Dish soap.

Sophia, you don't have to have a subject Master's degree to be an academic librarian, though in some cases it helps. I will warn you, though, that it is not a guaranteed job - despite some trend stories, there is actually an overpopulation of librarians right now. Also, you can do decently well (pay- and responsibility-wise) working as a paraprofessional in some libraries (and by decent pay, I mean academic-level decent). I would NOT go into serious debt for a library degree without some pre-existing experience in the field. Contacts get you jobs. Go talk to librarians where you work, and start the networking process there.

I haven't worked in many jobs, because I spent 6 years in grad school, but I have been fantastically lucky in my bosses & work cultures. Never anyone insane or evil, and some serious mentoring and support at my last workplace.

Ha! Poor Jesse got three different responses. We wouldn't be Buffistas otherwise.

Heh. Dish soap seems the most like laundry soap, is why I picked it.

Sophia, do you have experience with Blackboard? Could you do the staff job on this page, for example? [link]

Is it pretty much necessary to have a masters in a subject area before being hired as a librarian at a college?

ETA: Ignore what I say here--I missed your reference to "a subject area." Sorry!

If you want to be paid anywhere above minimum wage, yes. Back in 1992, I was working full-time at the local (very small) branch library, and I was doing just about everything there short of branch director-level duties, and I was getting minimum wage, which at the time was $6.50/hr, but I did have benefits as well, so that was a big plus. Thank God I was living at Mom's then, because I would not have been able to live off of what I made between that job and my part-time gig at Michael's.

I was talking with one of my classmates in my reference class last night, and she told me that she's making less than $18K/year as a part-timer at one of the smaller libraries at Loyola University here in Chicago. I asked her if they would give her a full-time job that would let her continue to attend classes in her off hours, and she said that full-time gigs were non-existent without the MLS.

Or, what flea said.

despite some trend stories, there is actually an overpopulation of librarians right now

I know! I'm not looking forward to job-hunting in three years.

Yeah, um, thanks a lot, you guys. I think I might do a little shampoo and some baking soda. Can't hurt!

Thanks for the wishes.

Swam 2 miles without stopping. Yay!

The odds are against a full time job without a masters, but you are still more likely to end up with part time work at this point in time. If you are interested in back room stuff 9 cataloging or other parts of tech services) I would look at an AA in library tech.

while a masters might be useful someday - i don't want an administrative title, and I have very sweet gig right now. No weekends, no boss on site, lots of freedom to try different programs and the ablity to pick up extra hours if I want

Flea- I actually know that person who is the boss for that job. I could probably do it, although I am missing the Masters in IT, the SQL, and all but the most basic of HTML. Interesting.

And, to add, most of the paraprofessionals are hourly, and a pay grade below me, so I don't know if I would be hired. Weirdly, that is the first one I have seen that is the same grade as I am.