Priscilla Shontz, a past president of the American Library Association's New Members Round Table, shares information and gives useful advice on topics like choosing a field, cover letters and resumes, interviewing, networking, mentoring, and publishing.
Supplementing her own perspective are comments from over seventy information professionals. Many of them are experienced librarians, while others are newcomers to the field who share their wisdom about their own personal experiences getting started in the profession. These are perhaps the most enlightening of all: they talk about successes they've had, things they wish they'd done differently, and pitfalls that others can avoid. Their stories are funny, touching, wise, and always enlightening.
Written in a clear, concise, and engaging style, this book fills a big gap in the literature. And it's not just appropriate to those in the early stages of their career -- it would be equally useful to old pros who are looking to re-energize their careers (or those who are mentoring newcomers).
A pleasure! This book should be required reading for all library school students and faculty members -- it's certainly more useful and entertaining (as well as more of a bargain!) than most of the textbooks out there.
