INFM 101: Report on Librarian Job, Interview, and Skills Analysis

This assignment, prepared for INFM 101, provides a comprehensive analysis of the librarian profession. It begins with an introduction defining the role and responsibilities of a librarian, highlighting the author's personal interest in the field. The report includes a detailed job posting outlining the required professional and personal skills, such as knowledge of library sciences, information systems, and communication skills. The core of the assignment involves an interview with a college librarian, Mr. Singla, which explores his career path, job satisfaction, and the essential skills for success in the role. The interview covers topics like the librarian's decision to work in a college library, the hiring process, and the aspects of the job they enjoy and dislike. The assignment concludes with a reflection on the findings, reaffirming the author's passion for the profession and interest in the required skills.

INFM 101

Table of Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................................................3
Job posting.........................................................................................................................3
Job Position of a Librarian..................................................................................................4
Interviewing a library technician........................................................................................6
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................7

Introduction
A librarian is a person that works professionally in a library and is required to provide
technical and social assistance to the people or the students that visit the library. Additionally,
a librarian is also the in charge of all the information i.e. books, magazines, articles, etc. that
are stored in a library and is responsible for issuing information sources to the visitors and
their timely return. The position of a librarian is selected for this particular task because of
my interest in literature and books. I have a passion for reading since the very beginning and
being a librarian would help me in increasing my literature knowledge and would also serve
as a profession for me.
Job posting

Job Position of a Librarian
The job of a librarian is not as easy as it sounds as it requires a lot of managerial skills and
patience to deal with different types of visitors and in helping them find the right piece of
text.
The professional skills and competencies required for a person to work as a librarian are
discussed below:
- Should have a degree in library sciences
- The most important competency is to have professional knowledge, which is the
ability to thoroughly keep in mind the changing syllabus of different classes and
updating the library with adequate knowledge and information that pertains to the
syllabus.
- Management of space and utilising it in the best way to accommodate as much
information as possible is also one of the most important professional skills that a
librarian must possess.

- A librarian should be able to use information systems as it has now become a standard
to keep a record of all the text and information that is stored in a library in different
forms.
- A librarian should have complete knowledge of the layout of the library in which he
or she is working and should be able to locate anything within the blink of an eye.
- Another important skill that a librarian must possess is the ability to keep things
sorted in a library.
The personal skills or competencies that are required for a person to work as a librarian in a
college are discussed below:
- The most important personal skill for the job post of a librarian is to be friendly and
patient with the visitors as they can have different queries and requirements.
- It is also important for a librarian to be good in interacting with people and have
exceptional communication skills as they have to interact with people all the time.
- The setup of a librarian’s workplace is such that the job can get boring for them
because of the silence and monotony. Therefore, they have to be self-motivated so
that they can keep themselves engaged in their jobs.
- A librarian should be highly efficient, quick and accurate
Out of all the skills and competencies discussed above, the ones that interest me the most are
the ones that are related with information systems, dealing with visitors and keeping myself
updated with upcoming books and texts because of my passion for literature. Further, the
areas where I need to focus are management of space and content and at becoming more
efficient and helpful.

Interviewing a library technician
For this section, Mr. Singla was interviewed (in-person) by me, who has been working as a
college librarian since 7 years in my city. Out of sheer luck, he is one of our family friends
and was excited to be a part of my report once I talked to him about the interview. A
description of the interview is given below:
- How did you decide they wanted to work in that particular library environment? (ie
school, public, academic, special)?
Working in a college library would offer me access to a greater pool of data and
information and would also help me in increasing my professional as well as personal
skills. Therefore, I decided to work in a college.
- How did you get the job? (prompt questions: what was the hiring process like? Was
there a lot of competition? What happened at the interview? Why do you think you
were the successful candidate?)
As there are not a lot of people who want to become librarians, I just had to pass an
interview with the director of the college to be appointed as a librarian.
- What do you like most about your work?
Having access to information and data from all around the world is the thing that I
love about my job
- What do you like the least about your work?
Working in a library can sometimes be monotonous and boring, which throws me off
sometimes.
- What skills are the most important to be successful as a technician in your library?
Communication skills and management skills are the most important skills according
to me.

Conclusion
As discussed above, I have a love for reading and increasing my knowledge in different fields
and learning new things from all around the world. As a result, the job of a college librarian is
a one that catches my interest and would make me feel happy.