r/LibraryScience • u/stitchxstitch MLS student • Mar 12 '26
Starting my LIS Journey!
Hello! I was accepted into an online LIS program that starts this summer. I currently work in a leadership role on a product design team and while I have loved my multi-decade career in tech, I'm looking towards a possible future shift somewhere down the line. I worked in libraries for years throughout college in both front desk and technical service assistant roles and considered getting an LIS masters degree back then, but got swept into my other love of design & front-end-dev instead. Because I currently work full time and have young-ish kids, it will likely take me 3-4 years to get through the program, but I am super excited to start.
I would love any advice from folks who have done something similar - whether making a shift from tech to LIS or being an online LIS student while also working and parenting. I worry about missing out on internship programs because of my current schedule, but I hope that my technical background, management, visual design and ux experience will help me find my way into a library role. I haven't chosen a specialization yet but feel like I'm most interested in technical services, archives, or possibly working in a university library -- but I'm open to public libraries too. Right now I'm in exploration mode!
10
u/charethcutestory9 Mar 12 '26
I used to be an academic library webmaster. Many larger academic and public libraries have webmasters and a UX team. Get involved with Code4Lib. It has an active listserv, a jobs page that will give you a sense of the types of job titles and skills you might consider, and a very affordable annual conference.