How To Become An Elementary Librarian: What It Is and Career Path

What is an elementary librarian and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an elementary librarian. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.23 an hour? That's $52,474 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 8,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreElementary LibrarianUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,474

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.33%

Asian 4.83%

Black or African American 6.32%

Hispanic or Latino 7.69%

Unknown 3.58%

White 77.25%

Gender

female 92.47%

male 7.53%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.6

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.5

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an elementary librarian

Explore elementary librarian education requirements

Most common elementary librarian degrees

Bachelor's

61.5 %

Master's

24.4 %

Associate

7.7 %

Start to develop specific elementary librarian skills

Skills	Percentages
Library Materials	21.57%
Library Collection	20.11%
Library Programs	13.23%
AV	9.45%
Research Projects	8.21%

Complete relevant elementary librarian training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New elementary librarians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an elementary librarian based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real elementary librarian resumes.

Research elementary librarian duties and responsibilities

Manage and supervise a full-time media assistant, technology technicians and parent and student volunteers.
Conduct research for teachers for relevant on-line resources for their curricular use.
Introduce some computer research skills and concepts 3rd grade - target social relationships and personal responsibility 4th grade - biography project.
Manage and supervise a full-time media assistant, technology technicians and parent and student volunteers.

Prepare your elementary librarian resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your elementary librarian resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an elementary librarian resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable elementary librarian resume templates

Build a professional elementary librarian resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your elementary librarian resume.

Apply for elementary librarian jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an elementary librarian job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do elementary librarians rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Elementary librarian reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

I'm an academic librarian, so helping students learn about information and research, teaching classes about same, and the intellectual aspect of working with information access around colleagues who are smart and kind. I've also been a teacher and a sales and marketing executive, but librarianship is by far my most rewarding career.

Cons

The pay. The stereotypes. The people who ask, "do they even still have libraries"?