THE CALSS OF 1988

摘要

"Where do you see yourself in five years?" Frankly, no one likes the question. For young librarians, especially, the truly scary part is looking way ahead and trying to envision a career that brings growth, challenges, and personal satisfaction. So how do librarians manage their careers and how do their careers progress? For a closer look at the career paths of librarians, LJ targeted the 1988 graduates of UCLA's Graduate School of Library and Information Science (now known as GSEIS). Using 15 years as a mid-career benchmark, we hoped to learn how the careers of the Class of 1988 had developed and how these graduates viewed their career paths to date, as well as their futures. Sixty-three individuals received their MLS degree from UCLA that year, and 58 were located and contacted for our career survey. A heartening 67 percent responded, offering not only some intriguing statistics but also some excellent anecdotal insight into the job satisfaction of the mid-career librarian. Most noticeably, the survey reinforced the notion that li-brarianship is largely a lateral profession. For librarians, the standard, vertical career ladder may not be a relevant model. New librarians, therefore, might think instead about individualized paths that lead to satisfying careers.