Careers

The Simmons library science school was founded in 1902, a turn-of-the-century moment between the Industrial and Information revolutions. For more than 100 years, our graduates have been pioneers in their profession, recognized for their amazing achievements and remarkable careers, throughout New England, across the country, and around the world.

Our alumni work as archivists, digital asset managers, specialists in literacy and childrens literature, reference and periodicals librarians, rare-book specialists, catalogers, preservation managers, web designers, publishers, information architects, medical and law librarians, and knowledge managers. They choose careers in archives, museums, historical societies, and the information industries.

Still wondering what can you do with a library and information science degree? Explore the resources we have gathered below about careers in library and information science, check out our programs, or better yet, hear it from our current students and alums.

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Library and Information Science

• U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook
  The Librarians section gives a comprehensive outlook and general description of work, working conditions, employment outlook, necessary training and qualifications, earnings, related occupations and sources for additional information.
• 'Value of the Information Professional'
  Explore the field of special librarianship, read the Competencies for Information Professionals, and see how special librarians provide value-added services at the Special Library Associations Web site.
• ALA Careers in Libraries
  Describes the different types of librarianship (both professional and support-staff positions) and provides information about librarianship in general, including two articles, 'Places an M.L.S. Can Take You: Alternative Careers for Librarians' and 'The Top Ten Reasons to Become a Librarian.' Also see the Divisions page to explore the homepages of the Association for Library Service to Children, the Library Administration and Management Association, and the Library and Information Technology Association, to name a few.
• Association of College and Research Libraries
  Scroll down to the bottom of the page to read past columns in the 'Jobs of a Lifetime' series. For example, 'Observations of an Observatory Librarian' (written by the solo librarian at University of Arizonas Parker Library Steward Observatory), 'When Your Campus is Alaska' (written by the off-campus librarian at University of Alaska-Fairbanks), and 'Around the World in 100 Days' (written by the Semester-at-Sea librarians).

• INALJ (I Need a Library Job)
  Founded October, 2010 by Naomi House, MLIS, INALJ is a list of jobs for librarians and other information professionals harvested from dozens and dozens of websites, RSS feeds and listservs. INALJ can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, daily jobs digest, INALJ.com and the LinkedIn group. The service is free and volunteer run by librarians and library school students. The daily digest is usually over 180 pages long, chock-full of jobs. Over 600 fans have now found jobs and these numbers are rising all the time.

  Also check out links for the following specialties:

  • Academic Libraries
  • Art Libraries & Services
  • Indexing
  • Information Architecture
  • Information Industries
  • Information Technology
  • Law Libraries & Services
  • Medical Libraries & Services
  • Music Libraries & Services
  • Public Libraries & Services
  • Reference and User Services

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Archives and Preservation Management

• U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook
  The 'Archivists, Curators, and Museum Technicians' section gives a comprehensive outlook and general description of work, working conditions, employment outlook, necessary training and qualifications, earnings, related occupations, and sources for additional information.
• So You Want to Be an Archivist: An Overview of the Archival Profession
  Describes what archives are, the work of archivists, archival repositories, qualifications for employment, and salaries and benefits.
• SCoSAA
  The Web site for the Simmons College Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists.

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School Library Teachers

• School Librarianship as a Career
  This guide, developed by the American Association of School Librarians, presents a bibliography of resources about becoming a school library teacher. Also be sure to explore the AASLs Web site.
• International Association of School Librarianship
  A huge directory of links including newsletters, conference information, toolkits, and e-mail distribution lists revolving around school librarianship.
• 'Want to Change the World? Become a School Librarian'
  Statistics on school librarians from the Pennsylvania School Librarian Association.