"I can't resist creating a survey. So, would you please fill out What Should Hiring Librarians Do Next? to share your requests, suggestions and/or opinions?"

My very special guest for this very special episode is - Me! In this, the final and shortest episode of season 2b, I share an affirmation for LIS workers, some thoughts about the current situation, advice for job seekers, advice for people who hire, and a brief update about the likely schedule for next season as well as a new Hiring Librarians survey.

"if I find that candidates routinely stumble or misunderstand a specific question, I rephrase it or remove it altogether; usually, this is an indication that it's unclear. I never want to stump or trick anyone in an interview. That's not helpful for anyone. "

This survey is for folks in Library and Information Services (LIS) fields. It asks about hiring and careers related interests and solicits suggestions for future content on the Hiring Librarians website and podcast. There are 22 questions, including 7 demographic questions. None are required. I will not collect identifying information unless you choose to provide your email address. This survey is being conducted by me, Emily Weak. I will primarily use the answers for the purposes of planning future Hiring Librarians content. I do not plan on publishing the answers individually or in total, but I may discuss or mention them in future work. I really appreciate your feedback! Contact me directly at [email protected]

My guest this episode is Cristy Moran. She's been sharing her career path with Hiring Librarians since 2013, and it was great to catch up with where she is now.

"What are the number of appropriate interviews before the hirer decides? I think 3 max, if you can't narrow it down after that, you have interviewed poorly."

Autistic Librarians in the Academic Library Hiring Process

My guests this episode are two archivists who no longer work in archives, Lydia Tang and Marcella Hubbard. Lydia and Marcella discuss their respective transitions to working for Lyrasis. We talk about the pluses and minuses of moving your career outside of the archive and we learn what is easier than playing the Don Juan excerpt. I think you will enjoy this episode!

"Certain outward-facing skills, like the ability to collaborate outside of the library, are increasingly important at smaller libraries. Traditional *types of work* are dying."

"There seems to be continued interest in the field and many places hiring, plus graduate school programs still filling, but less full-time, permanent library positions. This speaks to a need and a workforce for librarianship, but a devaluing of traditional models of librarianship."

You may already know my guest, Kellee Forkenbrock, from all the wonderful advice she gives as part of the Further Questions feature here on hiring librarians. For the podcast, she was excited to talk about what happens after the hire; this episode is all about her process for on-boarding new employees. I really enjoyed speaking with her, and I hope you enjoy our conversation.

"Navigating the line between being busy or tired and being burnt out can be a struggle because it’s not a line that you wake up one day and cross. It’s what happens when you work in conditions for too long with too few resources that aren’t sufficient to support all you do. And the tipping point is different for everyone."

On this episode of the hiring librarians podcast, I'm talking with Jaime Taylor about unions, hiring, getting hired, and what exactly systems librarians do anyway.

"most of my questions are used to find out how well they can handle customer service, how interested they are in things other than reading (you know, in case someone wants to know something other than “what’s a good book?”!), and their attention to detail. But my all time favorite that I have asked for 19 years is 'What materials should a juvenile be allowed to check out?'."

"Women made up 82.5% of librarians as of 2023 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Census Bureau, 2024a), but they are underrepresented in leadership positions (McGeeney, 2025)."

"Rightsizing is a more measured approach which is invested in both long and short term goals for the organization and tries to align the work of the unit to the organization’s goals. It is a carefully planned activity involving analysis of work. Rightsizing may or may not reduce costs or personnel as part of the analysis process."

"Proofread their submissions and meet minimum qualifications"

The class is called Your Supported Job Search and it runs from May 19 - June 13, 2025. It's a mostly asynchronous online course (there is an optional weekly Zoom). It's designed to help add structure and community to your current or upcoming job search. Registration is free for CORE members.

"Feels like false authority and we get beat up and paid for the jobs we held 4 years ago… not the psychological Wild West we are and have been navigating. Libraries before and after are not dying, but they are NOT the same."

However, my dumb emails tend to get sent to spam by dumb overly-aggressive university spam filters. So, I thought I’d reach out in another way – Are you a researcher into one of these t…

For this 6th episode of Season 2, my guest is Dr. Colleen Harris, who talks about her search for a library director position.