There are four basic categories of libraries: 1) Public Libraries – which are created and administered within the jurisdiction they serve; 2) Academic Libraries – are owned and operated by institutions of postsecondary education such as colleges and universities; 3) School Libraries – are those which solely serve the need of its respective public or private school; and 4) Special Libraries – a kind of library owned by an organization, which are highly specialized and whose collections are restricted.
The number of available library jobs depends on the size of the library, the volume of material stored and also the organizational structure adopted by a particular library. The most common hierarchal structure of a library starts from the director, then to the assistant director, and then the librarians of each department or section and below them are the library technicians and library assistants.
The Library Director or Head Librarian is responsible for planning, development, and implementation of library services, including budget preparation, supervision, and evaluation of personnel and facility maintenance. Below the director is the assistant director who assists the director in his/her functions and acts as the officer-in-charge in the absence of the former.
Under the director and assistant director are the librarians who are either assigned to a particular section/subject such as law, mathematics, social sciences, fiction, or have specialized tasks not falling under any given section/subject. Examples would be: cataloguing librarians, application specialists, electronic resource librarians, research/reference librarians, records managers, archivists, indexers, and several other librarian types availability of which depends on the libraries unique organizational structure.
Library technicians work under supervision by librarians. They help librarians in the acquisition, preparation, and organization of materials and assist patrons in locating what they are looking for. Library technician duties are extending as libraries make increasing use of the internet. They are responsible for operating library programs and retrieving information from computer databases. Technicians also catalogue and code library materials and work with librarians in supervising lower level staff. In some libraries they are responsible in the operation and maintenance of audiovisual equipment and assist patrons in the use of microfilm and microfiche readers.
The work done by library assistants has some overlap with library technician jobs but is more concerned with clerical duties, as in shelving books, checking in returned materials, organize and maintain newspapers and magazines, preparing books and other material for binding, prepare invoices, and assist user queries.
Library employment outlook as a librarian is expected to grow only by about 4 percent between 2008 and 2018, below the average for all occupations. Constraints in government budgets and increasing use of electronic resources are the main cause of this limited growth. Both result in the lower number of library job openings, specifically for librarian positions who will mostly be replaced by lower paid library technicians and assistants, wherein the job employment demand will grow by about 9 percent, added to this are the ever growing number of people who access large library databases right from their homes through the internet.
Other library careers not discussed is maintenance personnel as well as security personnel. The average annual salary range for the most common library job is $73,000.00 for library directors, $66,000.00 for librarians, and $53,000.00 for library technicians and $51,000.00 for library assistants. Applying for a library jobs is easy because most of them don’t require special training or bachelors degree unless you want a professional position where you will need a master’s degree in library and information science. If you want to work as a librarian all you have to do is visit a library you want to work with and fill out an application form and remember to answer the questions truthfully. Write a cover letter detailing why you are a perfect fit for the job and put together a resume that will show the hiring manager that you are really qualified for the position. Don’t forget to list your references that will be able to help you land the job that you are looking for.
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