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Michael: I am a (just recently) retired school librarian with an MLS degree as well= =20 as a library medial specialist credential (also two other teaching=20 credentials, but they were before I entered libraryland ). I was very=20 satisfied with my choice to stay in the school setting. In a crassly=20 commercial sense, the money I made there was more than I would have made in= =20 all but the highest positions in a public library or an academic=20 library. I enjoyed working with kids, but equally important, I enjoyed=20 working largely on my own. Literally no one in the district was competent= =20 to supervise me. I did a observably good job, the library improved greatly= =20 under my direction, and so I was left largely to my own devices, which=20 suited my style of working to a T. I loathe meetings, and in a more=20 hierarchical setting, I would have been attending those all the time. I=20 rarely had to justify what I was doing on a daily basis, and when I was=20 called upon to justify a project or action, I had done my homework ahead=20 of time, and that made it much less likely to happen in the future <G>. I= =20 was luck in that respect... some school librarians are micro managed by=20 principals who haven't a clue about library work. The down side??? Well, in a school setting, your budget will likely be=20 small and often one of the first targets for cuts when they=20 become necessary. Your job may also be a target for cutting. Public and= =20 academic libraries always have better budgets, and (somewhat) better job=20 security. I was tenured faculty, so my *employment* was taken care; but my= =20 *position* in the library could have been closed out. I loved my work, and I continue to work in school libraries (most recently= =20 in a local elementary library weeding and reorganizing the collection and=20 training staff), and with professional organizations (AASL, ALA, and CSLA).= =20 I have done work in academic and public libraries for short stints. I=20 prefer school libraries, though if I was part time reference in a academic= =20 setting, that would be cool, too! Part-timers rarely have to deal with the= =20 administrative aspects of libraryland. <G> If you have other questions, you can contact me off list. Good luck!! Mark At 07:50 AM 7/2/2004 -0400, you wrote: > Hello, > > I am a graduate student finishing up my master=92s degree, >and completing an internship in London. I am contemplating returning to >the main campus to finish up my certification so that I can work as a >school librarian (likely in the Southeast, either Florida or Georgia.) >This would require approximately two extra semesters of full time study >(with the internship as one semester) to complete=97so, a fair amount of >additional time after having already completed the basic MLS degree >requirements. > Basically I would like to know how happy most of you have >been as school librarians in your chosen field, and if you had much >contrasted experience working in libraries other than school libraries to >compare/contrast your current employment to. What was it that made you >want to work in a school library other than a public or academic library, >and what made you end up staying in a school library? (as opposed to >leaving for a different library environment). Does quite a bit of your >time revolve around having to monitor the behaviour of and/or discipline >students who enter your library (or other places in the school that you=92d >have to monitor as a teacher)? I am thinking mostly in terms of high >school, or possibly middle school libraries as opposed to elementary >schools. Is there a high quota of paperwork involved in your positions? > I know that budget cuts are frustrating. Also, it seems as >if in other sectors, most librarians (public, academic) often have a >supervisor that they report to who is a librarian as well. My >understanding of school libraries, though, is that often you report to >someone who might not have a focused understanding about libraries, their >purposes, policies and procedures. > Any comments that listserv members have, as to what new >professionals should expect in the field of school librarianship (both >positive and negative) would be helpful to me. Also, I hope that >everyone who attended enjoyed the ALA conference. > > Best wishes, > > > Michael Furlong > FSU London Library intern > London, England > maf02e@garnet.acns.fsu.edu > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- >All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. >To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu >In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL >3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. >LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ >Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ >EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/el-announce/ >LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html >-------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark Williams Retired Librarian/Library Consultant markwilliams@makaw.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The closest thing you will find to an orderly universe is a good library"= =20 -------------------------------------------------------------------- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. 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