Resources

LIS professional associations

Professional associations offer unbeatable opportunities for growing your LIS career. Consider each association to be simply a starting point for exploring further. What special interest groups (divisions, sections, caucuses, etc.) do they offer that may be in your area of career interest? What professional development and learning opportunities do they offer (think workshops, webinars, publications, and more)? What members can you discover in the membership directory who might be able to provide insights into a particular career path? What committees can you volunteer for that will allow you to meet other members, contribute your smarts, and build your professional reputation? This list of North American LIS professional associations should help you get started.

LIS career books

Keeping up with LIS jobs and career opportunities can be a challenge as the profession continues to expand and contract in ways only some of which can be anticipated. The good news? This list of helpful career books, all written by practitioners who are experts in their field, can help you navigate various aspects of your LIS career no matter how many directions you may be considering.

LIS and general job-listing sites

Ready to start exploring job options? Both LIS-specific and the more general job-listing sites can be valuable resources for you, as long as you keep in mind that many potentially relevant jobs may not carry the words “library” or “librarian” in their titles. Time to get creative with your search terms! Consider how many other ways your key skills might be described, and started testing out those keywords.