My undergrad degree is in English, and it actually has come in handy at times. Good communication is important, regardless of what you end up doing. If I could do it again, I'd seriously consider informatics - but I didn't know it was a thing until I started library school. http://www.soic.indiana.edu/informatics/

As far as IT, I learned a lot from the tech-support job I had right out of college, and after that I'm self-taught. I imagine it's a steeper learning curve than if I had some sort of tech degree. 

 If you're going for an ML(I)S, major in whatever interests you. Librarians come from all kinds of backgrounds. In my class there were a ton of English and History degrees, but we also had people with degrees in astrophysics, soil science, and accounting.

Laura C. Henry, MLS
Assistant Systems Librarian
Beaufort County Library
311 Scott Street, Beaufort, SC 29902
Phone 843.255.6444   [log in to unmask]
www.beaufortcountylibrary.org
For Learning ♦ For Leisure ♦ For Life

-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Amy Drayer
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 12:50 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] College Question!

Dear Riley et al:

I was thinking the same thing as Coral.  I have a humanities undergrad
degree; a computer science oriented degree would certainly have been
beneficial, especially with an emphasis on network and server
administration, or even web development depending on your interest (as a
systems librarian I also managed the website and catalog).  The
library-oriented education can wait until grad school.

Honestly, I think we come from a variety of backgrounds.  My liberal arts
foundation works for me (I feel my education was well rounded in a way a
science or IT degree may not have been), but I would definitely have wanted
some more technical classes such as I mentioned above if I had known I
would be in this field.

In peace,

Amy

In peace,

Amy M. Drayer, MLIS
Senior IT Specialist, Web Developer
[log in to unmask]
http://www.puzumaki.com


On Wed, May 28, 2014 at 11:24 PM, Coral Sheldon-Hess <[log in to unmask]
> wrote:

> Riley,
>
> Whatever you do, don't major in library science as an undergrad. Maybe
> minor in it, along with some other major, if you want, but it's not useful
> by itself as an undergraduate degree--most libraries want librarians to
> have the MLIS. And what if you change your mind after a few years and don't
> want to get the masters? Do something you could get a career in--or work
> in, part time, to afford the MLIS.
>
> If you want to be a systems librarian, why not get a degree in systems
> engineering or IT? (Seriously, there are degrees in
> IT<http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=332>now, what a world!) Computer
> science wouldn't hurt, if you don't mind
> theory, and you can get some good foundational stuff that will help with
> the information science part of "libraries and information science."
>
> The school where I got my MLIS had an "Information Science" department that
> was mostly IT, too. So, that's a possibility.
>
> --
> Coral Sheldon-Hess
> http://sheldon-hess.org/coral
> @web_kunoichi
>
>
> On Wed, May 28, 2014 at 7:17 PM, Riley Childs <[log in to unmask]
> >wrote:
>
> > I was curious about the type of degrees people had. I am heading off to
> > college next year (class of 2015) and am trying to figure out what to
> major
> > in. I want to be a systems librarian, but I can't tell what to major in!
> I
> > wanted to hear about what paths people took and how they ended up where
> > they are now.
> >
> > BTW Y'All at NC State need a better tour bus driver (not the c4l tour,
> the
> > admissions tour) ;) the bus ride was like a rickety roller coaster...
> 🎢
> >
> > Also, if you know of any scholarships please let me know ;) you would be
> > my BFF :P
> >
> >
> > Riley Childs
> > Student
> > Asst. Head of IT Services
> > Charlotte United Christian Academy
> > (704) 497-2086
> > RileyChilds.net
> > Sent from my Windows Phone, please excuse mistakes
> >
>