Library Careers: Interested in Being a Librarian?

This page offers information about librarian careers, required education and more.

What do college librarians do?

All librarians who work at college libraries have earned a master's degree in library science or in library and information science. Most academic librarians have earned additional graduate degrees and have been professional librarians for many years.

All SUNY Adirondack librarians:

  • assist students, faculty and staff at the reference desk for several hours a week, helping them find quality information using books, databases, the Web or other sources;
  • participate in college-wide committees and programs;
  • consult with faculty and staff on campus-wide projects;
  • evaluate and purchase new material. Each librarian is responsible for purchasing material in particular subjects. 

Individual librarians specialize in:

  • teaching information literacy skills to classes: the SUNY Adirondack Library teaches more than 140 sessions each year to students;
  • producing tutorials, worksheets, handouts, research guides and other teaching material for students and faculty;
  • writing, editing, continually updating and managing the library's website;
  • managing the library's budget;
  • purchasing the library's books in specific subject areas for students to use in their research assignments;
  • purchasing appropriate databases and multimedia material for faculty to use in classes;
  • cataloging the library's material so library users can find items easily in the library's databases;
  • answering questions about copyright law;
  • offering presentations and workshops for students, faculty and staff;
  • working with specialized software to make the library's books and full-text articles accessible to users;
  • representing the library at college-wide events;
  • managing the library's staff;
  • ...and lots more! The tasks are often changing.

Professional Organizations and Important Links

In addition to ALA's site listed above, you might also be interested in these groups:

Books about Library Careers

Ebooks: 
Here's a search for ebooks at SUNY Adirondack about librarian careers.

  • Log in with your SUNY Adirondack username/password if prompted to see the ebooks.

Information Science Degrees

Librarians earn at least one master's degree, in library and information science. Here are SUNY universities offering such degrees:

Reference Librarian

Profile Photo
Joyce A. Miller
Contact:
Above: Joyce on college's 2017 trip to Ecuador, with live volcano Cotopaxi.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Library Science; Part-time Reference Librarian (two days a week during Spring & Fall semesters). Liaison to Business and Science Divisions.
SUNY Adirondack, 640 Bay Road Queensbury NY 12804
(Please call me Joyce, or Professor Miller.)

Email millerja@sunyacc.edu or librarian@sunyacc.edu.
Website

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