Library technicians are a librarian's best friend. They order and catalog
books and help patrons locate books, periodicals and reference materials.
They help make library services available to the public. They can also be
called technical assistants.
Library technicians work in two general categories: user services (which
involves helping patrons use the library's facilities) and technical services
(maintaining the library's collections and making them convenient to users).
Technicians who work in small libraries are responsible for a wide range
of duties. Those working in large libraries usually specialize.
Library technicians have a level of responsibility somewhere between that
of a library clerk and a librarian. They may direct clerks, student assistants
or other library technicians. They may also manage small libraries.
They assist people in using catalogs and help them find reference material.
They also work out of the public eye. They may organize and maintain periodicals,
prepare books for binding, handle loan requests, prepare invoices, perform
routine cataloging and coding, retrieve information from computer databases
and supervise other support staff.
Some library technicians operate and maintain audiovisual equipment. Some
design posters, bulletin boards or displays.
Besides working as a technician in a public library, these information
technicians have other job opportunities. They may work in schools, universities,
colleges, or in government departments and agencies.
They may work in specialized libraries, such as those in hospitals or in
industry. Jobs doing corporate or political research for bookstores, publishing
firms and computerized information systems also exist.
There may be some physical requirements to do the job, depending on where
you work.
Pam Casey is an information specialist at a major pharmaceutical company.
"I know people that work in places where they're the only person. So if they
have to lift a box of books, there's nobody else to do it for them."
Automation has cut down on the amount of clerical work performed by library
technicians. Many libraries now offer self-service registration and circulation
with computers. That decreases the time that library technicians must spend
manually recording and inputting records.
According to Casey, the role of the library technician has changed.
"Technicians are becoming more...trained in the management side of things,
on knowing how to run their own libraries and on project management," she
says.
"You need to [know] web technology when you enter the workforce. It really
is to your benefit."
Diane Welsh is the past-president of the Council on Library-Media Technicians.
She agrees that times have changed for library technicians. "Library technicians
are now publishing websites, we're working on the reference desk [and] we're
managers," she says.
These changes, adds Welsh, are "very exciting."