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Originally Posted by tracilicious
Why does being a librarian require a degree?
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You can make a very good case that for many librarian jobs that generally require an MLS, that it isn't really necessary. In fact, in library school I wrote a paper taking this position.
That said, it is generally not a job where someone can just walk in and start doing it. In the absence of a degree requirement, it would have to work on an apprenticeship/develpoment model.
There is a lot of specialized knowledge that goes into the job and it takes time to learn it all. It requires a degree for much the same reason that other professional degrees (lawyers, nurses, teachers, etc.) require or encourage them. Not so much because it requires knowledge that can only be gained in a university but because a degree program provides the necessary time to simply sit down and learn what needs to be learned. It is easier for a public library to simply require that people come in already knowing this stuff rather than each library having its own staff devleopment.
Also, there are many fields within librarianship that are much more academically oriented than what most people see at the public library reference desk.