mdoneil writes “I was talking to a Filipino friend tonight and he has a relative sitting the librarian certification boards in the PI.
They recently amended their laws and require certain specific qualifications before one is allowed to practice librarianship. The practice of librarianship without the proper license is a crime, just as the unlicensed practice of law is in this country. The full text of the law is available from the PI government website .
It must be a somewhat hard examination as the Manila Standard newspaper reports that 174 examinees of 599 who wrote the certification exam passed.
Perhaps they should do that in the States, it would certainly make it quite apparent that it is indeed a ‘professional’ career not simply someone who shelves books. It would also help salaries -especially if the pass rate were a similar 29%. If libraries were required to have licensed librarians to get state and federal funding (a policy some states now follow for library management) the licensed librarian : position ratio would improve; thus providing for better prepared librarians providing library service and improved salaries for licensed librarians.
I think it is a wonderful idea (I hold licensure/certification from NY, NC, KY and IA already). I am afraid that many librarians will not find the idea as appealing as I even though there are provisions for librarians who have been practicing for years to be grandfathered.
N.B. I have a more than casual interest in this, as it is similar to my Ph.D. research proposal.”
I have little faith in this
Like the No Child Left Behind Act, I do not have faith in the bureaucracy that will form around any such system.
Uhhh… no.
We need licensed librarians like we need more budget cuts.
I’d see this as yet another government method of getting a cut from yet another percentage of the population. Because, last I checked, licenses ain’t free. I’ve yet to get a license for anything free, from driving to business to carrying a concealed weapon. They all cost me.
Add to that my lack of faith in any bureaucratic system’s ability to actually design and enforce good practices necessary for such licenses. After all, they’ll give anybody a driver’s license and I’ve damn near gotten killed by people the government thought fit to drive. I’ve gotten lousy service from people who the government thought fit to own and run a business. And I’ve seen people with concealed weapons permits that I wouldn’t trust with a table knife, let alone a loaded Glock 9mm. So who’s to say that licensing librarians is going to make anything better? It’d just be another hoop to jump through. I figure our degrees are proof enough. After all, we actually had to work for those.
Why isn’t the MLS sufficient?
In your message you state “Perhaps they should do that in the States, it would certainly make it quite apparent that it is indeed a ‘professional’ career not simply someone who shelves books.” My response to your statement is why isn’t the MLS or MLIS sufficient to distinguish the professional? Besides, the majority of libraries I have worked at or have visited have student workers or volunteers reshelve books, not librarians.
I was a community college librarian in Iowa and at the time they had licensure requirements for 2-year but not 4-year college librarians. I don’t believe there was any requirement for public or special librarians. The whole system seemed disorganized, irrelevant and unfair. So much so that I believe that they did away with the system. I don’t like the merits of licensure for librarians to begin with, but if any such system was implemented, there should be cross the board requrirements for all librarians.
Licensing: yes
Couple of points:
1) Library schools are a laughingstock in academe because the standards for admission are so low. Law schools and business schools are competitive. They promote their programs and provide statistics on their LSAT and GMAT scores as well as post-graduation salaries and careers. Why don’t library schools do this? Maybe because they are embarrased by the fact that they will pretty much accept anybody. Furthermore, nobody in the profession is bragging about librarian salaries.
2) A “profession” by definition is self-governing. That means librarians, not “the beauracracy,” or “the gummint” would design licensing requirements. Look at the legal system as an example. The Bar exam is administered by professional law organizations.
Bottom line: creating some minimum standards for librarianship would help increase our prestige, quality of our services, and salaries.
Re:Uhhh… no.
I think the highest priced librarian license is Georgia at $85. Most states are much cheaper: New York is $5, North Carolina is free.
There are many states that already require licensure for librarians, especially for library directors and administrators.
Using your logic anyone who can get out of medical school, or law school should be allowed to hang out a shingle without passing the state exam. Unless you consider libraianship less of a profession that physicians or lawyers (who could not have become either without librarians).
Re:Why isn’t the MLS sufficient?
Because library schools turn out incompetent librarians, that is why the MLS is not sufficent.
My statement was to distinguish professionals from shelvers not to equate them. Licensed professionals garner more respect (professionally not necessarily personally) than hourly workers, not a value judgement just a fact.
Recall too that the ALA is pushing for paraprofessional certification.
Iowa does have certification for public librarians. Certification is required of library directors in Iowa. You may find out more from the Iowa State Library website. I hold Level V certification from Iowa.
Re:Licensing: yes
Of course I agree completely. I could not have stated the salient points better.
Re:Why isn’t the MLS sufficient?
What is your measuring stick for a competent librarian? Are you stating that library schools aren’t addressing the traditional basics enough, e.g. reference interview, authority checking, cataloging, etc. or that librarians are too traditional and not embracing online resources enough? If you are stating that library schools are not providing enough instruction on administration and management skills, I would agree with you.
Thanks for the link on the public librarian certification in Iowa. I did notice that the certificate is voluntary unless mandated by a library board. I noticed that the majority of the levels of certification don’t require a master’s degree. Do you believe that certification absent an MLS is sufficient? I know plenty of librarians from all types of libraries that would disagree with any such assertion.
Re:Why isn’t the MLS sufficient?
Are you stating that library schools aren’t addressing the traditional basics enough, e.g. reference interview, authority checking, cataloging
Unfortunately, yes.
Library school seems as easy to get in and out of as Denny’s. Not all library schools, but at least one local to me turns out some woefully unprepared librarians.
I think administration and management skills should most probably be learned on the job, however I am not the best judge as I had an MBA long before I had an MLS and I had a six year tenure in management at IBM before I switched to librarianship so my opinion is not necessarily broadly valid.
Yes Iowa’s certification is voluntary but the state requires library directors to be certified to receive state funding. So one could say certification is a de facto requirement in Iowa.
I don’t think any library should be absent an MLS degreed librarian, just as I think that no patient should be absent a board certified physician, nor any Catholic Church absent a priest. We must face reality. There are tiny libraries in small communities where they cannot afford a full time minimum wage paraprofessional much less a MLS degreed librarian. (In fact I am working one day a month with a small community about 60 miles north of Tampa on US19 that is rebuilding their community library with no paid staff at all. It is remarkably rewarding even when I am building shelves and stocking other library’s weeded items as the community repairs a library damaged by 4 hurricanes. It still has a card catalog!)
While I am opposed to libraries not having MLS degreed librarians, there are certain circumstances in which, due to budgetary or other constraints, they are unable to hire anyone but a minimally remunerated paraprofessional. In these cases I would prefer that they have something like Iowa’s certification where these small libraries have paraprofessionals with certification who can refer patrons to librarians if needed. Sort of like a nurse practitioner (ARNP) or Physicians Assistant (PA-C) referring a more complex case to the physician.
Utopia would be all libraries having MLS degreed competent librarians making at least $40K at every librarian no matter how small. I know that ain’t happening.
In response to your first question about my measuring stick for a competent librarian: I’m not sure I have an answer for that. I know librarians that are not competent (Someone asked about pubic lice and the first source the MLS degreed librarian consulted was Bride magazine. Another example is staff that turn to Google immediately before completing a reference interview. As are librarians who can’t use a basic Excel sheet. Librarians who think a proverb is actually a type of professional verb even when provided with an example about counting chicks before they hatch-5 times. ) I have worked with all these librarians. These are not merely anecdotal; they are examples of their regular performance. It is much easier to spot an incompetent librarian than a competent one.
Please bear in mind that I hold true the hypothesis that 85% of the people one meets each day are incompetent to judge their own competence. To be blunt they are too stupid to know they are stupid. Librarians are no exception. There is research to support my supposition. Peer reviewed journals have articles that demonstrate this.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say I am competent, but if anyone doubts me I’ll be happy to send them all my transcripts and give you the phone number of my boss. The Peter Principle really, truly exists and librarians are no exception.
I’d like to see how I’d do on the PI library exam and if I can swing it I’ll take it. I think I’ll do well and if I do take it I’ll post my score pass or fail.
Thank you for your opinion. While I don’t necessarily agree with you this is what makes LISNews such an appropriate and remarkable medium for debate and discussion. Your points are all valid and well reasoned; as I hope mine are as well. Discussions such as this further not only our individual portfolio vivi but the profession as a whole. I enjoyed digesting and responding to your post, in fact I have discussed it with co-workers and spent quite some time crafting my response.
LISNews; Vini, Vici, Velcro (I came, I saw, I stuck around).
Re:Licensing: yes
I think it is because for most people being a Librarian is something you want to be for the sake of being a librarian. People rarely become lawyers because they love the law, and how many MBA’s sit around thinking, “I love business!!!!” v. the number of people sitting in libraries right now, thinking, “God! I love books!”