Rachel Singer Gordon has an interesting post about who or who isn’t a librarian.

While I do recognize that many of the people I work who do not hold an MLS are just as capable and knowledgeable as many of the MLS holders, I’m still concerned with the trend of those who seem to place no value on the effort that many of have made in getting this degree.

Unfortunately, not all library schools are created equal and not all MLS holders are getting the training they need to make a good argument in defense of keeping the MLS requirement in what has traditionally been professional librarian positions. And on some level, if ALA is certifying programs, we need to hold them accountable part of the problem. One thing I take issue with is people teaching in libraries schools who have never practiced as librarians. Who cares if they hold a PhD if they have no idea what the real world is like and are so out of touch? What good are they doing future librarians? (I’d caution those considering library school to look closely at who the faculty are. Have they been or are they practicing librarians? Have they contributed to the field in any significant way? If not, you might want to look at another school.)

I do agree that there are plenty of paraprofessionals and other types of library workers who are very engaged in their jobs, go to conferences, and are absolutely fabulous. And there are plenty of people with MLS degrees who aren’t worth the paper that degree is printed on. I’m not sure what the answer is here.

And I do agree that no matter what, regardless of if you have the MLS or not, library workers need to see themselves as on the same side. Anyone who is dedicated to doing a good job, taking care of patrons, learning more about what we do, etc. has something to offer and it’s unfortunate that some people work in places where they feel undervalued.

We all need to be working together to remind “outsiders” that libraries are still a necessary part of our society.