Honestly, I'd suggest the same thing I do for people interested in the MLIS - before investing a lot of time or money in education, spend some time volunteering in a library.
I'd also ask some very careful questions about job prospects - a number of formerly MLIS-requiring jobs are now going to people who don't have the MLIS degree.
But in the bits of the US I'm aware of, a library technician certificate won't help much (you're just as likely to get hired with a BA in something different, as long as you can demonstrate you can do the work), and a degree in something else and library experience (whether as a volunteer or employee) will help even more. (That said, this is partly because there mostly aren't very common or very good library technician programs: some libraries essentially create their own.)
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Date: 2011-05-03 02:11 pm (UTC)I'd also ask some very careful questions about job prospects - a number of formerly MLIS-requiring jobs are now going to people who don't have the MLIS degree.
But in the bits of the US I'm aware of, a library technician certificate won't help much (you're just as likely to get hired with a BA in something different, as long as you can demonstrate you can do the work), and a degree in something else and library experience (whether as a volunteer or employee) will help even more. (That said, this is partly because there mostly aren't very common or very good library technician programs: some libraries essentially create their own.)