What My Library Degree Taught Me About the Resilience of Libraries

When I began studying for a master of information studies, I was in my mid-thirties and had an established career in healthcare, where I’d worked primarily as a paramedic, though I’d also had roles in education and community engagement. I saw the degree as a quick, easy step sideways into the world of libraries. I focused on my reasons for leaving healthcare rather than what life might look like as a librarian: I was tired. COVID made me more tired. Libraries seemed worlds away from healthcare and, at the time, that was enough.

What I did not anticipate was how this career change would transform my understanding of education, knowledge, inquiry, and professional growth.

Now, on the other side of graduation and working at Cooperative Action by Victorian Academic Libraries (CAVAL), a nonprofit Australian library cooperative, processing books and adding metadata to records, I can see that learning is not a stage to complete, but a continuous process that includes professional experience and skill development. This shift in perspective has given me a quiet optimism—not just about changing careers, but about the adaptability and resilience of libraries.

A Foundation for Ongoing Education

During my graduate program, when I told people what I was studying, they invariably asked, “What exactly is information studies?” Fair question, and one I did not always feel equipped to answer. At times, wanting a simple answer, I described it as “re-branded librarianship.” But this description does it a disservice.

The qualification has evolved from a degree in library science to one with a dizzying array of specializations. In the time I was a student, less popular specializations, such as community networking and community informatics, were retired to make room for new offerings, such as information architecture, applied research, and data management. I delayed settling on a specialization as long as I could, afraid that I would never again have the opportunity to explore such topics in an academic setting. When I settled on data management, it felt like doors closing to librarianship, archiving, and other potential career trajectories.

I know now that completing a master’s does not close a door to academic study but rather lays a foundation for future learning. Of course, people come to this industry through diverse educational paths. Together, the certificates, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and PhDs that have been completed by professionals in information-related fields broaden the collective knowledge base.

Just as our academic journeys vary, so do our professional paths. My library colleagues come from such diverse professional environments that it is difficult to capture. One of our most patient educators has a background in metallurgy. A former emergency services dispatcher has a strength of leadership that cannot be taught. The yoga instructor is a calm voice of reason in times of stress; she shifts the team’s mood with intuitive ease. I often wonder if another colleague’s skill as a crafter has given her the requisite precision and dexterity to become exceptionally good at processing books. On a personal level, I am finding skills I developed in healthcare—such as records management and problem solving—relevant to my role. Taken together, the knowledge and skills my colleagues have refined through previous experiences enhance the organization’s ability to adapt to changing business needs.

What this highlights is the importance of recruiting for roles based on an organization’s need for skills and knowledge rather than credentials. In my workplace, I see evidence every day of how this practice makes the organization more agile and helps us meet information needs in novel ways.

Fostering Continuous Learning

On my first day of work as an information studies graduate, I made my first mistake as an information studies graduate. A colleague reassured me, “Never mind, it’s just books; no one died.”

From the outside, this may sound dismissive or careless. But to me, it seemed to reflect my colleague’s openness to learning and a drive for continuous improvement. I’ve come to understand these qualities as part of a supportive workplace culture in which mistakes are welcomed as learning opportunities. An adaptive, learner-centered environment, where informal learning opportunities foster growth in areas dictated by operational need, not only strengthens individual capability but also builds the kind of resilience organizations need to navigate change and respond to evolving sector demands.

Of course, education and professional development also take place in more structured contexts. At my organization, we routinely take stock of our collective skills and knowledge, often using tools and platforms that help us assess, develop, and manage skills across the organization and allow us to seek more targeted learning opportunities through freely available online courses, professional training programs, or tertiary education.

At an industry level, professional association and industry programs such as the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)’s professional development scheme help ensure that learning opportunities meet recognized standards. Identifying skill gaps and supporting employee development helps organizations adapt to new challenges and stay viable in the face of rapid change.

Conclusion

My expectation that a graduate degree would neatly divide a healthcare career from a library career has not been met. But it’s been replaced by a new understanding of why the library sector has weathered the storm of technological change and maintained its place in the information society. Approaching education in a broad sense—formal and informal, structured and unstructured—is allowing information professionals and organizations in the sector to make the most of available resources and to continuously adapt their services, roles, and skillsets to meet evolving needs. This resilience and agility reassure me I have chosen a career path that will bring challenges and opportunities in equal measure.