Literature and technology skills for entry-level children's librarians : what employers want

Abstract

Public libraries are increasingly advertising for children's librarians with "technological savvy." In a field that used to be dominated by books and reading, this new focus on technology has been somewhat unexpected. This article uses two methods to investigate the role that technology and juvenile literature play in hiring new children's librarians: a content analysis of children's services job announcements and interviews with public library employers about hiring children's librarians. The content analysis, which looked at children's librarian job announcements over a 30 year period, suggests that knowledge of juvenile literature is no longer the sine qua non of youth services librarianship, and that technological skills are in the ascendant. Interviews confirmed the importance of basic technological skills. However, these interviews also reinforce the notion that children's librarians need to have a love of the literature in order to effectively work as a children's librarian.