How to become a Library Assistant
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Take Free Career TestCareer Attributes
- $22,905
- 104,300
- 3.4
- 9.4%
- High school diploma
- Library Science
Overview
Table of Contents
Most libraries prefer to hire library assistants who have a postsecondary certificate or an associate’s degree. However, some smaller libraries might hire prospective assistants with only a high school diploma.
Courses required for an associate’s degree or a certificate in library technology include acquisitions, cataloguing, circulation, and automated library systems. Usually, library technicians who work in public schools must meet the same requirements as teacher assistants.
Library assistants can advance as they assume additional responsibilities in other areas of the library. Some eventually become supervisors and oversee daily library operations.
What are Library Assistants like?
ArtisticBased on our pool of users, Library Assistants tend to be predominately artistic people. Take our career test to see what career interest category best describes you.
Library Assistants by Strongest Interest Archetype
Based on sample of 1418 CareerExplorer users
Are Library Assistants happy?
Library Assistants rank as moderately happy among careers. Overall they rank in the 62nd percentile of careers for satisfaction scores.
Library Assistant Career Satisfaction by Dimension
Percentile among all careers
Education History of Library Assistants
The most common degree held by Library Assistants is English Literature. 18% of Library Assistants had a degree in English Literature before becoming Library Assistants. That is over 4 times the average across all careers. Fine Arts graduates are the second most common among Library Assistants, representing 11% of Library Assistants in the CareerExplorer user base, which is 4.9 times the average.
Library Assistant Education History
This table shows which degrees people earn before becoming a Library Assistant, compared to how often those degrees are obtained by people who earn at least one post secondary degree.
| Degree | % of Library Assistants | % of population | Multiple | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Literature | 18.2% | 4.9% | 3.7× | ||
| Fine Arts | 10.7% | 2.2% | 4.9× | ||
| Psychology | 9.7% | 7.0% | 1.4× | ||
| History | 7.9% | 2.3% | 3.5× | ||
| Library Science | 7.8% | 0.2% | 43.3× | ||
| Liberal Arts | 5.9% | 1.9% | 3.0× | ||
| Anthropology And Archeology | 4.5% | 1.3% | 3.6× | ||
| Philosophy And Religious Studies | 3.7% | 1.6% | 2.4× | ||
| Business Management And Administration | 3.4% | 6.5% | 0.5× | ||
| Sociology | 3.4% | 2.1% | 1.6× | ||
| Biology | 3.3% | 3.6% | 0.9× | ||
| Foreign Language Studies | 3.1% | 1.3% | 2.3× | ||
| Political Science | 2.9% | 2.9% | 1.0× | ||
| Art History | 2.8% | 0.7% | 4.2× | ||
| Computer Science | 2.7% | 3.0% | 0.9× | ||
| Communications | 2.3% | 3.4% | 0.7× | ||
| Music | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2.5× | ||
| Linguistics | 2.0% | 0.8% | 2.5× | ||
| Environmental Science | 1.9% | 1.1% | 1.8× | ||
| Drama | 1.8% | 1.1% | 1.7× | ||
| Humanities | 1.8% | 0.4% | 4.6× | ||
| Studio Arts | 1.5% | 0.5% | 2.9× | ||
| Criminal Justice | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.1× | ||
| Mathematics | 1.4% | 1.9% | 0.8× | ||
| Teacher Education | 1.3% | 0.9% | 1.5× | ||
| Intercultural And International Studies | 1.3% | 0.6% | 2.0× | ||
| Information Sciences | 1.1% | 0.2% | 6.7× | ||
| Journalism | 1.0% | 1.1% | 0.9× | ||
| Mechanical Engineering | 1.0% | 1.7% | 0.6× | ||
| Geography | 1.0% | 0.6% | 1.7× | ||
Library Assistant Education Levels
52% of Library Assistants have a high school diploma. 35% of Library Assistants have an associate's degree.
| No education | 1% |
| High school diploma | 52% |
| Associate's degree | 35% |
| Bachelor's degree | 12% |
| Master's degree | 0% |
| Doctorate degree | 0% |
How to Become a Library Assistant
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Career Attributes
- $22,905
- 104,300
- 3.4
- 9.4%
- High school diploma
- Library Science
Find your perfect career
Would you make a good library assistant? CareerExplorer's free assessment reveals how compatible you are with a career across 5 dimensions!
