Bulletin of the
Office for Diversity
American Library Association
ISSN 1554-494X
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Bulletin of the |
Library Intern Program Appeals to Teens
Sharon Jackson
The March 2002 issue of American Libraries reported that, based on 1990 census data, almost 58 percent of professional librarians will reach retirement age between 2005 and 2019. According to the American Library Association, librarians have one of the highest median ages of any occupation (47 years old). In addition, as our nation continually becomes more diverse, it is important to build a library staff that reflects this diversity.
The Alachua County Library District (ACLD), headquartered in Gainesville, Florida, set out to meet these challenges head-on by creating a Library Internship Program. The program is aimed at local high school juniors and seniors who have a grade point average of 2.5 or higher. Student interns are
paid minimum wage and work 10 hours a week. Their schedules can be flexible, to accommodate studying, sports, and other after-school activities.
ACLD has a reputation for "growing our own" librarians. Many of our librarians started out as Library Pages, working their way up to their current positions by completing four-year undergraduate degrees and obtaining Masters of Library Science degrees. In many cases, the Friends of
the Library provided scholarships for the undergraduate and graduate degrees. The Intern Program fit nicely within ACLD's established tradition.
To publicize the new intern program and encourage students to apply, Library staff sent out advertisements to all area high schools, public and private, and home schooling networks in Alachua County. Staff attended career fairs, set up information booths in high school cafeterias, and sent letters to guidance counselors and to local churches. ACLD ran commercials on the local cable channels and put up posters at all of its library locations.
In October 2004, ACLD placed five students in its Headquarters library as the inaugural Intern class. Librarians in the children's department, adult reference, and circulation became mentors for these five future librarians.
Here are some comments from the first group of student interns:
"I never thought I would want to work at a library this much...I just wish it weren't over."
"YES I would [recommend the intern program to other students]! I really think that this would be a very good opportunity for other students to learn about how fun the library really is."
"I wouldn't change anything about the program except to make it longer."
"Now that I know what is done in a library, I definitely would like to come back. If acting doesn't work out, this is definitely my back up plan."
In January 2005, a second group of fourteen students were hired. They were placed in Branch Libraries, Technical Services, and in the Headquarters Library's Adult Services, Youth Services, and Circulation Services departments. All indications so far are that this semester will be another
successful venture, for both the students and for ACLD.
The students have had a positive first job experience and learned important job seeking skills. They filled out a job application, were interviewed,attended payroll sign-up, and learned how to complete a time sheet. The Interns were exposed to the many different career opportunities in a public
library, and have identified some of the skills they will need to become successful librarians. It will take years before we know how many graduates of the Library Intern Program will actually become librarians. What we do know, so far, is that the program has been a great success on many levels.
Sharon Jackson is Assistant Library Director, Alachua County Library District.
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