digging my teeth into a huge e-journal spreadsheet, I realized I couldn’t do that for 40 hours a week. I was the most energized when working with patrons, either in the classroom or research consultations. I loved sitting out at the reference desk, soaking in the buzz of the library, even if nobody came by! This helped give me direction when I began my job search. On the other hand, my diverse portfolio of library experiences also gave me flexibility on the job market, which was important in an unpredictable environment. Additionally, my experience in collections, e-resources, and circulation makes me a stronger liaison librarian today. Understanding these elements of the library helps me better assist students and faculty who come to me with access issues, and I can collaborate more effectively with my colleagues across the library.  

All experience is experience 

All three of us FYALs took different paths to reach our current academic library positions. Although those paths were varied, they were each valuable in their own ways. All of the work, volunteer, and practicum experience we gained both inside and outside of libraries helped to make us competitive candidates on the job market and currently helps us to be the best librarians we can be!