As one of these rare weirdos who is a software developer with an MLS, my opinion from looking at jobs in the field is that one major barrier to hiring developers into librarian positions is salary. I got my MLS after having worked as a developer for a while, and after I finished my degree, the amount of money I could make as a developer even in a non-profit library/archives setting was significantly more than I could make in an entry level librarian position. (For example, Glassdoor lists average base pay for a software developer as $81,994 while average base pay for a systems librarian is $55,664.) So, while I would have loved to be an official “librarian,” I wound up not applying for any positions with that title.
It may be possible to find someone right out of school with a CS degree and an MLS who has no work experience and is looking for an entry level developer or librarian position, although I have never met anyone who took this academic path. Also, this person would probably not thrive as a software developer unless they were part of a larger team with more experienced developers.
-Sarah
On 12/7/17, 2:02 PM, "Code for Libraries on behalf of Edward Iglesias" <[log in to unmask] on behalf of [log in to unmask]> wrote:
Sometimes you get lucky as I did when I got two developers as
interns/student workers. If you need someone in that position I would say
put it in the job requirements. There are MLS librarians with CS
undergrads or developer experience. They are just few and far between.
I've also seen Systems postions that work with or supervise developer
positions. Sometimes you can get away with outsourcing the development and
having the internal Systems person act as a liaison/PM.
Edward Iglesias
On Thu, Dec 7, 2017 at 6:10 AM, Samson, Bob <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I have a question regarding staff development and I am hoping someone can
> provide some advice. I have two vacant librarian positions in my Library
> Systems department. I need to fill those vacancies with software/systems
> developers in order to move our initiatives forward. We have encountered
> reluctance on the part of our human resources to repurpose those librarian
> positions into developer positions.
>
> Has anyone had success in posting Systems Librarian positions using
> education and experience requirements consistent with software developers?
> We have sufficient flexibility in hiring librarians, but the skill sets
> differ significantly between librarians and developers. Ideally, we would
> want someone with backgrounds in computer science rather than library
> science, for example. I'm curious to know if anyone has tried this and
> been successful.
>
> Bob Samson
> Head of Library Systems & Technology
> University of Texas at Arlington
>
