Careers - MA in Librarianship
The MA in Librarianship prepares students in core areas of librarianship, information studies, and organisational and management skills and also allows students to study more specialist library and information-related modules in particular areas of interest. Students are thus equipped to take up jobs in a wide range of employment sectors and in positions that suit their career aspirations.
Employment Sectors of Recent Graduates
Graduates from the MA in Librarianship go into a range of library and information related jobs in a variety of different employment sectors. A large proportion go into academic libraries in universities and colleges, and also into libraries within public authorities. Other graduates go into posts in other types of public sector organizations and in private sector companies. In recent years, graduates from the MA in Libarianship have obtained employment in the following sectors:
- Higher/Further Education Libraries
- Public Libraries
- National/Government Library & Information Units
- Financial/Law Library & Information Units
- Hospital/Health Library & Information Units
- Other Library & Information Units (eg Schools, Prisons etc)
Job Titles of Recent Graduates
Graduates from the MA in Librarianship take up a variety of different types of post on starting employment. Examples of the job titles of recent graduates are given below:
- Librarian, Assistant Librarian, Reference Librarian, Trainee Liaison Librarian, Subject Support Librarian, Community Librarian, Children's Librarian
- Learning Resources Centre Manager, Senior Learning Resource Advisor, Reader Development Officer
- Information Officer, Information Specialist, Information Research Specialist, Assistant Information Officer, Information Adviser, Community and Information Officer, Junior Knowledge Professional
- Cataloguer, Retrospective Cataloguer, Online Cataloguer, Library Technician
- Legal Information and Records and Manager, Schools Liaison Officer, Clinical Knowledge Database Trainer, Research and Projects Officer, Research Assistant
Organisations/Companies of Recent Graduates
Graduates from the MA in Librarianship obtain posts with a wide range of organisations and companies. For instance, recent graduates have found jobs with:
- Higher and Further Education libraries at institutions such as: Bradford College, Barnet College, Bournemouth University, Cambridge University, Coventry University, Doncaster College, Essex University, Exeter University, Kings College London, Leeds Metropolitan University, London University (incl. Imperial College), Loughborough University, Oxford University, Reading University, College of Ripon & York St. John, Rotherham College of Arts & Technology, Sheffield College, Sheffield University, Sheffield Hallam University, Surrey University, Warwick University, Stanford University (USA) and Sydney Technical College (Australia).
- Public library authorities in areas such as: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Derbyshire, Darwen, Enfield, Dorset, Havering, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, West Sussex and London (Westminster).
- Other public sector organisations such as: BBC, Birmingham City Council, Government Departments (incl. DEFRA, DES, DCMS, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and GCHQ), English Nature, Environment Agency, Inland Revenue, Scottish Ambulance Service, South Essex Health Authority, Leeds North West Primary Care Trust, Sheffield Children's Hospital NHS Trust, Muslim Youth Foundation, University College London, Nottingham Bluecoat School and Westminster School.
- Private sector organizations such as: Cable & Wireless, Chiltern Plc, Eversheds (Solicitors), Clyde & Co. Ltd., Freshfields, KPMG Corporate Finance, Linklaters and Alliance, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, S.J. Berwin & Co. Ltd. and McKinsey & Co. Ltd.
Job Information
A large proportion of our graduates have found employment either by the time the programme finishes on 1st September, or shortly afterwards.
A wide variety of sources can be used to locate job information, and many MA in Librarianship graduates find employment details via:
- The Appointments section of the CILIP Gazette (inc. the online version at LISJobNet)
- Jinfo (Jobs in Information) the online service provided by FreePint
- The Guardian, and regional/local newspapers
- Web-based sources, eg. Jobs.ac.uk and local government websites
- Email discussion lists (e.g. lis-link hosted by JISCmail)
- Specialist Recruitment Agencies (inc. Infomatch, Sue Hill Recruitment, TFPL and Weekes Gray)
- University of Sheffield Careers Service online jobs vacancy service
- Word of mouth, speculative enquiries, and via former employers or family and friends
One indication of the quality of our programme is the success of past students in the 2006 Love Libraries "Top Ten Young Librarians of the Future" campaign. Cheney Gardner and Michael Stead are graduates of the programme. As is Katie Condor, one of the Commended entrants.