Describe and compare different organizational settings in which information professionals practice
Introduction
When one first thinks of a librarian they may immediately envision their local public library building filled with popular fiction novels. And of course one will remember the kindly elementary school librarian. But, if one takes just a minute to think about it they will find librarians everywhere. Librarians work in four major settings, public libraries, school libraries, academic libraries, and in special corporate and government libraries. Each of these settings have much in common. They all have a collection of objects that are specific to the needs of the community it serves, maintain a search system to facilitate find-ability, have programs and services reflective of the collection and community needs that ensure proper exploitation of resources, and are staffed by professionals. The main differences in each of the settings is library governance i.e. how the library is funded and who is responsible for establishing the goals of the library.
Public Libraries
A public library is provided to its citizenry by a local government for example the city, county, or state. That government funds the library usually through taxing the relevant citizenry. As such the public library is very much interwoven into the local government’s politics, budget cycle, and governance (Disher, 2010). This local government generally has a library board of directors and this board appoints the Library Director and may even significantly write the library goals.
School Library
The school library includes elementary, middle and high school libraries. The direct supervisor of librarians in these settings is the school principal who in turn answers to the school superintendent. The superintendent is hired by the locally elected school board who decide on the overall goals and priorities of the school district and make all general funding decisions. School librarians are hired by the school district to support the mission statement of the district. Funding decisions are made at the board level. A school teacher librarian usually is a certified teacher and also has a MLIS degree. The teacher librarian maintains the library and also teaches students in “inquiry and literacy practices” as defined by the AASL learning standards (Harlan, 2018, P. 71).
Academic Libraries
Academic libraries are college or university libraries attached to a specific institution. The librarians who work in academic libraries often have advanced degrees in subject matter specialties along with an MLIS degree and are tenure track faculty (Gilman, 2018, P. 82). As such, academic librarians are expected to perform research and publish in professional journals and organizations. Generally, academic librarians support faculty research, write LibGuides within their specialties for specific courses, and provide student information literacy instruction (Gilman, 2018, P. 82-83). Library faculty are generally answerable to the Dean of the university. The library is funded as a part of the university budget.
Special Corporate or Government Libraries
Special libraries encompass a large swath of corporate libraries set up for specialty populations like a law library, medical library, and corporate library at a private company. These librarians may also be required to hold a specialty degree in their field like a Juris Doctor (JD) for law librarians (Megaridis, 2010, P. 110). All funding for these libraries come from the private company budget and they are especially vulnerable to budget cuts (Dee, Abram, & Hunt, 2015, P. 88). Demonstrating specific value is doubly important for special librarians.
Competency development
When I started the MLIS three years ago I had the unexpected benefit of not quite knowing what type of librarianship I wanted to practice. Consequently, I took classes to explore many of the different organizational settings to try and find my place. I started first investigating special libraries. I joined my local special libraries association and went to many meetup events to meet librarians working within special libraries. The wide range of organizations and job responsibilities were fascinating. I spoke with a librarian who worked at the Federal Reserve, one that managed maps at Apple Inc., one that worked as a research assistant to a high level Google manager, and one that refined search terms for a consumer website, to name a few. All of these discussions showed me the wide variety of settings in which librarians work. I also took a Data Asset Management class to become familiar with a role that is often found in corporate settings.
Even though I was pursuing the special library pathway in my studies, I was inspired to apply for a public library internship. I have four young children and have been researching good book choices for my own voracious readers for years. At my internship I found that I absolutely loved the fast paced environment and the diverse set of skills needed in public libraries. As an intern, I worked the reference desk, ran technology programming for older adults, and did story time. I fell in love and readjusted my MLIS class choices to reflect this new direction.
Finally, I came upon the unexpected opportunity to work in my local elementary school as the site technician and library specialist. I jumped at this chance to actually work in the library. I now work at this elementary school in the library, albeit not in the role of teacher librarian which our district does not have.
Evidence Description
INFO 294 – Los Gatos Public Library Intern Final Report
To demonstrate my understanding of the public library setting I chose to include this presentation which details my experience as a public library intern. I was part of the team of content librarians who answered directly to the Library Director. As an intern I worked alongside the professional librarians as they worked with their budgets, ordered books for collection development, cataloged a new Spanish language collection, and ran technology programming.
INFO 282 – Library Science via DAM
I chose this reflection piece to demonstrate my understanding of how information professionals can translate information skills into a business setting via Data Asset Management. A robust DAM system uses common information science themes like metadata tagging and search for discovery.
INFO 233 – School Library Program Assessment Plan
To illustrate my understanding of how librarians function within the school environment I chose my school library program assessment plan. The direct supervisor of the librarian working in a school is usually the principal. This plan includes a list of major stakeholders that the library program serves. This plan is comprehensive of the additional roles that a school librarian must consider including specific literacy programming, marketing, and reporting out to all community stakeholders.
Concluding Remarks
Although the organizational setting differs, a well trained librarian can move successfully from setting to setting by focusing on the commonalities across these different organizational settings like defining the community needs and designing services to exploit the collection to serve these needs. My personal journey through the different library settings taught me that all libraries rely on understanding the information needs of that community.
References
Dee, C., Abram, S., Hunt, D. (2015). Information centers. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information Services today: An introduction (pp. 88-93). Rowman & Littlefield.
Disher, W. (2010). Crash Course in Public Library Administration. (Second edition). Libraries Unlimited.
Gilman, T. (2018). Learning and Research Institutions. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information Services today: An introduction. (Second edition, pp. 81-93). Rowman & Littlefield.
Harlan. M.A. (2018). Literacy and Media Centers. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information Services today: An introduction. (Second edition, pp. 71-80). Rowman & Littlefield.
Last Updated September 11, 2021 at 10:09 am.
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