A Librarian's Dream Job

Alright, for those individuals who get seasick at the mere mention of boarding a boat, this certainly is not for you! But for the rest of us...in charge of a library on a luxury cruise ship? Are you kidding me? Where do I sign? Oh, and I even get paid to do this?! :)


These pictures were taken aboard the Westerdam of the Holland-America Line on our most recent cruise to Mexico. So far, this is by far and away the most impressive library I have seen on the high seas. Only a trip on the Queen Mary 2 would top this! And like the Cunard line, Holland-America is the only other cruise line which actually employs librarians to oversee the library. These individuals usually sign 3-6 month contracts and as attractive as the job may sound it is nevertheless extremely demanding as there are simply no days off. As soon as the ship comes into port and the guests leave, on steps a few thousand new guests!

A library on the high seas!

These pictures were taken aboard the brand new Norwegian Pearl on our Caribbean cruise back in January of 2007. With approximately 2,000 volumes and books in various languages, I was quite impressed. I was disappointed however when I found out there is no designated librarian; various crew members man the desk for a few hours each day. That's me sitting at the desk and thinking, "Wow, wouldn't that be a dream job!" Cunard Lines actually do have a full-time librarian aboard the Queen Mary 2, as well as the new Queen Victoria which boasts of over 6,000 books! Gotta go and get my resume in order...