Like so many others who have come to Israel from the States, I have a small collection of university degrees. My diplomas include a masters' degree in Library and Information Science. That profession did not lead to pleasant experiences or memories in the States.

I have four 2-inch-thick bound volumes holding carbon copies (remember those?) of application letters from the early 1970s. I had sent the original letters to libraries along the entire American East Coast, and going westward for several states. My applications listed (what I thought were) my sterling qualifications.

Most libraries seemed to ignore the letters. Others usually sent me letters of rejection.

One place did seem to be interested, and I got as far as an interview. However, it was a non-starter. I was told that I would be rejected because I would not work on Saturdays or late Fridays. They explained that those were their busiest days.

"But," I said, "there are laws to protect me. There are organizations that fight violations of the Sabbath Law."

"No," they responded, "we can always say that we turned you down for other reasons.

"Our position is simple. If we have an applicant with weak qualifications who can work any day of the week, and another applicant with greater qualifications who is restricted in the days he can work. We will choose the one who offers flexible work hours.

"Why should we hire a guy who will cause friction among the other employees? After all, everybody, Sabbath observer or not, wants to be off on the weekend."

They had a point.

Their argument also presented me with another good reason for moving to Israel. Sabbath observance is irrelevant to a library job in Israel.

Israeli libraries

My Library Science degree did prove to be valuable in Israel.

• My home library, with over 30,000 documents, is organized as a librarian would
• My range of websites are indexed as a library
• I moderate a major email forum on librarianship
• I developed a serious website about librarianship
• My first job in Israel was based on librarianship and indexing
• I worked as a librarian for nearly a year in a gerontological library
• I taught librarianship in two Israeli colleges
• I worked as a consultant to the Jerusalem Public Library system
• I was on the board of directors of ISLIC - the Israel Special Libraries and Information Systems
• I was a mentor to librarians who did not complete the library school preparation
• Much of my current work is ultimately based on library skills:
  • My computer work
  • The way I teach computers
  • The way organize my databases
• I've done consulting jobs for Israeli libraries

However, I can hardly say that I am a librarian, in the American sense of the word. I am grateful that I have those skills, but my focus in life has moved away from librarianship. Israeli libraries just don't offer the same opportunities for reference work as their American counterparts.