Library Services

What are Library Services?

Libraries are buildings or rooms where there are resources like books, periodicals, films, recordings, and computers to meet the needs of individuals and groups for education, information, leisure, recreation, and for personal development. Libraries have staff members that make sure that all the materials are readily available and that patrons can access and use them efficiently.  In other words, there are lots of different career opportunities in libraries with different levels of education and skill required.

Librarians determine where the materials will be housed and create the catalogue and data bases. They help patrons—adults, children, teachers–find materials on shelves and search the online databases. Nearly all Librarians have at least a Bachelor’s degree, and some, like those in colleges and universities, are required to have Master’s degrees in Library Science.  

Other positions in Library Services are the Director of the library who has the overall leadership role, Library Managers who are in charge of whole functional areas in large libraries, and Assistants/Technicians do things like check materials in and out and perform other clerical and receptionist tasks. Then there are the Pages, usually part-time employees who primarily re-shelve books.  Most of these employees have Bachelor’s or Associate’s degrees, and Pages may be current high school or college students.

So, do you think you’d like working in a library environment?   Do you like the idea of the quiet, unhurried, serious feel?  Do you love books and like the idea of learning something new every day?  Are you friendly and good at organizing things?  Do you have an attention span that will allow you to focus closely on a task until it’s done?  Then working in some capacity in Library Services could be just what you need.  If the idea sounds boring, then it’s best to leave libraries to those who really like them!