The many different types of library returner

The many different types of library returner

What type of returner are you?

Following a period of economic inactivity, many library returners will try to go back to the workplace. However as discussed in a recent blog post, significant personal and other hurdles may make this return less straightforward. Despite the considerable professional and / or managerial experience gained previously, the long period of absence stands as a hefty barrier to returning to a job or career at the level they were before.

Are you a librarian who

  1. Changed career and found a completely different line of work?
  2. Does not work in traditional library role but uses library degrees, skills and experience in other ways?
  3. Returned to librarianship but redefined working conditions or job role?
  4. Returned to librarianship but has been unable to secure a role at the same level as before?
  5. Returned to work as part of a returner programme?
  6. Returned with no change to previous conditions?

1.     Changed career and found a completely different line of work

These returners decide it is time for a total career change. Stepping back, reassessing their career choices and opting for something completely different and new. But in such circumstances is the returner starting over? Relying only on generic skills? Or do the years spent working in library and information count in the new job and career?

Since I started working in librarianship I have known several qualified librarians who have changed career path to language teaching, translating and nursing.  For each of these different professions they have had to retrain and acquire new skills. But was the time spent investing in librarianship a waste of time? Or did they take their library skills into their new line of work?

Many of you will have heard of The Former Librarians Project. In December 2015 Verity Westgate started a yearlong project collecting the experiences of qualified librarians who were no longer working in the field to find out what they did instead and whether they were still using their library skills in the new setting. They weren’t career break returners necessarily but were all career changers. According to Westgate, the project demonstrated that library sector skills had ‘immense value beyond the sector’. For anyone contemplating changing career the project demonstrated that the years spent studying librarianship were of value.

Why were the participants motivated to leave the library sector in the first place?

The most common motivation for leaving the library sector was changes in the job or the organisation. Personal reasons, including health, family or relocation were also significant as was the availability of roles and redundancy.

Lack of availability of flexible roles, low pay in certain roles or getting fed up being stuck working two or more jobs to make up a full-time role appear to be some of the reasons why friends and former colleagues left librarianship for something different. They first had conviction and second found a chance to retrain in a different sector (or saw what they initially thought of as a part-time, side-hustle role become the area with the better prospects and increased their time doing that rather than the library work).

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

Have you changed career and found a completely different line of work? Are you still using your library skills in your new setting? Why did you leave the library sector? Please leave your comments below.

 

2.     Does not work in traditional library role but uses their library degrees, skills and experience in other ways

Mid-career changes with retraining say from librarian to archivist are not rare and there are lots of examples in the literature of book-related and information-related careers that are being pursued by people with library experience and degrees who have chosen not to make a living as a traditional librarian. Some of the books listed in works cited suggest more non-traditional careers that can be pursued after completing library studies. While written in 2007, A Day in the Life: Career Options in Library and Information Science describes in good detail the work of different librarians including a variety in non-traditional settings. These roles are usually, though not exclusively, in the private or third sector.

Perhaps what’s necessary today is a good look at emerging needs in the labour market and trying to match what skills we have to what skills gaps there are or are likely to be in information in the years to come. This is particularly important as the more traditional roles become phased out or eliminated. A quick scan of the job roles advertised provide more than a strong hint of the way the profession is developing, with more jobs being publicised in the area of Knowledge Management and Data Science and less in Librarianship. CILIPs development of KM Chartership is surely a further acknowledgement of the growing strength of the non-traditional areas. See the San José State University School of Information’s “MLIS Skills at Work” report for an in-depth analysis of the job scene in the States presently.

The best way to find out about alternative library work is to talk to people who work in these roles or areas. This is a regular conversation thread on Twitter and LinkedIn due to the highly competitive nature of the traditional library job market. Joining a LIS career group on LinkedIn and approaching that group with your questions may help you reach a greater range of people.  Also check out Infonista as Kim Dority is one of the best writing in this area.

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

Have you pursued a non-traditional library career? Do you think it would be possible to switch from one sector to another if necessary? Please leave your comments below.

 

3.     Returned to librarianship but has redefined their job role

Many returners decide to return to the same career but know that they don’t want the same working conditions that they had before. They are looking for some sort of career transition – the same line of work but different hours, a change in role, or an altered location. Or maybe choosing a shift in environment, applying to switch from a large university to sixth-form college, while still on the break.

Perhaps they feel the push-pull of family and work. Or following illness they don’t wish to return to an all-consuming role, and instead want to explore alternatives to the full-time grind.

If there is a return to the same workplace then a meeting with the employer is needed to see if there is to be a return to the same or similar job. There remains no law on career breaks in the UK, so it is up to individual organisations to work out their policy. If a job is to remain open for the duration of the break an employee may be ask to resign at the time they take the initial leave and be reemployed when they return. This may enable a change in emphasis that suits post career-break, e.g. a job share or more flexible hours.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Did you redefine your job role when you returned from your career break? Please leave your comments below.

 

4.     Returned to librarianship but has been unable to secure a role at the same level they were before

Many people have fed back to the libraryreturners blog about the difficulty of finding a professional role following their career break. In Getting Back Into the Game: how to restart your library career after a break, taking paid work at a different level to the one you were at when you went on your career break is one of the suggested options to get you back into work. It’s acknowledged that such roles are unlikely to find you working at the level or paying you the kind of wage you were used to before your break but you will be using the role to gain experience, stay connected to the profession, increase your confidence and earn something.

However, while you may be gaining some personal fulfilment, it may be difficult to prove that you are getting enough professional experience while you are doing this. So it’s wise to expand the professional unpaid experience you gain outside the workplace to help develop and expand your skills.

You could think about:

  • Using tools like CILIPs PKSB to assess the skills you already have
  • Taking courses including the elearning and Careers Hub resources on the CILIP website or those organised by by organisations such as Artefacto
  • Signing up for professional registration – undertaking or revalidating depending what stage you’re at
  • Job shadowing (library returners can avail of the NLPN job shadowing scheme)
  • Joining in professional networks – at work, or at local, special interest, regional, national and international level
  • Attending day schools and conferences – see if your workplace will sponsor you or apply for bursaries
Photo by Susan Mends

What is best? Taking a paraprofessional role to gain recent experience or waiting until you secure a professional role? Please leave your comments below.

 

5.     Returned to work as part of a career re-entry programme

In other professions, returner programmes are increasingly used either for retraining, as short contracts (returnships) or as supported routes back to employment (permanent contracts). They have been, as Carol Fishman Cohen describes, ‘quietly emerging’ in the private and third sector in mid to senior management level positions. While I’m not aware of any librarianship re-entry programmes there are many dedicated technology returner programmes. You can read more about the benefits of returnships for Women in Tech here. 

Photo by Dima Pechurin on Unsplash

Career re-entry programmes could be a great way to build the skills of the museums, libraries and archives workforce as well as the confidence of those who are returning after a long break don’t you think?   Please leave your comments below.

 

6.     Returned with no change

This is linked to points 3 and 4 above but I’m intrigued to see if someone has an extended break without any ramifications! It essentially describes the situation whereby someone returns to their role after a career break and the role and the situation they return to is exactly to same as they left it.

Now, anyone who has taken maternity leave, extended sick leave or a sabbatical can often find themselves experiencing feelings like they never left, usually during the first or second meeting that discusses an issue they heard mentioned when they were last in the room over a year ago!

Yet isn’t change the only constant?

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Are you a librarian who returned to work to the same role at the same workplace after an extended career break (e.g. two years or more)? Please leave your comments below.

 

7.     None of the above

Perhaps none of these categories fit what happened following your break. Perhaps your return has seen elements of two or more.

Photo by Shivam Gandhi on Unsplash

What type of library returner are you? If none of these categories best describes your experience, would you be happy to describe it? Please leave your comments below.

 

Summary

Choosing a career in library and information science can be satisfying and worthwhile. Which is why after a period of economic inactivity, many of us will jump back in to what we already know. But is this the wise choice? Should we be exploring different types of information work or using our LIS skills in a completely different career? And if we do go back and further enhance our credentials and our experience, for how long should we hold on if we’ve taken low paid low status roles in order to get back in? The lengthy period of absence can stand as an immense barrier to returning to the job or career at the level held previously. Few employees accept applicants from an extended period of absence to a full-time, professional, managerial role with great benefits. Career re-entry programmes could be the answer but financial pressures mean that while they gain momentum they are unlikely to step outside of the private sector.

 

Works cited / Further reading

A Day in the Life: Career Options in Library and Information Science. Ed. Priscilla K. Shontz and Richard A. Murray. London: Libraries Unlimited, 2007.

Career Transitions for Librarians: Proven Strategies for Moving to Another Type of Library. Ed. Davis Erin Anderson and Raymond Pun. Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.

Cohen, Carol Fishman. Career Reentry Programs. 2019. https://www.irelaunch.com/CareerReentry Page accessed 16/10/2019

Cutshaw, Oliver. Recovery, Reframing and Renewal: Surviving an Information Science Career Crisis in a Time of Change. Chandos, 2011.

Dority, G. Kim. Rethinking Information Work: a Career Guide for Librarians and Other Information Professionals. 2nd ed.  Libraries Unlimited, 2016.

Eberts, Marjorie and Margaret Gisler. Careers for Bookworms and Other Literary Types. 4th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2008

Hakala-Ausperk, Catherine. Renew yourself:  A Six-Step Plan for More Meaningful Work. ALA editions, 2017

Mairson, Samantha. 45 More Non-Librarian Jobs for MLIS grads. School of Information Studies, Syracuse University. 2018. https://ischool.syr.edu/infospace/2018/05/24/45-more-non-librarian-jobs-for-mlis-grads/

Markgren, Susanne and Tiffany Eatman Allen. Career Q & A: a Librarian’s Real-Life, Practical Guide to Managing a Successful Career. Information Today, Inc., 2013.

San José State University School of Information. MLIS Skills at Work. A Snapshot of Job Postings. Spring 2019. SJSU School of Information. https://ischool.sjsu.edu/sites/main/files/file-attachments/career_trends.pdf

Thanks to

Everyone who engaged with the discussion during June 2019 @Libraryreturner about part-time roles inspired by the Rejection hurts piece written by our guest blogger, Catherine Finch @Cath_Finch. For better or worse, it was your comments which inspired this blog post!

 

2 thoughts on “The many different types of library returner

  1. I returned to the field after a career break of five years. It had initially been one year maternity leave, and I did return after one year, however I felt I could not continue in a full time role, so was encouraged to move to casual employment with them (in a public library) at the rate of a librarian rather than library assistant.

    In order to return to employment full time after having three children, my family moved so our financial situation could manage the drop in income, while my partner moved to part time contract work.

    This was a major move in order to return to work, as job opportunities and mobility were better for both of us where we’d moved from. However our standard of living is possibly better here and we still have family support with the children as my father moved up here too (not with us).

    I managed to return to work at roughly the same level as I had when I exited, which is rare, I’m told.

    1. Dear thewhaanga,

      Many thanks for taking the time to comment. I really appreciate you taking the time to feedback. I agree from the examples I’ve seen so far it’s pretty rare to return to work at the same level you were when you left. Can I ask if you did anything particularly professionally to help with this, e.g. were you staying relevant on your break, connecting with peers online, networking at events etc?

      Though I think I’m going to place you in 7. None of the above, as while you’ve retained your work status, you’ve need to relocate. You’ve also shown what level of support may be needed to maintain the full-time role too – your partners shift to part-time and the extra family support. Both great to have btw!

      What do you think of my listing?

      All the best,

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Verified by MonsterInsights