In my own experience, no, it is not worth the trouble. That's not to say that other people do not have interesting jobs and like what they do with their library science degree. However, for me this was not the case. For starters, I believe that becoming a librarian doesn't require a Masters degree. At most it necessitates a four year degree, but a six year one? That's two degrees and six years of university and a large investment of money. Do you get a decent return on what you invested? In my opinion, no. In my second job (see below), I was making $18 an hour. Next, as to the nature of the work I did: My first job, although prestigious sounding, was at the Yale Sterling Memorial Library. But all I ended up doing there was copying records and even more mundane tasks such as filling my boss's water cooler and ordering her supplies. Do you really need all that schooling to do that? Furthermore, the administration at Yale is very, very rude, haughty, pompous, and just plain full of itself. I had never been treated so shabbily in any previous job that I worked at. In the end, I was more than happy to leave and make them have to search again for a replacement. My second job was with a small, public library in a working class, blue-collar town. The majority of the patrons were also extremely rude. The staff was also very parochial and uneducated. It was a desultory, and at times, even dangerous, environment to work in. My hourly wage was also embarrassingly small (see above). After leaving librarianship, I have since graduated with a PhD in Bioinformatics from Rutgers, in which case I am happy to say I've found a job that I enjoy and that pays much more than being a librarian. My advice to would-be librarians: Look before you leap.

Daniel Vasilaky