Librarian: Executive Summary

Forget about that image of librarian as a mousy bookworm. Librarians these days must be high-tech information sleuths, helping researchers plumb the oceans of information available in books and digital records. It's an underrated career. Most librarians love helping patrons dig up information and, in the process, learning new things. Librarians may also go on shopping sprees, deciding which books and online resources to buy. They even get to put on performances, like children's puppet shows, and run other programs, like book discussion groups for elders. On top of it all, librarians' work hours are reasonable.

Median Pay

National: $51,400. More pay data by metropolitan area

(Data provided by PayScale.com)

Training

• The American Library Association lists all accredited programs
• U.S. News rankings of library programs (fee applies).

Smart Specialty

Special Librarian. All sorts of organizations need librarians, not just universities and local governments. They work for law firms, prisons, corporations, and nonprofit agencies. In fact, special librarianship is the field's fastest-growing job market. Unlike public and university jobs, which require night and weekend hours, these jobs are mostly 9 to 5.

Other Resources

• Department of Labor profile: Librarian
• American Library Association
• Special Libraries Association
• A Day in the Life: Career Options in Library and Information Science by Patricia Shontz and Richard Murray (editors)
• Straight from the Stacks: A Firsthand Guide to Careers in Library and Information Science by Laura Townsend Kane