Homeschooling provides some amazing opportunities to provide our children with knowledge and opportunities to learn about and experience various jobs as we prepare them to be self-sufficient adults. We have the freedom to tailor our children’s education with their interests, especially throughout high school. This, then, can dovetail into career options.
Our first goal is to help them figure out not only who God made them to be but also what God created them to do. Our second goal is to help them discover how their skills and talents and passions can all mesh together into an occupation that they love.
In this post of our continuing series, we’re covering librarians: people responsible for organizing and providing access to information and resources in, typically, a library setting. If you think your child has any interest in the field of library science or if you want to expose your child to various careers in the library science field, here are some ideas and questions that might be helpful to you and your child.
Possible Jobs
It’s easy to think of librarians as simply the employees who return books to the shelves at the public library, help patrons find materials, and read copious amounts of books during their off time. Lots of librarians do this, but the field of library science encompasses so much more.
With the education and experience in finding, organizing, and conveying information effectively, a person with experience in library science has many available job opportunities. Reading also leads to effective writing and editing skills.
- Librarian: A librarian could work within the public library system as a reference librarian, a genealogy librarian helping patrons research their family trees or local history, or a purchaser of new materials. They may also create special programs for patrons to promote literacy, continued learning, or local or cultural events. Librarians also manage school libraries, helping students find books and complete research assignments, from grade school libraries all the way to libraries at universities and graduate schools. Museums, large corporations, and teaching hospitals may also have libraries, although they aren’t always available to the public.
- Library Liaison / Research Assistant: These librarians work for universities or research institutions to support research needs, collect special resources, and help with writing citations. They may also work in the government, such as at the Library of Congress in our nation’s capital, which houses the largest collection of materials in the world and serves as the main research arm for Congress.
- Archivist: An archivist collects, organizes, and preserves rare documents and historical artifacts. Besides the public library, they may work in archives or museums. The most well-known example of an archivist’s workplace is the National Archives in Washington, D.C., where our founding documents are housed. Here in Indiana, the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana State Library collect and preserve artifacts and documents from the history of our state.
- Music Librarian: Did you know that the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra has a librarian who maintains their large collection of music? How fun
- Digital / Data Librarian, Information Architect, Data Mining Specialist: With a significant increase in online resources and collections, librarians may also manage and preserve digital collections for government agencies, large public libraries, or private businesses and organizations.
- University Professor in a library science degree program: Those with advanced degrees may teach library science in a college or university setting. This could also include directing the university’s tutoring center and designing courses.
- Freelance Writer or Editor / Content Developer: A librarian’s skills in research and communication often lend themselves to writing everything from blog posts and articles to books as well as editing others’ writing.
Dig in deeper here: What does a librarian do? – CareerExplorer
Skills or Interests Needed
- A love of books. Need we say more?
- An inquisitive mindset. Libraries exist to encourage and assist in intellectual exploration. A librarian must have a curious mind as one of the primary responsibilities is to assist others with questions.
- A desire to preserve information. Libraries are the repositories of historical documents and artifacts, and librarians see the end goal of preserving and maintaining this information for future generations.
- An attitude of service. A large part of a librarian’s job involves serving others by helping them find the information they seek.
- A four-year bachelor’s degree in Library Science. Today, this education is not just about the physical books in a brick-and-mortar library but also digital information. Information science is growing by leaps and bounds, and this would also be a perfect fit for a librarian. The American Library Association (ALA) states that a master’s degree in library science is appropriate for librarians.
What Library Science Is and How to Become a Librarian
How to Encourage a Curious Child
It goes without saying that regular trips to the library are a good start in nurturing any interest. While there, talk to the librarians. Ask about their education, their experience, their reason for working at the library, or three characteristics needed to do the job. This could be turned into a vocation paper for a school project. With their consent, you could make an appointment for your student to conduct an interview with prepared questions.
Your local library may allow for job shadowing, which is a terrific way to see up close what the job entails. Then, have your student write a reflective essay about the experience.
This is a helpful video that sums up some basic information. Librarian Career Video
A librarian position can be a fulfilling and inspiring career of preserving our history as well as serving others who seek information. Career choices are big decisions, so explore the possibilities and pray for and with your child as he seeks to discover what God has in store for him.