Dear Christina,
I coordinate library school practica for my library and we provide
formal practica through which the student earns course credit for the
MLIS degree and usually produces some kind of reflection for the school
in addition to whatever they produce for the library. I'm not sure that
this is your situation. We publicize our program on our library's
website: https://library.rice.edu/content/internships.
Our practica, because they function as an academic course, are unpaid.
If we were to be approached by a student who did not need credit but
wanted professional-level experience, we might still be able to help
out, but on a volunteer basis.
We don't have a budget for paid practica. I believe that lack of pay for
professional experience is considered a problem in many fields, not just
librarianship, and an element of professional education that creates an
uneven playing field for students. I can see the problem but am not
provided funds to address it.
Best,
Melinda Flannery
Melinda Reagor Flannery
Assistant University Librarian for Technical Services
Rice University
Fondren Library-MS44
B52D Fondren
6100 Main Street
Houston, TX 77251-1827
713.348.3773
713.348.5862 (fax)
On 6/26/2021 8:59 PM, CHRISTINA GLAVIANO wrote:
Hi All,
I am a graduate student currently enrolled in an LIS program and am looking
to gain hands-on experience in the field. I have been searching for
potential internships/jobs but am finding the majority of the listings all
require to have already obtained the LIS degree (I have applied to some
internships). Does anyone have any advice for landing an internship/job? Or
any advice for an LIS student?
Thank you,
Christina G.
[email protected]
