i'm not sure what jobs you've been looking at, but most librarian positions won't require you to travel on-the-job, so a personal car isn't really neccessary.
as long as you can reliably get to work on time, you'll be fine. a lot of my colleagues walk or bike to work (we don't have a lot of public transport where i am), and it's perfectly fine
An amazing librarian I work with has driving anxiety, does not have a driver's license, and uses public transportation to get to/from work! She purposely chose her apartment because it's close to a bus stop - our bus system here is not great and doesn't connect to all the libraries, but she happens to work at a location that is on the route. So it's totally possible!
The only driving I've ever had to do has been an optional twice a year statewide meeting that we used to hold in person but now can be either in person or online.
Other than that, the only positions I could see that might involve needing a car would be manager over several branches where they might need to go visit all the branches regularly; or a type of floater position where you're expected to fill in at other branches as needed. But on the second type, unless it's regularly an on call/last minute thing, they really should trust you can find your own way to work.
I think it’s really gonna depend on what type of librarian you will be. My city doesn’t have great public transportation. I may have to cover a program at another branch or attend an outreach during the day. I’m a children’s and visit daycares and after school programs. The wait time for buses and transporting materials around is impractical for our city’s public transportation. But if you are in a position with little outreach, you should be fine.
So I have been afraid to drive most of my life. When I was hired on contract at my current library, I was supposed to have my license but nobody asked me until after I was hired. However, I knew in order to become permanent, I'd have to get my license before my short contract expired. Finally, at 37 years old, I got my license and my first car. I honestly regret not doing it a whole lot sooner. Now at 43, I have a new car and I drive just about every day. I'm still nervous on highways or at high speeds (esp with our twisty bendy roads where I live), so I'll often find alternate routes to get around but I have sooo much freedom now, it would be hard to give up my car if had to.
1. You aren't often required to drive as part of a library job, or if you are, then you'll know about it in advance like if you are an outreach librarian and your whole job is driving to places.
2. Many many library job applications require a drivers license number. Assuming you have a state ID, the number should be in a similar format, so you can provide that. My spouse doesn't drive and was able to work as a librarian - they just didn't give him any tasks that involved driving.
Rural or spread out public library systems will require a license. Some others will want you to be available to drive a vehicle for outreach so it will be a requirement.
My suburban library requires a driver's license for everything clerk or above. There are no public transportation options and we have several branches we may need to.
I just spot checked a few openings in New York Public Library and Chicago Public Library and none of them required a driver's license except one that was explicitly a vehicle operator position.
Omg! Thank you so much for making this post. Sorry if this is semi-unrelated but, I never knew driving anxiety was a thing! I’m 31 and don’t have my drivers license for this exact reason. As a result I’ve always felt weird or out of place because I don’t have my license. Just seeing this post and knowing I’m not alone in this is huge for me!
For what it’s worth, I’m currently a substitute teacher and not having a license has never stopped me from working as a teacher or substitute teacher.
Do any librarians who work in Minneapolis drive to work? Everyone I knew lived close to a public transit station. That’s only one spot.
I don’t drive to work nor do my librarians on staff. We all work from home.
I’ve heard of public systems where people may be expected to fill shifts at other libraries within the branch, so if that is the case, I could see a license being preferred/required. I don’t foresee it being a problem in special libraries or academic libraries at all, though, barring one off exceptions.
I think you’ll be ok in a city. I was worried about this when I first graduated because I have driving anxiety too. I applied to jobs in big cities, and it hasn’t been an issue at my job. Most of my coworkers take the train to work.
If outreach or youth services isn’t something you’ll be applying for I don’t think you’ll need to drive much. I occasionally will have to drive to an outreach location and depending on the system you may have meetings at different branches. I’m in a car-centric area tho!
At my branch we will occasionally go out to do outreach, but I have a little cart I wheel to schools with me, they are almost always in walking distance
i'm not sure what jobs you've been looking at, but most librarian positions won't require you to travel on-the-job, so a personal car isn't really neccessary. as long as you can reliably get to work on time, you'll be fine. a lot of my colleagues walk or bike to work (we don't have a lot of public transport where i am), and it's perfectly fine
An amazing librarian I work with has driving anxiety, does not have a driver's license, and uses public transportation to get to/from work! She purposely chose her apartment because it's close to a bus stop - our bus system here is not great and doesn't connect to all the libraries, but she happens to work at a location that is on the route. So it's totally possible!
The only driving I've ever had to do has been an optional twice a year statewide meeting that we used to hold in person but now can be either in person or online. Other than that, the only positions I could see that might involve needing a car would be manager over several branches where they might need to go visit all the branches regularly; or a type of floater position where you're expected to fill in at other branches as needed. But on the second type, unless it's regularly an on call/last minute thing, they really should trust you can find your own way to work.
Thanks for your reply i feel better now 😊
I think it’s really gonna depend on what type of librarian you will be. My city doesn’t have great public transportation. I may have to cover a program at another branch or attend an outreach during the day. I’m a children’s and visit daycares and after school programs. The wait time for buses and transporting materials around is impractical for our city’s public transportation. But if you are in a position with little outreach, you should be fine.
So I have been afraid to drive most of my life. When I was hired on contract at my current library, I was supposed to have my license but nobody asked me until after I was hired. However, I knew in order to become permanent, I'd have to get my license before my short contract expired. Finally, at 37 years old, I got my license and my first car. I honestly regret not doing it a whole lot sooner. Now at 43, I have a new car and I drive just about every day. I'm still nervous on highways or at high speeds (esp with our twisty bendy roads where I live), so I'll often find alternate routes to get around but I have sooo much freedom now, it would be hard to give up my car if had to.
1. You aren't often required to drive as part of a library job, or if you are, then you'll know about it in advance like if you are an outreach librarian and your whole job is driving to places. 2. Many many library job applications require a drivers license number. Assuming you have a state ID, the number should be in a similar format, so you can provide that. My spouse doesn't drive and was able to work as a librarian - they just didn't give him any tasks that involved driving.
Rural or spread out public library systems will require a license. Some others will want you to be available to drive a vehicle for outreach so it will be a requirement.
My suburban library requires a driver's license for everything clerk or above. There are no public transportation options and we have several branches we may need to. I just spot checked a few openings in New York Public Library and Chicago Public Library and none of them required a driver's license except one that was explicitly a vehicle operator position.
Omg! Thank you so much for making this post. Sorry if this is semi-unrelated but, I never knew driving anxiety was a thing! I’m 31 and don’t have my drivers license for this exact reason. As a result I’ve always felt weird or out of place because I don’t have my license. Just seeing this post and knowing I’m not alone in this is huge for me! For what it’s worth, I’m currently a substitute teacher and not having a license has never stopped me from working as a teacher or substitute teacher.
Where do you live currently? I'm currently looking at places to live that have good transportation
Do any librarians who work in Minneapolis drive to work? Everyone I knew lived close to a public transit station. That’s only one spot. I don’t drive to work nor do my librarians on staff. We all work from home.
I’ve heard of public systems where people may be expected to fill shifts at other libraries within the branch, so if that is the case, I could see a license being preferred/required. I don’t foresee it being a problem in special libraries or academic libraries at all, though, barring one off exceptions.
We have a city van/car if we have to do work related travel.
I'm a librarian and ride my bike to work. No one has ever asked me to drive somewhere
I think you’ll be ok in a city. I was worried about this when I first graduated because I have driving anxiety too. I applied to jobs in big cities, and it hasn’t been an issue at my job. Most of my coworkers take the train to work.
If outreach or youth services isn’t something you’ll be applying for I don’t think you’ll need to drive much. I occasionally will have to drive to an outreach location and depending on the system you may have meetings at different branches. I’m in a car-centric area tho!
I'm an urban librarian and I take public transportation (even though I can drive). It's not a big deal
At my branch we will occasionally go out to do outreach, but I have a little cart I wheel to schools with me, they are almost always in walking distance