What is the difference between the work of shelvers library assistants library technicians and librarians?

Shelvers will mainly do just that--shelve recently-returned or newly-arrived books, videos, CDs, DVDs, etc. They tend not to work directly with the public (although they might help a patron in the shelves who can't find his/her item). It's generally the most entry-level position at many libraries.

Library technicians and assistants usually have a broad range of responsibilities that can often be quite close to the job a librarian performs. The range of duties can vary greatly, depending on just where the technician works within the library. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a very good overview at:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos113.htm

In order to be a librarian, you generally have to have a master's degree in Library Science (also often called Library & Information Science). The idea is that the degree will give you a more in-depth knowledge of library issues and give you a more specialized set of skills than you might just pick up on the job as a technician. Naturally, there's a lot of discussion within the profession as to the real differences between skilled technicians and librarians. Again, the BLS has info at:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos068.htm

The American Library Association maintains a very good site at:

http://www.librarycareers.org

Hope this is useful!

--Bill Pardue
Arlington Heights Memorial Library
Librarians--Ask Us, We Answer!
Find your local Library at http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/Public_main.html

First answer by Billahml. Last edit by Billahml. Contributor trust: 36 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 20 [recommend question]