Priscilla Ivy

Priscilla Ivy

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I have always loved being around diverse people and reading books of all kinds. My career gives me an opportunity to do both. I help people learn new skills through technology and in some way make their lives better or easier.

Name: 

Priscilla A. Ivy

 

MSU Degree:

B. A. in English, 2013

 

Favorite memories of being an undergraduate English major:

It was amazing to meet and learn with young people my daughter’s age! They were patient with me and extremely helpful to me in understanding how being a student had changed since I attended school in the 1980s. We laughed a lot and strived together to meet deadlines.

 

Current Position:

Head Librarian

 

Organization: 

Tombigbee Regional Library System (TRLS)

 

 

When you graduated with a degree in English from MSU, what were your plans for your future?

I knew that I wanted to work in librarianship, but I was not sure of what type of librarian I wanted to be or where I would have to move to do so. I worked the evening shift at the College of Veterinary Medicine on campus and was hoping that an entry level position would open in the library there or the Mitchell Memorial Library on the main campus. Overall, I was willing to move to another state if necessary to achieve my goals.

 

Has your career path mostly realized those early plans, or have you discovered new plans and goals along the way?

I realized my career plans in the most surreal way before graduation. In 2013, an advertisement for an Assistant Circulation Librarian at the Bryan Public Library appeared in our local paper. I was one semester from finishing my degree, so I read the ad and pushed it aside. I thought about the ad often in the next few days but did not apply thinking that they would not consider me without my degree. One night after work, I decided to go for it. I mailed my resume and references and was surprised when I was contacted for an interview. Amazingly, I was offered the position and started two weeks later. This made me more excited about earning my degree in English.

 

What is your current occupation, and what does your work mostly consist of?

I am the Head Librarian (located at the Bryan Public Library – Main Branch of the TRLS) and responsible for working in coordination with the Assistant Director of the TRLS to ensure that the staff of all seven branches in the system are served through training, Collection Cataloging, Technical Operations, Public Relations, MS Library Partnership (MLP), Transit Services, and various library services for our patrons in each community served.

 

I am also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Bryan Public Library such as lobbying funding by working with the city and county elected entities, Grant Writing, supervising onsite staff, working with staff to provide programs for the community, accepting and acknowledging donations/gifts, overseeing building upkeep/maintenance, and providing general library services to our patrons.

 

Which skills that you learned as an English major do you use most in your job?

As an English major I learned to be well organized in order to meet deadlines and to be very precise when writing papers. Preciseness is extremely important when writing a Grant request. The way a Grant request is organized and written can make the difference between receiving or being turned down for the award of the Grant.

 

What additional skills did you need to learn in order to do your job, and how did you learn them?

Librarianship is a many splendored thing, so I received on-the-job training on how to work with the library’s system to check out books, put books on hold, the MLP (a system of borrowing items from libraries outside of your system that belong to this partnership), I learned how to request items with Inter-Library Loans (requesting books from all over the United States), choosing items to add to the Collection, and how to Catalog items for the library Collection.

 

Are there common misconceptions about your career field, which current English majors might share, that you have learned the truth about?

Many people think that librarians only check out books and that no one reads printed books anymore. There is so much more to being a librarian than that. In my opinion, the most important task that a librarian does is being able to work positively with everyone, especially the homeless, people dealing with addiction, people who are in a mental/medical health crisis, school children and their parents, etc.

 

In what ways does your career enrich your life and help you to achieve your personal as well as your professional goals?

I have always loved being around diverse people and reading books of all kinds. My career gives me an opportunity to do both. I help people learn new skills through technology and in some way make their lives better or easier. I have realized after 13 years as a librarian, my destiny was always here. I wish that I had arrived much sooner.

 

One of my favorite things to do is find books that patrons want but just can’t remember the title or author, but they remember that the cover is blue!

 

 

What advice do you have for undergraduate English majors right now who might want to follow the career path you did?

You will find English, and other majors in librarianship because each major has skills very much needed to offer to this career. The more you know about various things the better librarian you will be. The pay is good and usually the more industry in the community you serve the better funded the library is and the better the pay for library staff.

 

If you don’t intend to go to grad school right away to get a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) Degree, there are entry level positions that don’t require it, and most states offer scholarships through their State Library Commission to pay for a MLIS as you continue work in a library.

 

Do your research about this career—as an English major you are excellent at research—and do not count librarianship out as your career. Librarians serve people from all backgrounds.

 

[Updated August 2026]