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How can I be better suited for a librarian or archiving position?

What should I do during my schooling so I am better suited for a career in librarianship or archiving? I am currently on track to receive a BFA in Studio Art from Hardin-Simmons University.

career-path spring25 fine-art librarian archiving librarianship
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Kelly’s Answer

Hi Zoe! This is a great question. I am also an artist and am now a librarian/archivist. It's great that you're completing your BFA, congratulations! That is a ton of work. If you have the time and space, I'd really encourage you to get some hands-on experience wherever you can find it, perhaps your college library or college institutional archive before you graduate. Internships might be accommodating to non-archive/library students if they're hoping to get experience before they progress their education further in the area. You can also look online for remote opportunities - I did a digital asset management (thinking digital archiving) remote internship a few summers back and I really enjoyed it. This could be another field for you to consider as it's closely related to archiving.

Ultimately, most libraries and archival positions are going to really want you to get that MLIS degree where you can focus specifically on archival education. If you have a few electives open before you graduate and you aren't sure where to look for pre-archival coursework, you could consider digital media, any kind of media/law/ethics (lots of this in archives!), or even history classes could be helpful.

If you have any other questions, I'm happy to try to answer them!

Kelly recommends the following next steps:

Check out the Society of American Archivists for an overview of the archival profession in the US: https://www2.archivists.org/
Thank you comment icon Thank you, thank you, thank you for your answer. Nobody I personally know has ever gone into anything like librarianship of archiving before, so this is a step into the dark for me. Thank you so much for this answer and information. I will keep it all in mind this coming semester! Zoe
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Niki’s Answer

Hi Zoe, Great question! If you still have some time, I would recommend an internship or perhaps a part-time position at your school or local library. I worked at my college library during school. I had a basic job of sorting and placing books back on the shelves but it was a great exposure to the environment. I was a Math major and didn't have a career path into Library science but since you are very much going in that direction, you can take that part time position and see about expanding your daily chores and asking the professional librarians more about the career.
Wish you well!
Thank you comment icon Thank you so much Nicki! I will keep this in mind in the coming semester. Zoe
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