Great Article in the Chicago Tribune on July 25 by Erinn Hutkin called “Google can’t compete with a skilled librarian steeped in information technology”. See http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-201407250000–tms–careercarer-b20140725-20140725-story.html.
A few takeaways from the article:
- The profession has gone beyond being book focused (Any surprises there?)
- The articles seeks to inform the public about the variety of places where librarians work: Law firms, corporations, medical libraries, etc.
- The article also describes the variety of work that librarians take on such as teaching patrons about library resources, organizing library materials, planning programs, choosing equipment, and preparing budgets
- You have to like Skokie Public Librarian Mikael Jacobsen’s quote, “We are facilitating learning and creating community.”
- The public is in need of librarian instruction on special technologies
- The most common undergraduate majors prior to getting an MLS are education, English, history, and fine arts.
- 90 percent of the 2011 graduates from the MLS program at Dominican University were employed within a year
- Employment of librarians is predicted to be 7% by 2022