Library Manager: More Jobs For Librarians Than Ever Before

“If you want a job right now and you’ve got an undergraduate degree, go to library school and get your masters of library science,” says Jason Bird, manager of library technical services for the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board in Canada.

“There are more jobs for librarians than ever before,” Bird said, noting that many librarians are retiring at a time when a variety of public and special libraries are looking for staff.

Hospitals, businesses and other institutions and organizations all keep libraries in an information age in which the printed word, far from becoming obsolete, is still a valuable and relevant medium, said Bird, who dismisses the idea that the age of computer and Internet is bringing about the demise of the book.

“What’s really fascinating is that if you look at the statistics of public libraries and school libraries, you find the circulation numbers have increased exponentially since the beginning of the Internet age. The numbers are going up, especially public library numbers. The Internet doesn’t hurt us, it helps us. People are coming into the library and using the Internet, but they are also reading and finding out about books.”