LISNews: Librarian News

Holy Crap. Some guy at Forbes wrote an article called, "If I Were A Poor Black Kid." Why a poor, black kid? Why didn't he just say, "If I were a kid"? If you remove "poor black" from his essay, it still makes grammatical sense AND it doesn't sound like some WHITE guy just got total amnesia about our history. So if you read the article, just try to ignore that it's completely misplaced advice, but try to focus on the details. Otherwise, damn, he sounds stupid.

With that in mind, I'm going to attempt to solve all the problems of the out-of-work librarian. And it will probably sound just as stupid.

IF I WERE A POOR OUT-OF-WORK LIBRARIAN.

If you're a librarian and unemployed, I don't need to tell you that there are lots of other librarians out there looking for a job.

If I were a poor, out-of-work librarian, I would read "If I Were A Poor Black Kid." And I would do what the author says to do about "getting technical." Most of this stuff can be learned through your local library. I hope you knew that.

If possible, I would learn another language. As much as I could. I would give up my free time and devote every second to making myself the most attractive candidate for the job. But for now, I'll assume you've made it past the application stage and have been called for an interview. -- Read More

Howard facing lawsuit after librarian found guilty of sexual misconduct charges
Five Howard University students have filed suit in federal court alleging that school officials did not do enough to protect them from an employee later convicted of sexual harassment and assault.

The students, all women, say that a librarian, their work-study supervisor at Howard University’s Founders Library, verbally and physically assaulted them from September 2010 to April 2011. The suit alleges that even though students complained about his conduct, nothing was done until D.C. police were notified.

With two master’s degrees and her own business, Terry Miller can help a small business owner make a marketing plan or a new entrepreneur perform market segmentation analysis.

And Kathy Jennings knows of at least a dozen manuals on building a deck and where to find the best recipes for apple pie.

Both are ready and willing to share their expertise with the people of Shawnee County — for free.

They are librarians at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.
Eighty-one employees at the library make more than $40,000 a year, while 49 make more than $50,000 a year. Twelve, mostly managers and administrators, make more than $70,000. CEO Gina Millsap has the highest salary — at $129,549 this year.

Millsap said those wages reflect the market — a competitive price to hire the best and brightest to staff what she described as “a world-class library.” Millsap’s 2010 salary of $125,776 is less than the average Midwest library director’s salary by $12,000, according to the Allen County Public Library National Survey for 2010.

More from Capital-Journal Online.

Obviously, your choice of degree affects your employability. There are other factors to consider, such as the popularity of the degree and the earning potential - all of which you can view here. But for a simple look, below are the 20 highest and lowest unemployment rates by degree."

Graduates of "library science," it seems, have one of the highest rates of unemployment. The post is based on 2010 Census data (via the Wall Street Journal). More...

[Thanks Von!]