Recent MLS graduate looking to make contacts in Library profession

I have a relative who is having a hard time finding a library-oriented
job. We would appreciate any help and/or advice members of this forum
could give us.

She has a law degree and is member of the bar in two states. But after
working in that area for a while, she decided what she wanted to do was
go back to her original interest, which is to be a librarian. She
completed her Masters of Library Science earlier this year (2005).

This, it seems, has put her in a bit of a predicament. She's contacted
every public and school library in this area (Columbus, OH), but the
ones who bothered to respond have turned her down because of her law
degree. They assume that she's going to get bored and want to move on
too quickly, want too much money, etc., and they don't believe her when
she says otherwise. The law libraries don't have openings very often,
but for those that have had openings, she was turned down because she
didn't have enough experience; the people she's competing with have
experience from other sorts of libraries. Law-oriented jobs that don't
require litigation that most frequently open up are paralegal positions
that won't hire her because she, once again, is 'overqualified'.

The first thing she needs is contacts. I understand that MOST jobs are
gotten through contacts. You have to know the right people. To that
end, she has volunteered, goes to local bar association meetings, etc.
While this is the right start, she hasn't managed to get into contact
with quite the right people. Who are the right people to talk to? She
has a lot of names of people, but some can't be found, and others don't
return calls. We just need more information on who are the right
people to know in this field.

The next thing she needs is a job that helps her long-term career more
than hurts it. For instance, if she were to take a legal position that
had nothing to do with libraries, worked her 70 hours/week, and
prevented her from going to bar association meetings, that would set
her back in a number of different ways. On the other hand, if she were
to get a job as a children's librarian in an elementary school, that
would be a step in the right direction, because it's experience she
could count as a way to move up the ladder. What would be the best
thing for her to do in this case?

No one expects to get their dream job right out of school. What is the
best thing she can do to get started in the right direction, and whom
can she talk to that will get her in contact with the right people?

If you have some information that can help, please feel free to contact
me at this address:
theosib AT hotmail DOT com

Thanks in advance for anything you can tell us, and much appreciated.

.

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