Midlife career change: systems librarian

November 5, 2009 5:12 PM

I am investigating a midlife career change from software engineering to systems librarian. Thoughts on feasibility?

My background includes a bachelor's degree in music theory followed by a 25 year career in software engineering, ending this year when I was downsized from my R&D management position at a large computer company. Finding work in this field has not been fruitful and I am considering taking the time for education and starting off in a new direction.

Following this path, in 2011 I would be a 53 year old male with a freshly minted MSLIS degree (likely earned online) with virtually no experience working in a library but with career experience in technical project and people management and an affinity for working with software and hardware.

I currently live in the Northeast US.

Comments, insights and suggestions are most welcomed!

posted by LeeNicholson to work & money (8 comments total)

You'll probably be okay. I'm a systems librarian, but with nowhere near the amount of experience you have had -- I was a systems administrator for about a decade before becoming a librarian. My systems admin experience was in libraries though. Finding a librarian job without prior library experience can be very difficult for newly minted librarians, at least in academia, but your experience will probably be a big boost for you and I don't think you'd have any problems. Good luck with your program!
posted by the dief at 5:19 PM on November 5

I say this everytime anyone wants to go into librarianship: Check the salary surveys first.

(and good luck!)
posted by cestmoi15 at 5:38 PM on November 5

Regarding salary... yes, I realize that there are careers that offer higher salaries. More money might be nice, but in my 50s I am more inclined to seek job satisfaction and stability. Many professional are in decline in the current recession, but when the economy improves my thought is that libraries, library technology and educational institutions will fare well enough. The software industry, by comparison as something I know, will continue to seek "lower cost alternatives" for it's workforce.

Thanks for the quick feedback!
posted by LeeNicholson at 5:52 PM on November 5

There are a lot of people in your area doing systems work very happily in the public library systems in the general area where I live. In fact both Massachusetts and New Hampshire are looking into large state wide systems projects with their libraries that will require paying more local systems folks where previously they would have bought off the shelf products.

I would advise you to get used to some of the products people are working with now, especially ones that can be modified and messed with [examples include CMSes like Joomla Plinkit and WordPress as well as open source library systems tools like Evergreen and Koha] and start now to learn them You don't even technically need an MLIS to do some of the work that's being done and if you started learning the tools at the same time you were investing time in classes, then you'd be poised to help out when the libraries got their acts together. It's a good time and you're in a good place.

That said, the jobs don't pay well. So, don't go broke for your degree. Unless you're really looking into acadmic librarianship, you're better off witha decent degree from a place that you like and you don't go broke attending than an expensive degree from a place that won't give you more status *cough* Simmons *cough*

Seriously if you could manipulate Koha effectively I could probably find you work doing this in a few months, so while I'd take the long view at some level and get the education you want, don't necessarily assume that you need the full degree to be considered to do systems stuff. The more DIY a place is -- and this includes a lot of small town New England -- the more they need to hire people to do projects for them. It's a slightly different environment working for consortiums or for services companies than actually being at a library desk, but there's definitely work there and people with real software experience are very valuable once you sort of grok the mission of the libraries generally.
posted by jessamyn at 6:21 PM on November 5 [2 favorites]

Thanks, jessamyn. Encouraging feedback. Massachusetts and New Hampshire are within easy striking distance for me.

I have visited Simmons and discounted it as an alternative. Not quite the type of program I am seeking, so I will likely attend a so-called iSchool as a distance learner. I have some financial resources to apply to this education, but I am most interested in value for my tuition dollar.

You mention Koha. During my investigation, I have interviewed a few library directors at local colleges and the topic of open source ILS came up. They viewed the alternative favorably. I think this is the type of area where my background would be an asset. I come from a systems software development background which includes some very complex user and kernel space implementations. My gut feeling is that an open source ILS would not exceed the complexity of those implementations. I will look into Koha and the other technologies you mention - thanks!
posted by LeeNicholson at 7:00 PM on November 5

If it's academics you're angling for, you might be better off looking into Evergreen rather than Koha. I don't know of any academic Koha installs, but there are a few folks looking into or already implementing Evergreen. Both are fine systems for learning, though.
posted by the dief at 9:26 PM on November 5

A head's up, for what it's worth: Librarians (I started to write 'old-school librarians' but I'm not sure that's accurate) seriously dislike systems folks coming in and trying to boss them around with their technical knowledge. I've seen systems librarians hamstrung by this. Learn & respect the culture of libraries (and it sounds like you're going to) and you'll be vastly more successful and popular.
posted by onell at 7:36 AM on November 6 [1 favorite]

I was a systems librarian for 13 years before becoming a director 2 years ago. A lot of what you will be doing will be desktop support, as generally once a network is set up and humming there isn't much maintenance to be done. Depending on your situation, you may be doing web page design as well. Start looking at the job descriptions for systems librarians at www.libgig.com to get a feel for what you will be asked to do. And to nth what jessamyn said, try to find an ALA accredited program that isn't too expensive. Good luck.
posted by davismbagpiper at 7:58 AM on November 6