The Hipster Librarian from the Lipstick Librarian

Huh.

I think I need more coffee.

2011 Job Board Directory

AIRS and The Right Thing, companies that provide human resource recruiting solutions and training, have just released their 2011 Job Board Directory. If you maintain a list of job board links for your library or would like to look at some of the available job boards for a wide range of industries (special librarians, hey!) this is a useful resource.

Penguin Business Beat for December 2010

What's Your Calling?

Independent Lens will be showing a four-hour documentary entitled "The Calling" about seven young people who are pursuing professions in religious service. There will be a special livestream screening on the Independent Lens Facebook page on December 9, 2010.

There is also a companion website called What's Your Calling? that invites viewers to participate in an online discussion about what they feel called to do.

Copper theft in libraries

Copper theft isn't necessarily a career issue, but I have been more interested in library facilities lately since I read the book, What they don't teach you in library school, and also because there was a good article about the economic impact of copper theft in a recent edition of Businessweek.

• Botched copper theft causes Freon leak at Concord library
• Copper theft leaves library without power
  Copper thieves strike South Knox library
• Copper Thieves Hit Minneapolis Library
• Philly library thieves ignore computers, take copper piping

Other community centers, high schools, colleges and public service buildings, as well as farms, utilities, broadband services and cell phone towers have been hit. It is also an international problem, with reports of thefts from North America, the UK and Europe, and it is part of a larger problem of metal theft, though the high price of copper makes it extremely attractive.

Some communities are fighting back with surveillance cameras (Copper Theft Caught On Surveillance Camera), proposals to use RFID tags and rewards, not to mention the efforts made by police forces to curb the problem.

I think this would make an excellent capping exercise--possibly including resources on how to report and combat copper theft.

Best Careers for 2011

US News has released their list of the 50 Best Careers in 2011 and because they used unemployment rate, job availability projections and income, librarian isn't on it. Most of the jobs on this list require four or more years of post-secondary to enter the occupation, the list is a good argument for applying to, staying in or returning to  complete a four-year degree.

What they don't teach you in library school by Elisabeth Doucett

There are just some topics that they don't have time to teach in library school, or that were special projects or areas a library student could explore while in library school. Elisabeth Doucett looks at some of the issues a library student will have to face, from selecting a library job to dealing with a library budget and statistics.

What they don't teach you in library school is written in a plain language conversational style with short chapters--each one could be read in about 10 minutes. Topics include career management, communication skills--such as dealing with problem patrons and corporate culture--and onto topics that will help the reader learn some of the issues faced by library management, such as facilities management and budgeting.

I can easily see some of these topics becoming interview questions to see how much you know about these issues, so reading through this book prior to an interview, especially if you have not held a professional level position before, would be a good idea. The book would give you a good idea of the work environment and how to deal practically with issues, not just reporting on these issues. Each chapter also includes a bibliography/further reading, to help you learn more about the issues, so if you were looking to deepen your knowledge in a particular area, the author has suggested where to go next.