If you are looking to become a librarian, then what better place is there to help you get started than a public library in miniature hosted by an MA programme and research centre that are aligned to the most recent trends in the field of cultural studies? Let’s have a look at some of the ways in which our MA programme offers adequate training to those students who would like to become librarians in today’s world.
The main task of a librarian is to be well-acquainted with the literature belonging to one or several related fields and to keep constantly up-to-date with the major trends in publishing within those areas. Librarians classify, organise and facilitate access to the (printed and electronic) information resources that they curate. They also assist library members by quickly identifying the resources that they seek and making relevant recommendations for their bibliographies. In a way, a librarian’s job is not that far removed from that of a scholar…
Our MA programme provides students with the necessary tools to perform these duties and it does so in a number of ways. Firstly, it is a distinctly interdisciplinary programme that brings together a wide range of interrelated fields and methodologies such as cultural history, cultural anthropology, gender studies, postcolonialism, intellectual history, imagology, media studies, multiculturalism, cultural memory and the list goes on. This highly diverse curriculum will allow students to become acquainted with the main directions in the humanities today, which they will become experts in and easily navigate. Secondly, regardless of the selection of courses that we offer, the cultural turn that we study in our MA programme continues to shape the humanities as a whole and, perhaps, even some debates within the hard sciences. Hence, by becoming experts in current cultural issues and debates, our students will be well prepared to face any challenges they might encounter as librarians, even as they step outside the finite number of disciplines that we teach. Thirdly, the critical-thinking skills and research competencies that our MA provides will shape the ability of future librarians to properly evaluate various information resources both in terms of their compliance with scientific standards and in terms of their relevance for current issues and interests.
It is already well-known that the British Cultural Studies Centre boasts a generous library and a welcoming reading room. Our library is curated by the BCSC librarian and secretary, in collaboration with a team of interns made up of both BA and MA students, which is renewed every year. This means that our MA students, especially those who decide to join our team of interns, will become acquainted with the main administrative activities that the management of a public library presupposes: library classification and indexation, book cataloguing, permit issuing, loans & returns, book donation management, academic & cultural event organisation, bibliography compilations & recommendations, etc. Add to this a great number of activities meant to increase the visibility of our library by means of online book catalogues and social media platforms, which will offer future librarians some of the know-how they need to prepare for today’s trends in library management and marketing.
MA students who want to become librarians might also require further training, depending on the type of library they would like to work in. Visit the official website of the Romanian Library Association for further information about public libraries in our country.
Many of our alumni have worked as librarians. Read their success stories to learn more.
British Cultural Studies 