Given the historic forces bearing down on today’s public library and despite a rich literature concerned with its relevance, one topic conspicuously absent from the research agenda is the status of public librarianship as a bona fide professional practice and viable career option for the next generation of graduates with master of library and information science (MLIS) degrees. We visited urban public libraries across Canada and engaged with both rank and file and library leaders on questions relating to their library as a place of professional work. Our findings reveal a profession in a state of flux. And, although chief executive officers are quick to promote new roles for their professional librarians, the specifics of these jobs and the competencies required to perform them are either ambiguous or demand knowledge, skills, and abilities that are more generic than jurisdictional. In the end, we were left wondering: What is the “value-add” of the MLIS in today’s public libraries?

中文翻译：

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公共图书馆MLIS的“增值”是什么？当今图书馆领导者的观点及其等级和档案

鉴于当今公共图书馆面临的历史力量，尽管有大量与其相关的文献，但研究议程上明显缺少的一个话题是公共图书馆员作为真正的专业实践和下一代毕业生可行的职业选择的地位拥有图书馆和信息科学（MLIS）学位。我们访问了加拿大各地的城市公共图书馆，并与高级和档案馆及图书馆馆长就其作为专业工作场所的图书馆的问题进行了接触。我们的发现揭示出一个行业处于不断变化的状态。而且，尽管首席执行官们很快就为专业的图书馆员提升了职位，但这些工作的具体内容和执行这些职位所需的能力要么模棱两可，要么要求知识，技能，和比管辖范围更通用的能力。最后，我们不禁要问：今天的公共图书馆中MLIS的“增值”是什么？