Librarians, I have a lot of questions and concerns.Please give me your wisdom. Thanks :)

Basically I want to be a librarian. However, I'm apprehensive about the job market, taking out more loans even though I'm in debt now, and my age?

I'm 33.
Female
I have a Bachelor's in Journalism that I've never used.
I've had a lot of false starts career wise. They are so strong that I think I'm cursed.
I'm $10,000 in student loan debt from the journalism degree.

I got hired at university recently(low paying job but whatever). They have a online ALA accredited Masters Degree Program in Library and Information Technology.

It's 36 hours. 18 credit course load per semester

Tuition and Fees are $8,479 per semester although if I become a resident it would be to 6,000 or so per semester.

So that's 10,000 plus 36,000 plus another 10,000 for a used car.
56,000 in debt. Or if I take the potential car off only 46.

Also as an employee of this University I am given 2 classes per semester ,after a year of service, tuition remission.

If I do the MLIS I will be 36 going on 37 when I finish. I'm not naive enough to know that job discrimination doesn't exist even with outstanding credentials.

The reason why It might take me this long is that I don't think I meet all the credentials. The GRE would get done. I have a BA and my GPA is over 3.0. However, I don't meet the one about having all your last 64 hours of course work be a 3.0. Two courses in the last 64 are lower than a B. There's a frustrating story about those two grades to lol. So basically I now have to take three graduate level courses on my own time to even fill out the application.

To be fair I also haven't spoken to a graduate school counselor. So maybe they would be lenient on some things. Also I went back to school after my BA(community college), and the courses I took there stayed A's and B's. Do you think they would substitute those for the two low ones?

The library degree meshes well with my personality(INTJ),however I also know that even though it can be used in other administrative like careers it's a dying profession. I don't want to get in anymore loan debt just to have another useless degree at the end of it.

Also how accurate is this?

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-tr...ians.htm#tab-1

I would like the do the Graduate Apprenticeship for this degree so I wouldn't have to worry about tuition. However, since I'm a employee of the University I don't know if they would let me.

I'm willing to do unpaid volunteer work at the universities library or the surrounding ones to get experience.

What I really want though is a Library Assistant's job. That probably would be the best experience.

Which specializations should I focus on?

I want something I would love,but also realistically can live comfortably with as well.I personally was thinking about Academic(I now work at a university so I could utilize the skill in the future, Archival,Digital, and Youth.

Academic Librarianship
Adult Services in Public Libraries
Archival Studies
Cultural Heritage Resource Management
Digital Content Management
Public Librarianship
School Librarianship
Youth Services Librarianship

I am confused about something though. Doesn't the entire MLIS degree teach you all these specializations? It seems you can get different certificates in them,but I thought it was all taught as part of the whole degree?

I also don't understand why on the site it says Masters in Library Science,but then it says it again but has licensure by it.

Also In desperation I took a low paying job at a University.However on this same career portal there is an opening under the professional paygrade in the field I'm actually interested in. This particular job will do wonders financially and experience wise before I even apply for the Library graduate program.

Next my sister who works at the same University is sending in resumes right now at different departments within the same university. However she has also been with them a year.

Me I don't sign hiring paperwork with them until Monday. How does it look that I'm already filling out another application at the University even though I haven't even got the ink wet for the one they have given me?

I'm also more wary about this because I don't fit all the qualifications of the good job. Education wise I do. Experience wise I don't. So let's say I send in the application. However they reject it because not enough experience then HR turns around and takes the low paying job away to.

Are my fears even grounded in reality lol. Would HR departments do this? Have they done this?

Other careers I was thinking about.

Medical Assistant.

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-assistants.htm

I noticed a lot of the skills are similar to what a librarian would be doing,but its in the more robust Medical Field.

Phlebotomist
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/p...ists.htm#tab-8

Pharmacy Technician
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/pharmacy-technicians.htm

I already have some academic and clinical experience(LPN program,didn't finish though)

Wage seems good enough since I'm only one person, and I live in the south where that salary would go a long way.

Medical Field is something that will always be in demand so I wouldn't have to worry about job security and all three can branch off into other fields.

Also both programs would be in my budget, and therefore if I have to take out loans I know I can afford to pay them back much sooner.

Cons-

Was recently diagnosed with Depression and Anxiety and now I'm afraid that this could adversely effect getting a job as a Phlebotomist if I choose this path.

I seems to be hard to find online courses for all three careers.

Miscellaneous

Education also seems like a field that keeps jobs so I was looking at this as well.

Masters of Arts in Education with Specialization in Educational Technology

Accredited by National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related

100% Online

Total of 36 semester hours

Total cost with fees: $16,524

Did you just compare a Phlebotomist to a Masters Degree'd Librarian??

And then call us a dying profession??

Also, you're gonna have some problems if you think that the I in INTJ is what being a librarian is all about:

Here's the deal. Until you're a department head or the director of a library, you'll be 90% working with people every single day. Drunk people, drugged people, angry people, some happy people, some nice people, lots and lots and lots of people.

I'm an introvert who, thankfully, has two plus years of Drama club crewing at various schools, and so, by watching all those delightful actor extroverts, learned how to fake extrovertness. But, some days I go home immensely tired just from talking to people for almost the entire 8 hour shift.

Also, I think you said you're in the south (I assume the US? But, my guess is that it's the same in somewhere like the UK). 'Entry level' for MLIS professional librarians (at least in the public library) are usually around 35-40k per year. Again, if you've then been working for decades, or you become a director then you'll probably get more like 75k.

As for Academic Libraries, it's probably a little bit more to start and since generally when you get up in the ranks there you may even have to start writing papers, you can probably make more in general there. But, I've never been an Academic Librarian so I'm not sure.

There's also a lot of competition for professional librarian jobs. The professors and such have been telling people for decades that 'we're going to have so many retiring, we'll need more librarians'. It's a load of crap.

"Doesn't the entire MLIS degree teach you all these specializations?"

Nope. At least, it didn't when I went through it a decade plus ago. For an MLS or MLIS there will probably be some core classes like Reference (learn how to do a reference interview, etc.), Technology, Cataloging (you'll either love that one or hate that one), and stuff like that. Then, I was able to take the rest of the courses in what I wanted to go into. So, if you want to be a public children's librarian, there are classes where you learn that stuff, if you want to do system librarian stuff, the same goes for that. Or, if you want to be in the Archives, that's a whole different bunch of classes.

My advice would be this:

What do you want to do? In your heart and soul. Being a librarian isn't just some easy job where you can sit and read all day. Just like every other job out there (including in teaching or the medical field). When you're starting it'll be hard, and so, you have to make sure that you love uniting people and the books or information that they're looking for. Helping patrons find what they need (or even just printing out their resumes), and helping students (who aren't always nice to you) find what they need to succeed.

When I asked myself that question years ago I came up with professional librarian, and, even though I grouse sometimes, on the whole, when a patron stands in front of me and is amazed that I was able to do a Reference Interview and find what they actually wanted instead of what they thought they wanted, or when someone is freaking out because their resume isn't printing, I help, and then later that day they come back and say they got it. It's all worth it.

Do not go into more debt for a library degree, you will most likely end being more frustrated.

Get a paid job in one or more types of libraries first to better understand the work and if you are a good fit, and they don't require master's degrees. Internal promotions are also easier anyway. Keep in mind, there will be a lot of competition at the entry-level too.

Librarianship is hardly a dying profession. The education and jobs are evolving as they need with new technologies that are incredibly promising.

"What do you want to do? In your heart and soul." Figure this out, and pursue employment and/or education that permits you to do it. Don't choose on the basis of personality test results (incidentally, I'm ISFJ). I am in my 48th year of working in libraries and archives, and I haven't regretted my career choice for an instant. It's not for everyone, but it has proven to be right for me.

I'm up in Canada so things are likely different, but if you decide you want to be a librarian or work in libraries, would you actually need a Masters? I've always been keen on library stuff and after floating around a bit I've decided to go with the library technician diploma. It's two years, and I was able to skip over of third of the course requirements because of my existing English BA. Many of the jobs in the areas you list don't necessarily need that level of education. The diploma program I took also allowed has some supplemental courses that would focus on some of the areas mentions. For example, Children's Services, Youth Services, Record Management, and Archival Techniques.

We're in a similar position I think. I've had some false starts too and have just now finished things at 36 years old. The profession (here at least) isn't dying but it's aging. Mid 30's is still relatively young in some areas.