Things I Wished I Knew Before I Started Grad School
Since I’m graduating this May, I wanted to use my final HLS blog post to reflect a bit on the things I wish I knew before I started grad school. […]
Reflection and Rest: A Necessary Part of Learning
Wrapping up my second year of library school, I have finally had a little time to pause and reflect, which led me to wonder, did I actually learn anything? This […]
Hack the Librarian Wardrobe: Feminine [2022]
I love wearing clothes. Nothing can boost my confidence like a cute outfit. Especially when days can be so…repetitive, clothes bring me life. If you’re here, you might feel the […]
What’s in a program?
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on July 7, 2016. Recently a panel of Catholic University of America faculty and department affiliates interviewed me as a part of a […]
The Wonderful World of Non-Traditional Library Collections: Spotlight on Seeds!
Editor’s note: this article was originally published on January 25, 2017. You probably know by now that libraries worldwide are lending out so much more than books and media. To […]
Final Thoughts on my MLIS Journey
Like many previous bloggers, my time has come to say farewell to Hack Library School and reflect on the last three years. I graduate on June 4 and will be […]
Teach Yourself to Shelve
I started my library career as a page at a branch of a midsize public library system, and I still maintain that it’s my favorite job I ever had. (If […]
Creating a Meteorology Maker Space
Editor’s note II: This article was originally published on January 8, 2015. Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Katherine Hickey, MS and Kyungwon Koh, PhD. Innovative learning spaces called […]
Hack Your Program – Simmons (Update)
This article was originally written by a full-time on-campus student in 2011 but has since been updated by two current Simmons students and a recent graduate in 2022. Below are short bios and reasons why we chose Simmons over other programs as a preface to where our opinions are coming […]
What I learned from the peer review process
Editor’s note: This article was originally published May 25, 2012. Links have been updated but no other changes have been made. Back in March 2011, Micah wrote a post on the need for LIS students to foster a culture of writing and sharing. I followed his advice (as it has […]
I Spent Years Preparing for a Library Job — It Never Came
Landing a librarian gig seemed simple enough. After all, I already had a year of experience working as a circulation assistant at a law library when I applied to UW-Madison’s […]
Call for New Writers!
Hey there readers! Have you recently been accepted to a library or information science program? Are you partway through your schooling and feel like you have news and insights to […]
Snapshot: The Life of a Supervisor
This month I’d like to take a minute to build on some recent pieces by Melissa and the other Lauren B. where they took you behind the scenes into their […]
Gaining Practical Experience (Without a Library Job)
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on January 18 2017 You’ve done it! You’ve begun library school and are well on your way to earning your MLIS and reaching […]
Advice for Starting a New Job During Grad School
I’ve been very fortunate to have gotten a new full-time librarian job before I graduate from my MLIS program this May, but transitioning to a new job in the middle […]
Programming Ideas for Libraries
I love programming. It’s my favorite part of my job. It is enormously satisfying to see patrons enjoying themselves in the library. In the best situations, they learn something too. […]
Accidental Special Librarian – advice for when you decide to pursue the “alternate” path
Editor’s note: this article was originally published on September 21, 2017 Like many LIS students, I went into the program with the goal of someday working at a library as […]
A Critical Pedagogy Reading List
As I work my way closer to my professional goal of becoming an instruction librarian, I have found myself digging deeper into the theory and practice of critical pedagogy. If […]
So, you want to apply to LIS grad school? Advice from a student MLIS Admissions Committee member.
Disclaimer: This post is particular to the author’s perspectives and opinions. It is not intended to be representative or indicative of any other member of the MLIS Admissions Committee and […]
Priorities: being mature and being a student
Editor’s note: this article was originally published on February 29, 2016. As I get started with my second semester, I thought it would be a good time to re-visit the […]
Hack Your Program: San Jose State University (Update)
Disclaimer: This post is particular to the author’s perspectives and experiences. It is not intended to be representative or indicative of any other student, does not represent the official stance […]
Reading Recs – March 2022
Once a month, we bring you an update from a few Hackers on things we’ve been reading, enjoying, and learning that month, whether that’s fiction, non-fiction, an interesting article, or […]
How I learned to keep worrying and love library school
Editor’s note: this article was originally published on September 6, 2011. Alyssa Vincent is entering her second (and final) year with Emporia State University’s School of Library and Infromation Management Program in Portland, Oregon. She is a library assistant at the University of Oregon-Portland Library and Learning Commons and a […]
LIS Research Methods Feedback Opportunity
The Librarian Parlor (aka @LibParlor) is a space for conversing, sharing expertise, and asking questions about the process of developing, pursuing, and publishing library research. Recently LibParlor received funding from […]
How to Build a Job Search Strategy
With two months to go until I finish my MLIS program, I recently completed my first full-time library job search. I started seriously looking and applying for jobs this past […]
8 Simple Ways to Kick Start Your Research in Grad School
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on November 7, 2018. Hello! Paige and Suzy here from the team over at The Librarian Parlor (@LibParlor), a space for librarians and […]
Special Librarian: An Interview with Jeff Waryan
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on February 5, 2018. For those of you who know me, you know that I have a lot of librarian heroes, but my […]
An Open Letter to LIS Professors
Dear LIS Professors, Your jobs are extremely demanding, especially now. You have to deal with the pressures of publication, teaching, serving on committees, and hopefully retaining a semblance of work-life […]
Asking for Help When You Need It and Knowing When to Help Yourself
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on April 2, 2014. Do you remember what it was like to be an undergraduate? I took a few years off between college […]
Privacy and Transgender identities – a perspective from a (very tired) library student
One of my extracurricular activities the last couple of months has been organizing a panel on the ethical use and privacy of using queer peoples’ data in research and libraries, […]
Making the Most of a Disastrous Quarter
Winter quarter has to be one of the toughest quarters to survive in library school (assuming you are on the quarter system). This is my third winter quarter, and it […]
Teaching Methods Used in Library School
Editor’s note: This article was first published on January 27, 2012. Since I was a high school teacher before I started library school, I’m finding it really hard to switch off my “teacher brain” even well into my second semester. This makes sense, considering that I want to become a […]
Reading Recs – March 2022
Once a month, we bring you an update from a few Hackers on things we’ve been reading, enjoying, and learning that month, whether that’s fiction, non-fiction, an interesting article, or […]
The Double-Dip
I wrote a while ago about the dark side of both working in a library and going to school to study library science – the unfortunate tendency for it to […]
My Complicated Feelings About Being an “Unconventional” Library School Student
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on August 28, 2017. I’ve been writing for Hack Library School for about 6 months now, and in some ways, I’ve felt like […]
10 Ideas for Building Libraries of Things
Libraries have long claimed that they’re not just warehouses for books, but many have been increasing their circulating collections of non-traditional library materials–otherwise known as “Library of Things”—in the past […]
How to participate (when you can’t participate)
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on October 12, 2016. The following post is a joint endeavor by Chezlani Casar (online) and Kendra Werst (on-campus)… (Chezlani) When I started […]
HTML for Absolute Newbies
You may remember from one of my articles way back that all of my education and background have been firmly rooted in the humanities. I lack serious experience in the […]
Hack your job application materials: streamlining the process
It was inevitable, no matter how hard I tried not to think about it. Staring down my fourth and last semester of library school, I knew it was time to […]
Storytelling: Not Just for Youth Librarians
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on May 5, 2016. This semester I decided to do something that terrifies me: I enrolled in a storytelling course. As an anxious […]
Hashtags to Follow on Library Twitter
Twitter is my social media of choice lately as I try to avoid going down the Insta/Meta rabbit holes that are out there and frankly I do not have time […]
Tools for Collaboration, Pedagogy, and Training
We may be students, but expect to be asked to teach sometime in your library school experience, too. Maybe it’s a class specifically devoted to learning how to give effective […]
When Registration Day Goes Wrong
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on December 22, 2014. My registration for Spring 2015 was on the stressful side. Registration opened at 8:30AM on registration day, which meant […]
Reading Recs – February 2022
Once a month, we bring you an update from a few Hackers on things we’ve been reading, enjoying, and learning that month, whether that’s fiction, non-fiction, an interesting article, or […]
A List of Resources to Practice Critical Cataloging
In my Information Organization course at Simmons, we had two weeks dedicated to classification theory, which included some materials about critical cataloging. Critical cataloging is, essentially, being aware of and […]
How to Prepare for the Job Hunt
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on May 25, 2015. As a fresh graduate, I’m embarking on the search for a professional position. I already hold a full-time job […]
Doubling Down: Becoming a Parent During your MLIS
Many of us pursuing graduate studies are at the stage of planning growing families as well. Ifyou’ve considered adding a child to the mix while doing your MLIS, and are […]
Do you want to know what it’s like to publish a book in LIS? We have insights from the authors of the recently published Librarian’s Guide to Games and Gamers: From Collection Development to Advisory Services
Last month I posted a review of the book Librarian’s Guide to Games and Gamers: From Collection Development to Advisory Services released in November 2021, and written by my good […]
The Personal Statement, One Year Later
This past week I did something crazy. Or at least something I thought I would have to be crazy to ever do again. Maybe it was the fact that I […]
The Two Towers: Vocational Awe and Neutrality
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from author and librarian Josh Chan. In May 2021, I had the great honour of being one of five presenters for the British […]
Snapshot: A Day in the Life of a Paraprofessional
For those of you who are in library school but haven’t begun working in a library just yet, this article is for you. I want to illustrate just what a […]
Thoughts and Advice for New Student Leaders
Student groups. Their importance has been noted in previous posts for networking and building community and connection in your program. Last summer I decided that becoming involved in a student […]
Networking for Introverts
Networking. If you’re anything like me, the idea doesn’t exactly thrill you. I’m a friendly, chatty person (pity the people in my office, they cannot escape), and I genuinely love […]
Uncomfortable Conversations: Asking for a Raise or Promotion
This topic may not relate directly per se to library school, but it applies to anyone who has a job, will have a job (whether in the LIS field or […]
Walking Away So Everything Isn’t Libraries
I have a friend who just graduated from the MLIS program at the University of Washington, and she and I had a conversation recently about how, whether when you’re in […]
Owning Your Professional Engagement
Editor’s Note: this post was originally published on August 11, 2016. Until this summer, I never struggled with feeling disconnected as a student or a professional. I chose an in-person […]
Reading Recs – January 2022
Once a month, we bring you an update from a few Hackers on things we’ve been reading, enjoying, and learning that month, whether that’s fiction, non-fiction, an interesting article, or […]
10 Fun and Fascinating Rare Books Terms I Learned This Semester
This past fall semester, I took a Rare Books and Special Collections course that introduced me to a whole new vocabulary of interesting—and often funny—terms that librarians and booksellers use […]
A DAM Diverse Career Field for Information Professionals
Earlier this year, I attended a meetup of local librarians, and kept hearing the acronym “DAM” come up in conversation. It took some questioning to figure out that folks was not referring […]
Book Review – Librarian’s Guide to Games and Gamers: From Collection Development to Advisory Services
Bibiliographic Info Author: Michelle Goodridge, Matthew J. RohwederPublisher: Libraries UnlimitedPublished: 2021Page count: 259Formats available: ebook, print (paperback)Get a Copy: Paperback ($65.00 USD) | Kindle Ebook ($61.09 USD) | WorldCat Summary As gaming has become more […]
Handling School While Sick
I don’t know about anyone else, but I got sick A LOT this semester. I haven’t really gotten sick the last two years, and it’s like my body decided it […]
Happy Winter break!
HLS will be on a break this week, but we’ll be back next week with all new content and discussions. We hope your Fall semester or quarter went well, your […]
Take a Break: Ideas for Relaxing over Winter Vacation
It’s December! We did it! If you’re on the quarter system like me, then vacation has already started, and if you’re on semesters, then break is right around the corner. […]
Reflections, Transitions, and Farewells
It’s hard to believe after 2.5 years of graduate school, I’m just a few final paper submissions away from completing my MA in Children’s Literature and my MS in Library […]
On Library School and Invisible Disabilities
Over the last 20 or so months, I’ve seen an uptick in conversations regarding mental health in academia. Current and former Hackers have written some excellent posts about navigating mental […]
Let’s talk about CVs
Places flashlight under chin.239 I’m going to tell y’all a story. So once there was a library student just like you, sitting at this computer that was very much like […]
Time Management and Other Random Thoughts on Standing Up for Yourself
Last month I wrote about surviving group work as it had been a frequent topic on the HLS blog. This month I wanted to briefly cover another important HLS topic […]
The Benefits of a Thank-You Folder
When I first started working with interlibrary loan, back around 2014, I received an email reply from one of the students I’d found an article for. “Thank you very much […]
Dusting Off Genealogy Collections in Library School
Last semester, I took a course on Archives & Media which required one semester-long group project, focusing on creating a digital map of the route taken by the Brinton Entertainment […]
Reading Recs – November 2021
Once a month, we bring you an update from a few Hackers on things we’ve been reading, enjoying, and learning that month, whether that’s fiction, non-fiction, an interesting article, or […]
10 Digital Humanities Tools that Librarians Should Know About
Though the field of the digital humanities has been steadily growing in popularity in the past decade or so, it still has a bit of an ambiguous definition—the intersection between […]
Happy Fall break!
HLS will be on a break this week, but we’ll be back next week with all new content and discussions. We hope your Fall semester or quarter is going well, […]
Digital, Digital, Digital: Content & Collections
Co-authored by HLS Contributing Writers, Carissa Hansen and Kendra Werst. This post is meant to serve as a primer for beginners interested in digital collections work. There are three sections: […]
Group Work: How to Survive & Even Thrive
The topic of group work has been a frequent one at HLS and since I am embroiled in a lengthy and complicated group project during this fall quarter at the […]
Just 15 Funny Library Tweets
Hi all. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting to the point in the semester where I’m rapidly running out of gas. I’m swamped with work and only have […]
Archival Education and Professionalism
As a set of professions that facilitate and structure access to information, learning how to be a librarian or an archivist is clearly more than just knowing about reference and cataloging standards.
Changing Jobs During Grad School: Do’s and Don’t’s
During my first semester as an MLS student, I changed jobs. I went from working at a private university as a Circulation Manager to working at a state university as […]
The Hats We Wear
The capstone course of my dual degree in Children’s Literature and Library and Information Sciences is on “positionality.” Half the the students in the class been in the dual degree […]
Review – The Disorientation Guide to Librarianship
My very first week of library school, my assigned reading for my intro class – LIS 601: Information Contexts and Perspectives – was “Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We […]
Dirty Books: A Hypochondriac’s Guide to Archival Donations
“Oh, this smells. What if there’s mold? Am I going to get the black lung? And eew! Is that mouse poop?!”
Book Review – The Future Academic Librarian’s Toolkit: Finding Success on the Job Hunt and in Your First Job
Bibiliographic Info Editor: Megan HodgePublisher: Association of College and Research LibrariesPublished: 2019Page count: 328Formats available: ebook, print (paperback)Get a Copy: Paperback ($62.00 USD) | DRM Free eBook ($44.00 USD) | WorldCat Summary Are you interested […]
Conferences and the Benefit of “Unstructured Time”
I decided this week not to apply to attend one of my favorite conferences, the Access Services Conference. I attended in-person in 2017 and virtually in 2020, and I would […]
Being Thankful… For Failing
Tis the start of the season when we begin to list all the things we are thankful for: Tofurkey, pajama skinny jeans, NFL Sunday tickets, and failing a class in library school. I know, you probably said, “pajama skinny jeans, really?” but they’ll come in handy on Turkey Day, trust […]
Reading Recs – October 2021
Once a month, we bring you an update from a few Hackers on things we’ve been reading, enjoying, and learning that month, whether that’s fiction, non-fiction, an interesting article, or a series of social media posts. We hope you’ll join along with us and share your most interesting reads in […]
Why Digitization Work Is So Much More Than Scanning
Every so often, when some disaster destroys special collections and archives, people seem to take to the internet to chide librarians, archivists, curators, and other cultural heritage professionals to ask, […]
Tools for Community Advocacy
I must confess, despite being an online student, to being slightly less than tech-oriented by nature. So, of all the courses required for my MLIS, the “Advanced Technology” requirement is […]
Giving and Receiving Feedback: A Skill for Grad School and Life
Learning how to give effective feedback to colleagues, classmates, and even professors as well as receive feedback yourself is a skill that takes practice, nurturing, an open mind, and a […]
How to Make Your Library School Application Stand Out
With autumn comes application season. Even though you’ve done this before, applications are stressful. Hopefully what I’ve learned will save you some time, anxiety, and, with any luck, some money […]
So you want to be a Data Visualization Librarian?
So you know that you want to be a librarian, but have you thought about specializing in a certain field? Maybe you have an interest in emerging technologies or you want […]
Handling “Senioritis”
I’m in my final semester of my dual degree program at Simmons University. As I’m writing this post, the semester is about 1/3 of the way through. It’s the point […]
Decolonization, Metaphor, and Library Work
In the spring I took UW-Madison’s Tribal Libraries, Archives, and Museums (TLAM) class. As a white settler living on stolen land, there was a lot I didn’t understand even about […]
Overcoming Instruction Stage Fright
When I was applying to library school I asked some of my college librarians if anything had surprised them about their library work. More than one said their jobs involved […]
Patrons with Mental Health Issues or Illnesses: Story + Tips
Recently, I’ve experienced something frightening and maybe even unusual for some, at the library. To give you some context, during the pandemic, our library first opened back up for computer […]
Citation managers: Why you need one and how to make the most of them in grad school and beyond
Maybe you’ve heard of citation management software and maybe you haven’t but I am here to tell you why you need one for library school and life beyond library school. […]
On Backing Off and Not Choosing All the Things
Tell me if any of this sounds familiar. You’ve got a job, a family, and a list of homework assignments filling up your calendar for the rest of the semester. […]
How Murder She Wrote Can Help With Library School
Jessica Fletcher, the goddess herself, portrayed by Angela Lansbury, has kept me company during long IM chat shifts with no users, during marathons of library data analysis, while I was […]
Reading Recs – September 2021
We’re trying something new here at Hack Library School. Once a month, we’ll bring you an update from a few Hackers on things we’ve been reading, enjoying, and learning from […]
Why Every Future Librarian Should Take Learning Cataloging Seriously
In the past, I had been hesitant to declare a strong career interest in metadata and cataloging (I even wrote about my desire for an interdisciplinary library school curriculum for […]
Challenging LCSH – an introduction
Catalogues shape our libraries to a massive extent, but their influence is often underestimated. I’m not just talking about filing order, I’m talking about how we classify books and the […]
HLS 