Don't confuse children's/teen literature with teen/children's librarianship

Whenever I have someone tell me that they really want to be a children's librarian because they love children's literature, it tells me that they don't know much about actually being a children's librarian. Most librarians start eye-rolling when someone tells them it sure must be great to read books all day, and the children's lit/children's librarian confusion is a subset of that argument.

If you looked at actual job postings for children's and teen librarians you will notice that loving children's literature is not the sole job duty. In fact, if you stated that this was your only qualification for the position, I can guarantee that they would not make you a job offer.

This posting from Monroe, Washington says:

• The successful candidate for this position will demonstrate knowledge of teen culture and technologies; 
• judgment when using reference databases and print resources; 
• flexibility in trying new approaches to customer service; 
• and enthusiasm when promoting library programs and initiatives.

I think this means you better like technology, know about marketing, have some customer service background and at least read a book about "teen culture".

This posting from Rawlings, Wyoming says:

The 40 hours/week position involves working with the programming team to develop programs for all 8 library locations. The position also involves collection development for the teen and children’s collections. The position reports to the Public Support Services Manager. The job includes a variety of evening and weekend hours.

I'm sure you will not only have to be able to pick a teenager out of a line-up, but you will also be working on collection development, which actually means you need to know how to develop a teen collection, as well as programming for teens, which can include media literacy, study skills, life skills, college/vocational preparation, helping youth at risk, as well as bullying, sexual identity issues, suicide and basic literacy. Of course, you could touch on these issues through fiction--and you will--but knowing the culture and the needs of the community going to take up more of your day than preparing Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers.

And this posting from Waukee Public Library

A master’s degree in Library and Information Science from an ALA-accredited institution, with coursework or experience in children’s services is preferred. Knowledge of literature for children and young adult, storytelling skills and programming experience are essential. May require travel to various locations for outreach programs.

Now, you have to know about children's and teen lit, but you also have to have presentation and programming (teaching and class planning) experience in addition to a knowledge of the literature. A driver's license will probably also be a must, not to mention a willingness to travel. 

Instead of reading your way exclusively through the VOYA booklists, I would recommend that you spend some time with real children and teens and learn about some of the issues that children and teens are facing and what their information needs are. So you have to meet some real children and teens in their natural habitats and even talk to them. It is not enough to have a firm grasp about what adult authors have composed for the edification and entertainment of children and teens.

If the library's hiring decisions come down to a choice like this:

Candidate A	Candidate B
was a child once briefly a teenager knows what a Time Turner is Team Gale and an MLIS	One of the former: teacher social worker youth counsellor of some type such as camp, school, addictions, etc. juvenile detention center worker or is a current literacy specialist and holds an MLIS

I think the library's hiring committee is going to go with Candidate B, provided that the candidate expresses no disgust at spending more of their professional life in the company of children.

It is clear that loving children's lit is a must, but it is not a significant percentage of children or teen librarian's day. However, over-estimating just how much time is spent with books, as opposed to people is not solely a failing of wannabe youth librarians.

Intern Nation by Ross Perlin

In Intern Nation, Ross Perlin tracks the development of the internship and its implications for labor, especially when unpaid interns replace paid workers, usually engaged in administrative tasks. Perlin begins his discussion by describing the internships offered by Disney--and finds them sadly lacking, if not exploitative, though a typical example of how fall the internship has fallen. He describes the development of the internship, possibly from early guild apprenticeships into their current modern form. Perlin examines the internship labor market in the United States, what makes a quality internship, and some of the characteristics of a demeaning and time-wasting work experience, and the potential rise, and resistance, to the spread of American style internships in the rest of the world.

Perlin also argues that without an internship it is becoming increasingly difficult to pursue the career that a person has gone to college for, such as in journalism, fashion and design, and if you can't work for free for a long period. Parents and loans are increasingly subsidizing students to take on unpaid internships and the cost can be high, considering that some internships can last for a year, could be undertaken in series and offered in places, such as Washington DC, where the cost of living is quite high. And, as others have asked, just who can afford these internships and pay for their children while engaged in these experiences? If it comes down to cost, what about the quality of the interns, if they are not selected based on merit? What does it mean for workplace diversity? And finally, is a college student shut out of their chosen career because they cannot afford to work for free for a long period of time? Perlin's answers are that if internships continues on the path they are on, qualified candidates will be shut out and homogeneity will be a significant issue in the culture and media industries which are currently permeated by free and serial internships.

Perlin sees the internship as part of the increase on the reliance of contingent labor by employers, which others might argue is part of the freedom seeking "free agent nation", and identifies a European term, precarity, to show that internships, and other contingent labor, devalue work and extinguish hope in career security, or the freedom to enter and pursue a career based on the education the person has attained. Internships affect a significant proportion of the population that are pursuing a college education and who believe that a college education will allow them to further their career plans--though many of the signs are showing, as Perlin argues, that without an internship, or three, the value of a college education is diminished, unless the student is in a legally protected profession, from pursuing a white collar career.

There are some minor editing and proofreading issues in the book, but they do not diminish the importance of the argument. Personally, I feel this is an important landmark book on the study of internships.


Authors@Google


From the Advisory: Training and Employment Guidance Letter NO. 12-09

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has developed the six factors below to evaluate whether a worker is a trainee or an employee for purposes of the FLSA:

1. The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to what would be given in a vocational school or academic
educational instruction;
2. The training is for the benefit of the trainees;
3. The trainees do not displace regular employees, but work under their close observation;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees, and on occasion the employer’s operations may actually be impeded;
5. The trainees are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period; and
6. The employer and the trainees understand that the trainees are not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.

Further Reading

Employment Law Rights of Student Interns (Abstract).
Intern Nation Author Ross Perlin: Interns Need A Bill Of Rights. The Gothamist
Trickle down unemployment and corporate sleight of hand by James Marshall Reilly, about how  low pay or no pay internships are replacing entry-level employment.
Unpaid Intern, Legal or Not. NYT April 2, 2010

Other Coverage:

Book challenges rise of the Intern Nation. Careers on MSNBC.com (from Associated Press). April 20, 2011.
Canada Turning Into Intern Nation. National Post. June 11, 2011.
Intern Nation. Inside Higher Ed. April 15, 2011.
"Intern Nation": Are we exploiting a generation of workers?. Salon.com. May 29, 2011.
Intern Nation: Overdue And Under-Delivered. Business Insider. May 4, 2011. (Not a favorable review of the book, but left me wondering if the review's author had read more than the first chapter.)
Intern Nation- Review. The Guardian. May 7, 2011. (Includes a story about an auction of  prestigious internships at a political event in the UK.)
Intern Nation- Review. The Observer. May 15, 2011.
Intern Nation - Review. The Telegraph (UK). June 5, 2011.

Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy

Editorial intern- volunteer position

Name, address and email of editor to submit application is on the journal's website. It has been removed from the posting to avoid spamming the editor.

Evidence Based Library and Information Practice seeks an enthusiastic graduate student from the field of library and information practice who is committed to improving our profession through service and scholarship.

The ideal candidate for the Editorial Intern position will have some knowledge of the publishing field, be proactive, creative, have a good eye for detail, and the ability to meet tight deadlines. This position will suit someone with an interest in evidence based practice and open access.

The Editorial Intern will contribute to the success of Evidence Based Library and Information Practice and gain experience in research publication by assisting the Editorial Team with the following:

• Promoting / marketing the journal, including calls for volunteers and calls for papers in order to reach a wide and diverse audience
• Examining proofs for consistency and accuracy prior to publication
• Updating metadata in the Open Journal Systems software (OJS)
• Managing administrative information in the OJS
• Contributing ideas for feature issues and ways to improve the journal
• Participating in editorial meetings and discussions

Interested persons should send a statement of interest, indicating areas of strength they would bring to the role, as well as a brief resume to the Editor-in-Chief, by April 30, 2011.

This is a voluntary position that will ideally last for 2 years. We anticipate the time commitment to be approximately 10 hours per month.

About the journal

Published quarterly by the University of Alberta, this peer-reviewed, open access journal is targeted at all library and information professionals interested in an evidence based model of practice. By facilitating access to librarianship research via original research articles and evidence summaries of relevant research from the library literature, Evidence Based Library and Information Practice; will enable librarians to practice their profession in an evidence based manner.

Please visit the Evidence Based Library and Information Practice web site for further information about the journal.