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- Combine a love for books with good administration and management skills
- Work your way up from a library assistant to librarian
- Opportunities to progress to senior or management roles
As a librarian, you'll combine a love of literature and books with providing information and guidance to visitors, and managing books and resources.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Managing staff, budgets and statistical returns
- Using IT systems to catalogue, classify and index stock
- Dealing with counter, phone and email enquiries
- Organising IT access and solving user problems
- Keeping up to date with new publications and selecting stock
- Making sure staff follow Freedom of Information, Data Protection and Copyright laws
- Promoting library services through displays, talks and community events like reading clubs
- Attending meetings and conferences
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You could work at a university, in a commercial building, or at a college.
You'll need
To be a librarian, you'll need customer service and administration skills, the ability to work well with others, flexibility and openness to change, knowledge of English language, good initiative, sensitivity and understanding, and patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations.
You could get into this career through a degree or postgraduate qualification in librarianship or information management, accredited by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.
You'll need some practical experience, which you can get through an internship during your first degree or by volunteering at a library.
If you're working as a library assistant or you have a job with an information service, you could apply for certification through the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, studying for further qualifications while you work.
You could also join an employer's graduate training scheme and apply for chartership through the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.
CAREER PROSPECTS
You could move into a senior job as a manager, or you could take responsibility for a specialist service or collection. If you hold a senior position in your organisation, you could apply for professional registration of CILIP.