Librarian Chartership verses BA or Masters Degree

[Bookishworm]

I’ve been working as a library assistant for around 15 years and I enjoy my job. I’m currently considering some professional career development and am considering either doing a librarian chartership which would take a couple of years and would be mainly work based or studying library and information management via either a BA or a masters.

I already have a BA in Theatre Studies so technically I could jump straight onto the masters or I could study for a BA library and information science via distance learning over 5 years (masters takes 2 years)

I am trying to work out which path is best? Thanks ☺️

I did the MA. I wouldn't bother with the BA given it takes longer and you already have a degree. Chartership will lock you in to paying Cilip dues for as long as you want to maintain it whereas once you have the MA it's yours

I did a PGDip on a Cilip-accredited course. I could have done the MA if I’d done the dissertation, but I’ve already got an MA and didn’t fancy all that writing and research, to be honest, when the PGDip is enough.

Definitely don’t do the BA! You’ve already got one. Where offers the BA nowadays?

I have the certification. I was too lazy to do chartership.

It's a much cheaper route (CILIP dues are much less than £10K plus for a Masters) but a while ago I did read that some employers insist on the degree and won't accept chartership so that is something to consider.

Yes you are right the Cilip dues are less expensive than a masters but if you stop paying them the chartership ceases to exist until you pay all your back membership and re-enroll. So if like me you stop paying post chartership, you've essentially got nothing for it, which is a worse deal.

Thank you ☺️ What was the MA like? I am considering that too via distance learning as it’s much quicker than the BA and I already have a degree. I would do it over two years. What are the options for the dissertation? 📚 Thanks!

It is via Aberystwyth University - both the BA and the masters (distance learning) I work part time and would study in my spare time. Did your PGDip lead to career progression? I know I want to remain in the library sector and I’m interested in the academic side.

I did it last century so probably not that helpful to you. We had plenty of help to refine our dissertation topic so that was fine. I did my MA part time attending in person one day a week at Northumbria. Very enjoyable and useful and I made some great friends.

My PGDip has been essential. Since I finished it, I’ve gone up at work from entry-level to leadership with a nearly £10K pay rise. I couldn’t have done it without that qualification. Cilip chartership is fine but I don’t think it means much outside the school or public library sector and academic libraries are less involved with Cilip and more into SCONUL and UKSG in my experience. I don’t have Cilip chartership and neither do many of my colleagues. We respect Cilip, but it’s not that important for our day to day work.

DM me if you want to know more - happy to help

Librarianship has changed so much that it’s unrecognizable from what it first was when I entered the career in the 1960s. In the late 1970s the new universities began disgorging young people with a bit of paper I didnt have - a degree in Library and Information Science. My qualifications obtained under the Library Association were regarded by short righted employers as outdated. I left the profession in the early 1980s to do a degree in psychology, and later a masters and doctorate in human computer interaction. By that time the public library system I had worked in had fallen apart. Branches had closed or were inefficiently run by volunteers as community centers. Many of my erstwhile colleagues had been made redundant. With degrees of that quality I could obviously have gone back into librarianship in an academic or specialised library.Instead I became an academic and it seemed a natural progression. I had made my move at exactly the right time.

Another thing to note is that the MA will be recognized as a qualification in other sectors but chartership won't. I work for the NHS now and would have had difficulty moving through the pay scale without the masters. My role is not specifically librarian any more so chartership alone probably wouldn't have been enough to meet the requirements. If you're in a position to do the MA I would

Also consider the different skills you'd be learning via each route - what would be more valuable for the sector you want to work in, st least initially?

For example, I feel better equipped to support postgraduate students, academics and researchers as I have studied at postgraduate level myself.

Much of the Chartership process centres on being a reflective practitioner - great skill to have, but can also be learned along the way.

And I don't think I've seen any academic librarian jobs that didn't require the postgrad... Though maybe there are some now. Worth investigating.

Most academic librarian jobs I’ve seen ask for a PG qualification ‘or equivalent experience’.
The user experience librarian at my institution is an ex secondary school teacher with no former library experience or qualifications, but loads of ideas about service design and improvement, and the systems librarian was in IT services in local government before coming to work with us.
I think the sector is slowly opening up and realising that not everyone can afford to do a masters to get into a job that’s pretty badly paid…!