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.

Librarian Education

Librarians have been a part of our society for more than a hundred years. The first official school for people that wanted to become librarians in the USA opened in 1887. The father of the famous Dewey Decimal System, Melvil Dewey, was actively involved in that school.

Nowadays, if you want to become a librarian, you will have to undergo a certain educational path. Most librarians have an American Library Association (ALA) approved degree, but many others do not. Deciding on what school to go to and what type of degree to pursue to become a librarian is a complex issue.

Here are some resources on librarian education:

Think you want to become a librarian?

Educational requirements for librarians

Library and Information Science degrees and careers

Archivist and Digital Curation degree specialization

Developmental history of librarianship

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!