If library schools would step up and teach a curriculum that is worth anything in the real world, maybe we wouldn't be seeing the "erosion of value" of the MLS. I'm not sure, really, if the MLS has any inherent value or if it was always just an empty credential.

Library school is so easy a trained monkey could do it. The MLS is only a bullet point to be included on a resume. It has no real value, so there is no reason for employers to require it.

First, the type of organization alone should not determine the professional degree of all employees. Just because ALA is a library organization, not all employees should have a MLS. No other organization limits all employees to the same degree. They mix it up and provide for professional diversity that leads to a stronger organization. Second, most library schools barely touch on usability as a an elective, not a focus. Organizations should hire the best person for the job. In this case, the ad does not eliminate a person with a MLS, but leaves the flexibility for a MLS to prove they are a strong candidate.

I agree with texas. Library schools have much work to do, as do library students and professionals to compete in today's marketplace. The most successful candidates are those that combine the MLS with another discipline such at IT, Business Administration or Marketing.

To many MLS/MLIS programs have become vocational schools for paraprofessionals wanting a promotion. All the real work in in information science has been and continues to be co opted by the computing industry. Librarians are busy acting as clerks in book warehouses and desperately trying to force students through IL programs to do things our way. In the mean time the world passes us by doing things in whatever way they want or can invent. There my never be a paper-less office or a book-less library, but their sure as heck could be a librarian-less library in our future.

I am a recent graduate of an accredited program. I am now feeling the crunch. Most of the jobs posted are part time position with bad pay and no prospects. I recently applied to and interviewed for a public library slot. The pay was about par for other positions like it. I didn't get it. There are far too many professionals and not enough jobs. Entry level jobs are going to professionals with two or three years experience, budgets are slashed, positions are phased out, and schools are turning out more and more students. If you ask me, the problem is with the ALA turning a blind eye to reality. THERE IS NO WORK!

I am a potential new MLS student. After reading these comments, I am scared. Am I wasting my time and $ to get my MLS? I have no library experience, just looking for a new career. I have talked with several librarians and they are positive about the field but I do hear an undertone of trepidation. Please email me with your thoughts, opinions and comments. Am I making a mistake?kerriesilva@yahoo.com

I echo the same concerns kerrie has. I am also a potential mls student-- I am encouraged by other library professionals, I am a paraprofessional, with several years experience. My real issue is, would this be a wise investment? Are there really jobs? I am looking to make this a career: and this blog is good because it talks about reality. Applying for librarian positions, is it competitive like paraprofessional positions, where it is like a cattle call?
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I think one of the main reasons the MLS/MLIS even exists is to justify higher salaries for "professionals." I have an MLS and have worked at various levels in public libraries. I can see requiring a graduate degree for upper level management positions, but for entry level positions? Give me a break. And I do think it is logical that directors of major public libraries have an MBA or MPA degree, or one of those degrees plus the MLS. When you are the director of the Mega-Metro Public Library, face it, you do very little real library work. You are a politician and a fund raiser.

I graduated with my MLS in December. I went to one of the most inexpensive programs I could find, and though they churn out a heck of a lot of grads, it may be that there are vastly better programs. Of all my teachers, only one was willing to talk about classwork with me. That's sad. Isn't that what THEY get paid for? Helping us learn and succeed?

What I find now, after six months of job-searching, is that you need experience to get a job. Experience comes from starting at the bottom (as a Page or Volunteer shelving books) and working your way up into a good position slowly. I don't have time for that-- I've got $20K of student loans to pay off now.

Also, while I do feel that I learned a few things about librarian philosophy and the history of libraries and such... I had to deviate from the regularly scheduled program to take any relevant classes-- Multicultural Librarianship, XHTML for Libraries, etc.

It has been very frustrating to realize that the single most useful thing I got out of my MLS degree was a short required internship (unpaid) in an actual library-- that I had to set up in the first place. It's nice to have the degree hanging on my wall, and the internship confirmed that I'll love being a librarian if I get the chance. But I'd do just as well with a Masters in Biology or Engineering-- most library positions I see are geared in that direction anyway.

The marketing that this field is the next "nurses needed" is, I agree, false. And yet, I'd like to believe that the code of ethics I learned about are important, and that it means something to be a Professional Librarian...

Far from being the next "nurses needed" field, librarianship is going the way of the blacksmith and the typewriter repairman.

While there is competition in finding a job, I have found that employers are looking for the most competent person WITH people skills, which includes customer service. Too often, library schools attract those that have no people skills and so the jobs sometimes go unfilled. If library schools devised a curriculum that focuses on the reality of what it is like to work in a public library, then the MLS wouldn't be as worthless as it seems. Everything I learned and practice I learned on the job and not in school.

I just wanted to point out a good website for librarians to recommend to their biology research colleagues.

www.Vadlo.com

Hope you find it useful!

<h1>This blog is dead!</h1>

The only person who would do well by going for an MLS/MLIS, at least for public libraries, would be someone with paraprofessional experience who has a reasonable understanding that they have a promotion ahead if they do. Even then, I wonder what havoc will come in the wake of the current economic situation. That may well have ramifications in academic libraries as well.

Back in the 1980's I had the burden of taking care of two elderly parents for nearly a decade. Prior to this I had worked in a public library system for three years. Budget cuts ended that. The recession of the early 80's and the job situation in the state [highly politicized, with an auto parts dealer running the state library for a while] where they lived [my job was in a contiguous state]left me to look after them and do freelance writing on the side. When my folks went into a nursing home the economic clouds were darkening again, due to the situation in Kuwait. My alma mater, which was private, had its old and seemingly established, MLS program fold due to the economy and the fact that many grads couldn't find entry level work. Why spend a bundle on an MLS when a grad with a Masters in German, and no library course credit, or work experience, could get a job requiring only political connections and a grad degree in anything from one of the state schools?

Suffice to say I took another path, wrote a book that was rather successful [notrelated to libraries] and went into another field in another state. When I read about the current declining state of library professionalism and downgrading of positions, I can't help but shake my head.