Taking Your MLIS Abroad: Getting and Succeeding in an International Library Job

This book explains how and why to get an international library job, what to expect when you arrive in your host country, and how to overcome challenges in your new home.

For those who possess an ALA-accredited degree, there are opportunities to work in library settings around the world―and many of these attractive career options do not require non-English language skills or an EEC/Commonwealth citizenship. This guide to library work in countries outside the United States and Canada explains the benefits of taking on a library position in an international setting, how to find such a job, what to expect in working in a library outside of North America, and what strategies to employ to be successful and happy living and working in your host country.

This guide answers all the questions that a librarian considering a position abroad would have, and it also covers subjects and concerns that might not be as obvious. Based on the direct experiences of the authors as well as anecdotal accounts from other librarians who have worked around the world, the book informs readers about common cultural differences with the application and interview process; explains how workplaces and working assumptions can be different from American expectations; profiles the different procedures, collection scope, curricular support, and intellectual freedom policies of libraries outside the United States and Canada; and describes the unique experience of moving to another country and living as an expat.

Lara Seven Phillips has more than two decades' experience in library work. Most recently, she was special collections librarian at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji.

Katherine G. Holvoet is associate professor and the electronic resources librarian (former learning commons supervisor) at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.