Jayme Evans
Name:
Jayme Evans
MSU degrees:
BA in English with a Minor in History, May 2017
Favorite memories of being an undergraduate English major:
The community that English majors build. We’re all in it for different reasons (creative writing, professional writing, teaching English as a second language), but we bonded together to help each other reach our goals. I met some of the best people during my undergraduate years.
Current Position:
Youth Services Librarian
Organization:
Bryan Public Library in West Point, MS
When you graduated with a degree in English from MSU, what were your plans for your future? Has your career path mostly realized those early plans, or have you discovered new plans and goals along the way?
When I graduated in 2017, I had a clear-cut plan. Work for a year then apply for medical school. I wanted the experience of holding down a job to break up the monotony of just being in school all the time. During senior year, I’d been volunteering at the Bryan Public Library on Fridays when I went home. I would cover a few hours when the other librarians were stepping out for lunch or had to leave early. Soon the director offered me a part-time position. I let her know that it would only be temporary as I was dead set on going to med school. By 2018, I’d been offered a full-time position as library assistant and then full time as the Youth Services Librarian. Suddenly, I found myself in a career I had not envisioned for myself. I’ve always loved books and the job felt exactly like something I was suited for. While plans have not changed for going back to school, they have shifted from medical school to getting my master’s in library science.
What is your current occupation, and what does your work mostly consist of?
My current job title is Youth Services Librarian. For the most part, my job is to help curate books, media and events for teens (13-18). While not a part of my official title, I also manage book displays in the fiction and nonfiction sections of the library.
Which skills that you learned as an English major do you use most in your job?
To make sure both book displays as well as book acquisition for teens are accurate in both information and in age appropriateness, I must do a lot of research. The English major is the best way to practice the level of research that you need because it brings you in contact with multiple viewpoints and scholarly sources (both inside and outside English studies). English courses also show you the importance of diverse reading choices, which is the entire concept of a library; that it holds choices for everyone.
What additional skills did you need to learn in order to do your job, and how did you learn them?
One thing I’ve had to learn as a librarian is time management for display creation. When you have a time sensitive display (Black History Month, Banned Books Week, etc.) I have to have a grasp on what I want the display to look like and what books I want to use ahead of when the actual display goes up. I have to start planning a display at least a month ahead of time and pace myself on having graphics printed, books located and pulled from the shelf early (but not too early, as the books need to still be visibly available for patrons to pick up). I learned this from my time in the English Department. When writing my papers for English courses, I would begin by deciding how I wanted the paper to look and locating all the sources that I planned to use well before I ever sat down to type the paper. I could not start too early, but I could not wait until a week before the paper was due to start looking for sources. The work it takes to write a paper or create a book display is quite similar, with interesting thought-provoking results.
Are there common misconceptions about your career field, which current English majors might share, that you have learned the truth about?
The biggest misconception about librarianship (as well as the English major) is that it isn’t necessary. People feel like with smart phones and Google so easily accessible, these two don’t serve as much of a purpose as they have in the past. English majors and librarians might hear people question their choice for the major/career choice a lot in the outside world. It is, of course, false. Librarians are necessary as they do so much more that check out books. They provide one of the last free spaces in the world. People easily forget that not everyone has access to internet or have the disposable income for books, which makes libraries (and the librarians who work there) an absolute necessity. To get to be a librarian, I can think of no better undergraduate degree to start them off than an English degree. As an English major, I was given a diverse group of books to read and comprehend. That comprehension helped my comprehension of the diverse group of people which I deal with every day as a librarian. No matter what people think, English degrees and librarians are very necessary.
In what ways does your career enrich your life and help you to achieve your personal as well as your professional goals?
I love my job. Every day I get to help my patrons find books, or rediscover reading if they’ve stopped reading for a few years. Sometimes people need help, and I am able to direct them to the resources they need. Patrons have come in and not known where their next meal is going to come from or where they will be sleeping that night. I can help them contact the correct people, so they don’t have to worry. I always wanted to help people. It was the main reason I wanted to become a doctor. Being a librarian has given me that ability in a different way, but it is just as impactful.
What advice do you have for undergraduate English majors right now who might want to follow the career path you did?
Librarianship today is complicated. It can look and be downright stressful in today’s climate. I won’t say there won’t be days where you feel depressed or worried about what may happen next. But it is worth it. Even if you make one patron smile, it will make it all worth it.
[Updated July 2024]