Need idea for new career currently teaching

spring13

Fri, May 15 2015, 1:02 pm

amother wrote:

Librarian. It s a 2 year masters, some places less if not combined with information science. A degree in education will provide great background. Most programs are prob 90% women! and there are a lot of online programs as well.

Best part of being a school librarian is you get to work with the kids teaching them to be information literate without the headache of major lesson planning, dealing with parents, conferences, grades and all the out of class work. You do have to maintain the collection but you don't have to deal with others. You are there to support the educational goals of the institution without having to actually accomplish them.

Anon because many people would recognize me as a librarian Wink

I'm a librarian also, and while I love it and am happy with my choice of career, beware that job opportunities in the field are few right now; there's a lot of competition and not a lot of budget in most places, and it's not easy to stand out. Do your homework, look at what kind of jobs fall into that category and what kind of experience and skills they require, and tailor your education accordingly. Getting whatever library-related experience you can, whether through lower-level jobs or volunteering, is crucial.

If you want to work in a school, you need the master's plus a certification in School Library Media (you have an edge in that because you already have a degree in education). Knowing your educational technology is important. Try to find out about the schools in your area: some public schools have been forced to cut back on library staff for budgetary reasons, and you don't want to embark on a path only to find that they aren't hiring and pretty much won't be ever again. You might be better off taking courses and working on skills needed in an academic (ie: university) library.

I'm not trying to discourage you: I'm just trying to be realistic about how things are in this field right now.