Libraries and education: Librarians should be trained to order

Development of new technologies brings changes in the work of libraries, and the role of librarians as well. In an interview to RIA News the Director of the Moscow Library Institute of the Moscow State University of Culture and Arts (MGUKI) Alexander Mazuritsky highlighted the problems of librarians’ training in Russia.

- Alexander Mikhailovich, how are libraries and the role of librarians changing today?

- Nowadays it is not even a role of a librarian but library’s functional possibilities which undergo changes. It happens, first and foremost, due to the development of information technologies. Moscow libraries, in particular, are becoming “intellect-centers” – not just book repositories, but a unified information space, which brings together electronic and print data carriers. Development of new technologies undoubtedly creates a demand for specialists with another education. However, the majority of libraries’ staff are of pensionable age.

- Why is a profession of a librarian not so popular among young people?

- The only problem is a financial reward. MGUKI provides a practical training, when students undergo practice at libraries. The very work at the libraries doesn’t cause any complaints, unlike the question of salary level. The library education gives a good command of information technologies, as well as a skill to systematize information. Therefore people easily find other well-paid jobs. For instance, we have got several qualifications, such as a technologist of information-library systems, a reviewer-analyst. These are factually specialists on information retrieval and processing and information technologies. The acquired skills can be useful in publishing, as well as in bibliology and documentation discipline.

- If a librarian is eager to work in an acquired profession, is it easy for him to find a job?

- There are a lot of vacancies at libraries. However, when librarians choose to work in their specialties, they, as a rule, go for specific fields. For example in Moscow the majority of graduates, who work in their profession, get positions in departmental libraries, and large Federal libraries. Recently the vacancies’ fair attracted representatives of the Federal Security Service library. There is no doubt that traditional libraries are not able to provide such salaries and social benefits.

- What is the motivation of university entrants, who choose the Library University, when they rarely go into the profession?

- People, who are oriented towards the work at libraries, make up about 1/3 of entrants. By the way, the university’s contest is 2 entrants for one place. Many of them have relatives who also work at libraries. The rest are accidental people who had submitted documents to several more prestigious universities, but failed to stand the competition. Thus during the first and the second years we have to execute vocational guidance. It is worth mentioning that from year to year the level of preparation of school leavers is falling.

- What should be done to improve the situation?

- I suppose that there is a demand for a target preparation of specialists and a good system of professional skills improvement. As to the training of specialists, I am a supporter, firstly, of the state job placement and secondly, a target order. If a state has made expenses for training a person, than he should work it off. Moreover, librarians should be trained specially for certain work places, thus make the education specialized. In the West a person with a library education has got a narrower specialization: for instance, a storage fund specialist, or a specialist of cataloging systems. Work at school libraries also demands special training. There are also specialized libraries, which look for specialists with knowledge of medicine of physics. We are desperately in need of a system of professional skills improvement: today many people with a non-profile education are working at libraries.

- And who are today applying for a job at the library without a profile education?

- These are teachers, who couldn’t adapt to new conditions and specialists, for example, with an engineering education, who work at specialized libraries. MGUKI is mounting various courses for them, in particular, courses by the Russian State Library; we provide a Masters program, aimed at such specialists, and still this is not enough. We also need a system of professional skills improvement for school librarians. Today these are often people without a higher education and, what is more, of pensionable age. MGUKI used to provide special courses for Moscow school librarians. But there is no such an opportunity today due to problems with place and rental. It should be mentioned that we are now adopting a new system, however the employer can’t figure out, who is a bachelor and who is a Master. As to me, there should be a clear correspondence between the system of diplomas in education and the system of positions and requirements for the particular job.