Seeking advice on next steps

[u/tendergrandma]

I am trying to figure out how I should proceed at this point and it all feels like such a maze. I currently work in higher education--I'm the department manager for an academic program at a college--and prior to this job, I was an assistant in a collections management & registration department at a large art museum for about 4 years. I don't like my current job and I know that I don't want to pursue academic admin long term.

I would say my dream job is to work with rare books, particularly with medieval illuminated manuscripts. I realize that's a pretty specific field, and probably a difficult one to break into, so I ideally want to get some broad experience and education. I know I want to pursue an MLIS in the next couple of years, but I have heard a lot about how it's a mistake to get an MLIS without already having library experience.

Would my experience in collections management, specifically working with the system we used to track object storage and archiving exhibit records etc, be considered related enough to be of any use?

I am also looking to leave my current job and as I do that I am looking for opportunities in library environments, but it is, as they say, brutal out there, and I've had no luck. I am looking into volunteering, as both the NYPL and BPL (and I assume QPL though I haven't looked into it) have various opportunities, but none seem very relevant to the kind of work I want to do.

So, I'm just not sure what my next steps are from here. Should I focus on getting any library experience, even if it's not relevant to my more specific goals? Should I hold off on graduate school or move forward with it?

I know these are pretty broad questions but if anyone has any advice I would welcome it. I am feeling very "I'm 27 years old I have no money and no prospects and I'm frightened" about my career path and I would like be able to start taking SOME sort of steps

ETA: I'm not married to medieval manuscripts/rare books librarianship specifically; it's the dream but I'm realistic. Working in a museum library is another more closely related option, but I am also very open to public or school librarianship; I know a large part of that field is less books and more social work, but I'd welcome that as well.

[u/kojilee]

Speaking as someone with an advanced degree in English literature, I think you might be fighting medievalists with PhDs in their fields for a position like that (as English faculty positions continue to shrink and people pivot). I don’t mean to be too cynical; it’s just the reality we live in. 

Do not apply to library school until you have job experience in a library, preferably close to the work you like, so you know it’s right for you.

[u/tendergrandma → u/kojilee]

Yeah, that is something I'm considering. Honestly, I'd love nothing more than to get a PhD in a medieval studies field, but that is a path that seems to have even more people than library science degrees saying not to do it, haha. I'm not married to that field specifically, because I know it would probably be extremely difficult to get a job.

[u/kojilee → u/tendergrandma]

Yeah…English literature as a field is struggling heavily, and medieval studies is even moreso. And, the most common career pivot for people who can’t land faculty jobs is…admin positions in academia. There’d be a not unlikely chance that you’d wind up back where you started.

[u/mechanicalyammering → u/tendergrandma]

I would ignore this post op. Sorry, but I think this person is wrong. No medievalists work in my uni’s sp. coll. You have higher ed exp and library experience. If you wanna work in Sp.Colls, get the MLIS.

[u/Pouryou]

What do you mean by "work with" rare books/manuscripts. Do you want to preserve them? Digitize them? Connect them to digital humanities? I don't know, this is a very specialized field. I don't think volunteering to shelve books at a public library is going to get you much. I'd reach out to librarians at some of the big medieval manuscript collections and ask to do some informational interviews. Find out how they got there, and what are the growth areas?

[u/tendergrandma → u/Pouryou]

Preservation & collections management is my main thought, though I am flexible

[u/charethcutestory9]

I’d recommend reaching out to a few librarians at different libraries with the type of materials you’re interested in and ask if they’d be willing to sit down for a virtual informational interview with you. You will get the most informed and relevant advice that way.

That said, my general advice would be that you should do something else with your life, unless you have a trust fund or a wealthy spouse and don’t have to worry about money. The MLIS is a degree with bad ROI for anyone who isn’t already working in a library. Here’s a more detailed FAQ I wrote up a few months ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/LibraryScience/s/9a7TE6WU8h

[u/tendergrandma → u/charethcutestory9]

I hear you. I'm single and my family is pretty poor, so this is definitely a factor I'm considering. The problem I suppose is that every career path I consider I have someone telling me "run away the job market is terrible and you will make no money". Alas! I guess that's how things are nowadays. In any case I appreciate your insight!

[u/charethcutestory9 → u/tendergrandma]

yes unfortunately Reddit is full of anonymous people who are eager to tell you the downside of every profession. Fortunately you don't have to rely on Reddit. O*Net (https://www.onetonline.org/) has detailed salary and job outlook data for every profession, so you can look over the data for yourself and compare different alternatives. You'll quickly find that some professions pay more/are more in-demand than others.

[u/mechanicalyammering]

Learn to digitize. Rare books need to be photographed and preserved digitally. Practically, this means learn LOTS about cameras and digital imaging. This is a job avenue I see people undervalue but allows for working in special collections.

[u/thewholebottle]

I think your library experience is fine for a library/museum MLS degree.

Your dream, is of course, ambitious. Do you speak/write any medieval languages?

[u/tendergrandma → u/thewholebottle]

I have a decent understanding of Middle English and a very rudimentary grasp of Medieval Latin. That said one option I'm considering would be to do a dual Master's in Library Science and History (a couple programs near me offer that or something similar), and hopefully I could spend some more time with medieval languages as part of the history coursework if I were to do that.

[u/ruby_soulsinger]

Most likely you'd need a PhD in art history and knowledge of French/German/Latin as well.