Job and Employment Services
*Of the thousands of reference questions asked of librarians per year, a great many of them are regarding job or employment information. These information requests can range from career or education information to assistance with resume writing.
*The demand for job and employment information does not decrease depending on the economic situation of the community. New job seekers and career changers are a growing group of library users.
*The advent of technology has changed the job market and the job search process. This means that there will only be more questions by job and employment information seekers as they go about their search.
*Librarians can play an integral role in the job search process if the effort is made to provide library users with the accurate and useful employment related information.
The Need for Job and Employment Services:
The 1990s saw a lot of change, most notably in technology. These changes have affected the job market and the job search process in ways that leave many job seekers struggling to learn new techniques and strategies for finding and landing that perfect job (or any job at all). In the early 90s, librarians were noticing the changes and incorporating the new technologies into library services. Job and employment information seekers were not left unnoticed at that time. In 1992, Byron Anderson wrote, "the average career or job seeker has been left stranded" (17). He also noted in the same article the "prime" position of libraries in this particular service because "librarians are in the enviable position of being aware of resource material that other career/job professionals may not even be aware of (20).
The Public Library Response:
Many public libraries have responded to these user needs by creating Education, Job and Career Information Centers (EJICs). Although public library EJICs are varied in their scope and services, the three general tenets of the EJIC are outlined in the book Serving Job Seekers and Career Changers: A Planning Manual for Public Libraries as "Creative thinking is important; this service requires teamwork among its planners; and the service must be an integral part of a community-wide effort to assist those with education, job, and career needs" (2). The book and other articles recommend determining user needs before creating an EJIC. Successful job and employment services have ranged from a collection of trade and professional journals and other periodicals that publish job openings like at the Shields Library at the University of California-Davis (Anderson 30) to the comprehensive
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