Librarians have to be smart. Booklovers by both proclivity and trade, librarianship demands intellectual rigor and continuous learning. Not only are librarians required to have advanced degrees, but some universities require subject area PhDs at a minimum. In addition, librarians are expected to be reading the latest aquisitions so they know what to recommend.

Librarianship is a job for the smart. Librarians have to outwit their patrons, unravel difficult reference questions, find anything, answer everything, catalog anything and never, ever blush.

Some people think that all an MLIS degree involves is memorization of the Dewey Decimal system. Nothing could be further from the truth. Librarians are expected to take classes in behavioral and social science, ethnography, computer science, literature and business management.

Here is an example of one class and one professor from library school: Professor Marija Dalbello and Reading Interests of Adults.