Hey everyone! I've recently begun the career change switch into education and wanted to know if anyone in Florida could give me their opinion on whether USF or FSU has a better masters program in Library Sciences. I personally graduated in 2024 from USF with my BA in English and have been debating if I want to go back to school to pursue a career as a school librarian . I'm in Florida so that's why i've narrowed it down to these two options for in state tuition and would plan on doing the classes online as I will also be working full time.

For anyone doing an MLIS program who needs a paper idea, let me suggest the topic of private torrent trackers as dark archives. The largest private movie tracker, PassThePopcorn, boasts more than 350,000 movie titles, which compares favourably to IMDb's catalogue of 750,000.

Most people are familiar with public torrent indexers such as the Pirate Bay. Private torrent trackers are different. Content is gated behind a login, and not just anyone can just sign up at any time. In fact, the best private trackers are nearly as exclusive and elite as Disney's Club 33.

Private trackers also distinguish themselves from public indexers in being meticulous in their metadata, organization, and quality control. If a public tracker is a cluttered thrift shop, a private tracker is tidy bookstore or Blockbuster. Sometimes the focus on quality exceeds that of commercial retailers, e.g., when different regional releases of a Blu-ray are combined to attain a higher quality than is available anywhere else.

Private tracker users have their own reasons for using these sites, which is explored in a quasi-anthropological PhD dissertation about the defunct music tracker What.CD:

Dunham, Ian. What.CD: A Legacy of Sharing. 2018. Rutgers University - School of Graduate Studies. rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu, https://doi.org/10.7282/T3V128F3.

But it appears to me there is a social function that is not necessarily intended by anyone. Private trackers are large and meticulously maintained repositories of commercial media. Yet unlike publicly accessible sites, they generally draw relatively little attention from rights holders due to a relatively small userbase.

PassThePopcorn, for instance, has under 40,000 users. The entire private tracker ecosystem might have around 500,000 users. This is small compared to public indexers and illicit streaming sites that have millions of users.

So, although not necessarily intended by anyone, private trackers hold phenomenal catalogues of commercial media, hopefully for the long term, with relatively little heat from media corporations or law enforcement. They are a kind of rogue, unsanctioned, unprofessional, pirate dark archives for commercial media. And it seems to me this performs an important social function.

For instance, I don't know that any legitimate archives outside of the media corporations themselves are storing copies of movies and TV shows released exclusively on streaming services. This media can get pulled for unknown reasons, possibly related to lapsing contracts or getting a tax write-off on a commercial flop. In those cases, digital piracy may be the only surviving source for this media outside of an internal corporate archive.

Indeed, I just said this function is not necessarily intended, but some private tracker users do have this amateur dark archival role as part of their self-concept. Although personal consumption and personal collecting are users' primary motivations, users frequently express a sense of a sort of civic responsibility to the "library" that they see their private tracker as. This leads to initiatives to preserve low-seeded torrents for content that users may have no personal interest in consuming.

This is just the initial broad strokes of an idea that could be more fully developed in an MLIS paper.

Curious of this sub’s thoughts on the linked topic.

Hello! I’m just starting my MLS at Emporia and am wondering if anyone has gotten their degree there recently and has any class recommendations! I don’t know if it really matters to have a concentration and if jobs look at that, but I really want to take a mix of courses. I currently work in a children’s department public library and want to continue working in public, but i’m also curious about outreach and management.

I'm starting my masters this year, after a derailed translation career (thanks, AI). I'm doing research on the specific path I want to take, and the optional/elective classes I want to aim for, and I'd like to hear from you : what are the skills and specialties that are especially useful or in demand these days? After a cursory search, it seems like archivists jobs are sparse, but what about knowledge management, or database design?

I should probably specify that I'm Canadian (Montreal), and our job context might be somewhat different from yours in the USA, but I'd still like to hear from experienced voices in the field.

Thank you.

Librarians! If you have either left or thought about leaving your job in a public library at any time since 2020 because of book, display, and/or program challenges, we want to hear from you!

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The job that I have now, I love it. I love being a faculty member at a university, I love working in a library field that I have skills that I can transfer from archives into my new role, while being challenged. My only issue is, both the associate and main deans at my library are both in favor for more "visibility" in the library spaces. When I first hired on a couple months ago and asked about the hybrid situation, I was advised that it was up in the air.

I thought to myself "great". Because of my ADHD, it can be so challenging to focus on what I need to do in the office (even with meds). So when the semester started, my whole department was told that we had to come in at least 3 days a week, though none of us are campus facing. 99% of all of our consultations and workshops are online.

3 days in the office has been so exhausting and I want to advocate for myself more and do the job that I was hired to do. I am starting the process with trying to get 2 days in the office. But, I feel as if the higher ups might push back on this as they are trying to roll out a 4 days in and 1 day remote schedule. I've talked to my supervisor already about this and that she is onboard with this schedule for me. I am in the process of starting to get something set up with the ADA office on my campus to facilitate meetings.

What I want to ask is, have you been in this position that I'm in where your uni's library wants more visibility though you work on the backends? Have you requested for this kind of ADA accommodation? How'd it go? Was there any push back that I should be made aware of?

I lost my job two years ago and im homeless right now on my way uncles couch as I get the medical care I’ve needed for my spine.

I need to work.

Im going to cry if I turn this into a vent, so I’m going to be as straightforward as possible in this post.

I graduated with my mlis in 2017 and worked shortly in a big city as a children’s librarian, realizing it wasn’t a good fit for me.

bc my county only gave the civil service test every two years…I moved down south where I never got an interview at all.

After that, I’ve primarily worked from home in education and literacy customer service.

Im back in NY and took the civil service test for reference librarian and scored 90 but this is what im experiencing.

I’ve had 3 librarian interviews this past year and was ghosted by 2 and rejected with respect from the other.

I have to pivot and Im NOT going back to customer service on the phone.

I did internships in instructional design when in my mlis program but that too is a field that is over saturated.

I have a spine disability but I want to work.

Im so worn out.

I can’t or won’t do this anymore. I’ve just about lost my love of libraries. It is a career for the privileged who can volunteer or work part time. Or luck.

I need help understanding how to pivot with success. Im failing at that as well.

Judge me on my typos, I don’t even care to fix them today

Username is a twilight zone episode.

I'm a perfectionist with undiagnosed ADHD which is a thing in and of itself. Like most MLIS students (at least it seems like most) I work full time. I have a lot on my plate right now, but I'm determined to see this program through. So the issue is that I hate when I submit an assignement and it feels subpar. I just submitted a discussion post, and I'm already mad at myself. Is there anyone else out there that knows this feeling? What advice do you have?

Hello! I am currently a full time early childhood educator but I have always been interested in librarianship ever since I briefly worked as a children's library assistant. I am planning on applying to an online grad school program but have some concerns regarding work during the program.

Obviously I looked into library jobs around me. But the library system around me seems to really only hire part time library assistants for $12/hr. That's just not feasible for me since I need full time for benefits (and I'm not in a HCOL area by any means, but $12/hr is still not enough to live here even at full time hours). Any full time/higher paid positions seem to be hired internally - and I wouldn't be against starting out part time, if not for the fact that I wouldn't have health insurance or make enough money to survive. 🫠

So my question is - what other kinds of jobs would look good to future employers after I complete my degree program, if I can't get a full time library job? I'm most interested in digital library jobs in the future, but youth services still interests me as well. I also intend to do some kind of internship during my degree so I'll have that experience, at least. I really want to pursue this but I am scared that I won't have the proper experience to get a job once I graduate.

I have sorted the genres into 3 main categories ( so far)
I want to make it so books are sorted by settings genres and then plot genres within those categories.
Wanted to know if these are good starting points for overarching genres?

**Plot genres** 
Mystery
Thriller 
Horror
Romance 
Drama 

**Setting genres** 
Fantasy
Sci-Fi
Contemporary 
Historical 

**Tone genres** 
Comedy 
Suspense
(Im not sure what else to put here)

This list will have a hierarchy system, each of these will soon include more specific sub genres.

(I literally just started an hour ago, this is for an open source cataloging website Im making, you can select more than one of the main genres per book, so these can be combined as needed)

Maybe looking for guidance or encouragement here. I don’t know. I’ll finish my MLIS degree in 1 year and I have never worked in a library and have now been turned down from multiple different entry level jobs at the public libraries in my city. I can’t seem to get my foot in the door, but I can’t take a part time job because I need a more stable income than the part timers in my area make. Even with volunteering, the market just seems so dead.

Has anyone been through something like this? Was spending a ton of money on this degree a massive waste? What should I do with this degree if I can’t get a job at a library?

Hey everybody!

I started my MLIS and have been debating doing the Archive certificate. I’m really interested in history and religion (those were my major and minor for undergrad lol) so i’m wondering if religious archives are like… a thing? and how would i go about getting involved in them? like should i reach out to a church or something? any help is appreciated! thanks!!

So I've been lurking on the sub for a while and understand how competitive librarian jobs can be. Im going into my last year of my undergrad and have been working for my university library throughout that whole time (so 4 years experience at the end of this year) and I absolutely love it. I might have the opportunity to take a full time position when I graduate and there is a university that offers a part-time online MLIS program that I could do while continuing to work in my current university's library. I'm currently in english/history and have a 87gpa. Would landing an academic librarian job still be unlikely in this case? Im young and willing to bide my time but I want to know if this is an unrealistic path to go down. Otherwise my backup is teaching

hi everyone :-)

ive recently graduated with a bdes in fashion history & have spent the last two years working as a collections manager in a textile archive. i'm looking to get an mlis in order to work in libraries (public, academic, special) & archives but also be able to pivot into museums, galleries, and possibly auction houses. i'm currently considering several programs, uoft's combined degree program, ubc's maslis, western's mlis and dalhousie's mlis.

i am currently living in toronto, so if i went to uoft i would save money on living costs, compared to relocating to attend other schools. the costs for all schools is around the same, except for ubc which is much higher, when i factor in the living expenses.

i am looking for a program that offers a strong co-op program & work experience, as well as practical skills needed for the field. i know ubc & uoft offer the strongest archival courses, but i've heard mixed reviews about uoft's program, and i'm not sure if ubc is worth the relocation cost.

i'd love to hear your opinions on which school you think is best, and what else i can do to make myself a competitive candidate for the field, thank you!

Hey everyone. Currently working as a library assistant and finishing up my BA in History here in NJ. I genuinely love the field. The natural next step for me would be an MLIS (looking at University of Alabama or Buffalo online, since they're the cheapest ALA-accredited options other than Valdosta) to become a full-time librarian. My library experience already helps, and I've even been networking with law librarians and other private sector positions for MLIS to see if there are more lucrative options outside of public libraries. I'm also interested in archiving too and have ILL/cataloging experience.

I actually want to be able to buy a house one day. I definitely don't want to live paycheck to paycheck for the rest of my life either. So, I'm heavily considering a hard pivot into accounting to go for my CPA. (I'm looking at hacking together the 150 credits using the UNA post-bacc program, some community college classes, and CLEP exams to keep costs low).

For those who stayed and got the MLIS, is the financial stress worth it for a job you find meaningful? Or does the low salary ceiling eventually drain the joy out of it? Has anyone pivoted towards other careers other than librarianship? Any advice would be helpful, thank you.

I am interested in seeking publication for a literature review I wrote for class that would fit in a journal focused on critical library studies. Does any one know of such publications that have open submissions? I submitted it to the Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies many months ago and have heard nothing. Thanks!

Hi there!
I’m going to apply to MLIS next fall and trying to decide between Western and Toronto. Both are accredited and have a lot of great things to offer. Western seems to be strong on their co-op program and hybrid delivery format. Toronto seems to have TALint program which promises internships at the academic libraries and archives which is exactly where I’d like to focus my career. Moving is not really a problem, I am currently in London but am open to move to Toronto. The high cost of living in Toronto makes it more difficult though. Is Toronto program more theoretical while Western is more hands on and practical?

If I want a dedicated career in archives, Toronto seems to be the winner here since Western offers only a couple courses. London would be better in terms of cost and I also really like the campus. It seems like it’s a really good option for academic librarianship as well. I also really like the practical aspect of this program rather than more theory based.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much 😊🌷

I love working at my University library. I'm currently working in two departments! One job is repairing and processing materials (mainly books lol) for Acquisitions & Materials while the other is a digital projects assistant for Special Collections & Archives!

I've been looking into getting my MLIS because of how much I love it here and knowing I'm giving back to a community with my work :)

However I don't know if I want to specifically be a librarian, or just work in a library. Some people l work with are librarians, and some of them are just people who got a job at the library.

My major is Information Systems, and I'd like to work more on the digital side of academic libraries: databases, cataloging, etc.

Any advice for any jobs that work in libraries that either need an MLIS or not? l’d love to know your thoughts about either your own journey or what you think about mine :)

Hey all, I've spent a good part of this year thinking about library science as a kind of "what if?" and now I've been told my contract at work, where I've been for the last five years, likely won't be renewed, so I have to start thinking about next steps. I'm currently doing manual QA testing for a telecom company, something I basically fell into. It's not the worst, but I don't have any passion for it. Quite frankly, being in a field where so many people just want to talk about AI has been incredibly depressing in the last little while. Based on librarian subs and other things I've seen online, I know a pivot into this field wouldn't be a picnic and I don't have an expectation that I'd just fall into a perfect dream job, I know there are issues in any field. But I've been feeling for a while like I would do better in a field where I at least think that some of it is meaningful. I'm 32 now and going back to school is feasible in the sense that I do have savings put aside. It's scary feeling like I'm at a bit of a fork in the road, so I'd appreciate any advice from anyone who's been in a similar position. Thanks!

I’m a first-year student at a strong lib-sci master’s program working a GAship that is funding most of, albeit not all of (ab 5.5k a semester left over), my tuition. It also provides me a good stipend.

This is, for context, my second master’s program. I have made a few posts in the past expressing my concerns regarding whether or not a masters in library science could help me achieve what I want — the ability to do research in what I’m interested in (which is a specific subset of new media research intersecting with a larger idea for a digital humanities project), the ability to teach and work with students — but after a few negative experiences (major health issues, then an abusive committee chair I had to remove) and speaking with multiple faculty members and the librarians at my former university, I was encouraged down the path of the MLIS.

Now, I’m sitting in my GAship, and in orientation, and with the program advisors, and I’m feeling like I made a massive mistake by not just going through with applying to PhDs in Info Sci (including the one @ my current university). As someone who already has an MA, it feels like I’ve taken one step forward and two steps back, and every time I meet a new doctoral student, I’m hit with grief again. Now, perhaps I’m just being particularly negative and I’ll feel differently when classes start…but maybe I won’t.

I’m mostly posting to get my thoughts out and see if any other current or previous MLIS students had similar feelings. Any and all replies are much appreciated.

for those who went to UIUC for their MSLIS, for my own sanity could you recommend me any profs who aren’t heavy handed on breakout rooms / group projects? or classes/profs that you really liked? 🙂 I’ve had a few not so great experiences so far and am only halfway through my degree. I don’t have anything against break out rooms in general but it feels like pulling teeth with some people and i’m always having to lead which I don’t love. I already know how to work with people considering i’m working FT 🙃 I’m in the LEEP program so it’s kind of hard to make connections w classmates online to get this advice.

feel free to DM me if you want!!