Librarian Education Beyond the Degree

In 6th Thread of the Atlas of New Librarianship, there were so many ideas that stood out to me. The biggest one is that the education of new librarians cannot end with the degree but must continue beyond that with continuing education. One of the things touched on is the need for a program to facilitate the development of librarian practitioners in their professional growth. Workshops, while viewed as beneficial, are not organized or structured enough to meet the needs of the population alone.

While I would agree, based on my reading, that a practical doctorate degree would be useful for those in the field as opposed to the more philosophical research degree for academics, I don’t believe this is necessary for all. Take teaching for example, those who earn a undergrad degree and initial teaching certificate must return in a few years to do a master’s and earn a professional certificate. However, if you have a different undergrad program, you can still earn a master’s in education, receive an initial certificate, and apply for a professional certificate after earning a set number of development hours. Teaching certificates in New York used to be permanent, however, that is no longer true now teachers need to maintain their certificate by taking part in professional development activities such as workshops.

I think the same idea could be applied to librarianship, to maintain your professional status a certain number of workshop/meeting hours would need to be logged and recognized every, let’s say, 5 years. That would give the librarian time to attend different workshops and classes they are interested in. The courses don’t have to be prescribed, the individual can follow their interests. However, perhaps when a set number of credits are earned in a topic of study they would be recognized as a “mentor” in the field (If you think of a better term let me know). This program would facilitate and legitimize the continuing growth of librarians in the professional community while reducing the need for those already holding a masters to pursue a doctoral degree.