All a Twitter

Occasionally we hear from the followers of our Twitter.com/NLC_Reference account. Inquiring minds that really, really want to hear what the answer was for a particular question we posted. This time we’re going to counter those questions, with the question: Do you know the answer to this one? Because if you do, we’d really like you to share it with us! Right here, right now! And it’s not too late. We can still pass along your suggestions to the person that originally asked. The question that we’ve been asked about the most was this one: “Would someone with a criminal record be able to have a successful career in Library Science?” After searching the library literature, checking indexes in Library Science management books, and not finding the answer, we started asking people that are responsible in their organizations for hiring new personnel. There seemed to be a consensus on “it would depend on the nature of the crime and the nature of the library position”. We asked Mary Jo Ryan and Kit Keller here at the Commission because they are collecting and analyzing data on library jobs and hiring through our Now Hiring @ your library initiatives. Kit pointed out that there’s a growing trend in employment that requires technological competence and virtual interaction and she felt that someone that acquired the right technical skills might be a good fit for a position of that type, and that the virtual nature of the job might negate the criminal background issue. When working on my library degree my reference instructor told me that he knew some reference librarians that kept on looking for the answers to questions that they weren’t able to answer in a satisfying way. He even knew one that had a 25 year old question that she’d yet to find the answer for. So help us out here….do you know of a heartwarming story or of an actual study that would put this one to rest?