Salaries of librarians with an ALA certified education are nearly $5,000 more than librarians without certified degrees.

There are more than 200,000 librarians employed in the USA and approximately 80% of them are women. Roughly two thirds of them work at a public library and the rest work at private institutions or non-profit organizations.

Surveys consistently show that librarians report lower stress levels from work than many other professions. No job is stress-free, but librarians do have a more pleasant work environment than many other jobs.

Digital Archives

It used to be that a librarian would deal entirely with physical resources. Collections would consist of things like maps, tapes, microfilm, and of course�books. The biggest challenge that librarians faced used to be how to acquire, organize, and keep track of a vast assortment of these physical resources with a limited budget.

Librarians today are faced with the challenge of managing resources that are entirely digital. There are massive collections available online that incredibly valuable and that are available only in digital format. Museums, libraries, and other organizations are constantly digitizing content in an effort to make the resources available to the largest audience possible for the least cost. Some libraries have even decided to get rid of all physical resources entirely.

Here are some of the digital resources available today:

Public records in the digital age

Digital Public Library of America

Internet Archive

Library of Congress National Digital Library Program

Digital libraries available to the public online

Do you have a real interest in working with the community, improving the education of our future generations and being part of an institution that maintains the history, stories and experiences of our past? If so, then a career as a librarian might be right for you. This resource is designed to provide information on librarian careers, educational requirements, and job specializations to help you decide if becoming a librarian is something you want to pursue.

Have something you would like to share with us? Just complete the form on our contact us page and we will try to respond as quickly as we can. We look forward to hearing from you!