Librarian

A librarian is a person who develops procedures for organizing information and provides services that assist and instruct people in the most efficient ways to identify and access any needed information or information resource (article, book, magazine, etc.). In the workplace, the librarian is usually a professional with a Master's degree in library science or information science who is trained and educated to analyze information needs and use a wide variety of information resources to meet those needs. Although librarians are traditionally associated with collections of books, they can deal with the organization and retrieval of information in many formats such as Internet resources, compact discs, photographs, videotapes, newspapers, magazines, and computer databases.

Librarian roles and duties

The specific duties vary depending on the size and type of library, but most librarians spend their time working in one of the following areas of a library:

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• Public service librarians work with the public, frequently at the reference desk of lending libraries. Some specialize in serving adults or children. (In larger libraries they may specialize in teen services, periodicals, or other special collections.)
• Reference librarians help people doing research to find the information they need. The help may take the form of research on a specific question, providing direction on the use of databases and other electronic information resources; obtaining specialized materials from other sources; providing access to and care of delicate or expensive materials. Increasingly, these services are provided by other library staff.
• Technical service librarians work "behind the scenes" ordering library materials and database subscriptions, computers and other equipment, and supervise the cataloging and physical processing of new materials.
• "Collections librarians" monitor the selection of books and electronic resources. Large libraries often use approval plans, which involve the librarian for a specific subject creating a profile that allows publishers to send relevant books to the library without any additional vetting. Librarians can then see those books when they arrive and decide if they will become part of the collection or not. All collections librarians also have a discreet amount of funding to allow them to purchase books and materials that don't arrive via approval.
• Experienced librarians may take administrative positions such as library or information center director. Similar to the management of any other business, they are concerned with the long-term planning of the library as a business, and its relationship with its parent organization (the city or county for a public library, the college for an academic library, or the organization served by a special library).
• Archivists can be specialized librarians who deal with archival materials, such as manuscripts, documents and records, though this varies from country to country.

Common examples of tasks:

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• Researching topics of interest for their constituencies.
• Referrals to other community organizations and government offices.
• Suggesting appropriate books ("readers' advisory") for children of different reading levels, and recommending novels for recreational reading.
• Supervising and promoting reading clubs.
• Developing programs for library users of all ages and backgrounds.
• Managing access to electronic information resources.

Recent issues of concern for U.S. libraries include implementation of the Patriot Act and the Children's Internet Protection Act. Yet librarians around the world share American librarians' concern over ethical issues surrounding censorship and privacy. Some librarians even join activist organizations like the UK-based Information for Social Change and the North American-based Progressive Librarians Guild. Within the American Library Association (ALA), some also join the Social Responsibilities Round Table. SRRT came into being amid the social ferment of the 1960s and is often critical of the American Library Association for not living up to its professed ideals. Another important activist organization is the Social Responsibilities Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries(AALL). These activist organizations are viewed as controversial by some librarians, while others view them as a natural extension and outgrowth of their own deeply-held library ethics.

Related Topics:
Patriot Act - Children's Internet Protection Act - Censorship - Privacy - American Library Association

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