When I first told my friends and associates and family that I was going to go back to school to get my Master's degree in Library & Information Science, I was met with, at best, confused support.
Most of the time, people seemed gently baffled by my choice of a career. Many people think of those with my degree (MLIS, in my case; others have an MLS or MIS) in the classical sense: a birdlike old woman wearing a cardigan, a bun, and a pair of glasses, sitting behind a large desk, angrily shushing children and stamping books.
With this stereotype in mind, many people also think of my degree as a waste of money. For example, when I was looking for a job after graduation (during the recession that is actually a depression), I was having trouble not only finding something in my field, but also finding something PERIOD. Desperate for money, I went to an employment agency to try to find something to tide me over until I found something permanent (and preferably in my field). When I went to Spherion Staffing Services in Columbia, SC, the moron "helping me find a job" (she neither helped me nor found me a job, so I have to use quotation marks) said, in my initial interview with them, "Wow, I can't believe you have to get a degree to stamp books." She made this statement while laughing like a hyena.
So, yes, to a large swath of people, this is All We Do, and they can't imagine why we'd possibly need a degree to do this. While I knew people who had this degree, I'll admit: until about 2003 - 2005, I had no idea what they did with it, either.
My first introduction to this new way of thinking about library services was through my talented and nifty friend Laura. Laura had a job with the State of South Carolina, doing something with computers (as I understood it at the time). I assumed she had a degree in Computer Science and didn't think much about it. However, at some point, I learned that, no, she had a Master's degree in Library Science, and my mind was blown. What? Shouldn't she be off stamping books somewhere? Did she just not put her hair in a bun the times I saw her?
I learned a lot from Laura, and I started to look into the field myself, later. And I found out that it's much more varied than I had ever suspected.
And, to be sure, there are people with my degree, or one similar to it, who shush children and stamp books and sit behind a desk. Because this is a varied and changing field, though, not everyone does the same thing. Not even close. I have friends from school who work in Special Libraries (law libraries, medical libraries), who are Library Media Specialists (the new version of everyone's favorite, the school librarian), who work in reference in various libraries (public, academic), who are catalogers, who are archivists . . . the list goes on and on.
My job, for example, is hard to classify. I straddle the fence between the library and the graduate school, and I do a bit of both. I'm simultaneously in public services ("Hi, how can I help?") and technical services (we make sure you find the book you're looking for) and digital libraries (metadata!), but I rarely handle books, and I do no stamping whatsoever. I don't catalog, and I don't shelve. I don't answer reference questions.
Therefore, to many, it must seem like I've wasted my degree.
But, never fear: I was able to use my degree the other day.
Because of the placement of my office (right next to the elevators, at a dead end in a hallway), I have become the de facto Information Desk. I'm asked everything from "Can you help me find the Reference Desk?" to "Where are the bathrooms?" And, every time, I help.
A few days ago, three baffled-looking students past my office, conferred quietly out of sight next to the elevators, and, as I expected, finally peered around my door. "Excuse me . . . can you help us find a book?"
They were each looking for something different, and they had no clue where to look. The Library of Congress classification system was baffling for them, and they'd been wandering around, fruitlessly, for half an hour.
I helped them find their books, and also taught them how to use the classification system.
So, see, I DID need this degree.
And, actually, both of my Master's degrees came in handy. I asked what class their books were for, and they said English. I mentioned that I'd been an English major, and, for whatever reason, this absolutely DELIGHTED them.
Back to non-librarian work (i.e., no stamping).
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