applying to masters program

As someone with an ALA MLS and seven years of solid public & academic library experience (I worked at Harvard, for chrissakes!) who's just spent over a year trying to land even a no-degree-required part-time public library job, I strongly encourage you to put the library school thing off for a while and apply for a few library jobs - chances are you'll rise through the ranks and do just as well (well, in some libraries anyway - depends on what you want to do, eventually) without spending the time and money on a degree!   And if you find you want to take a degree, you'll have the required experience.

You know, I've noticed that a lot of people who do end up taking library qualifications here in the UK are people with regular paraprofessional jobs (ex-graduate trainees seem to be the minority) who are just looking for professional development.  In an ideal world I would have liked to have had more experience before going for my masters which would have made my life now a lot easier, for sure.

Yeah, I would have killed to have been able to apply for some of the graduate-trainee jobs that have been posted - but because I already have my MLS, I didn't qualify (didn't matter that I didn't have experience in the particular field of the job).

Oh dear. This discussion is reminding me of why I didn't even apply for library
jobs- I spent a few weeks in January looking at jobs.ac.uk and seeing lots of
interesting part-time work for people without library qualifications, and somehow
I felt like I wouldn't have much of a chance since I'm not British. I had decided
I'd wait to go to the U.S. to get a library degree, since it seems like a way into
working in libraries rather than a way to work up as is described in the websites
of the British schools. An advisor at City U claimed it was an entry in, but maybe
he just wants my money. By the way, I'm 37 and probably considered very old
for trainee jobs. Meg, your story gives me pause, but toward what I don't know!
I would like to head back to the States with another degree, so maybe I will
just take the risk along with some volunteer work in a library.

I think it is always advisable to get more experience before the degree, honestly.  If you can legally work in the UK, apply away for the part-time library jobs, not being British is not going to put you at a disadvantage.

And can I just say I am *floored* by how many part-time library (both parapro & professional librarian) jobs there are out there?  There are lots of jobs I've seen which I would have loved to go for but couldn't afford to since they were part time.

I think it is always advisable to get more experience before the degree, honestly.  If you can legally work in the UK, apply away for the part-time library jobs, not being British is not going to put you at a disadvantage.

And can I just say I am *floored* by how many part-time library (both parapro & professional librarian) jobs there are out there?  There are lots of jobs I've seen which I would have loved to go for but couldn't afford to since they were part time.

I definitely agree - just start applying and see what happens!  Do be warned that council applications, at least (for public library jobs) tend to take absolutely forever to process, so it's not unusual to apply for a job with a closing date of, say, April 30 and not hear if you've even been shortlisted for interview until the end of May...with an interview date of mid-June!

And, yeah - I have no idea why there are so many part-time positions!  It's not even like in the US where you see jobs advertised for 39.5 hours per week just so they don't have to pay benefits.... 

Yeah, I would have killed to have been able to apply for some of the graduate-trainee jobs that have been posted - but because I already have my MLS, I didn't qualify (didn't matter that I didn't have experience in the particular field of the job).

I asked at Cambridge and one library let me apply and then said that I didn't mention in my cover letter how I would use their specific collection.  Since no one can have access to the catalog unless they are a student or staff, I wonder who might have gotten the position?   

I have seen a few jobs in my area for 8 hours a week. Even if you can work part time, who works 8 hours a week?

I am a member of the British Library AND the National Archives. Had a little paid
work and hung around after it dried up. Wonder if that would help?

True, a lot of the less skilled jobs posted are extremely part-time. Would have been
fine for me, though 8 hours a week is ridiculously little.