1st point I want to make is that I sort of agree with you about closing the school, even though I don’t know much about the situation. But I can tell you this, in California, where I live, we have 2 library schools in the entire state. If a giant state like California can get by with 2 library schools, a smaller state like Louisiana might be able to get by without 1.

Secondly, this is of no consolation, and I’m sure you know already, but the last few years have been the worst job market for just about anybody not just librarians, since the Great Depression. As librarians, we mainly work in the public sector, and the public sector is now feeling the hit from loss of revenue, that the private sector felt a year or two ago. Theoretically, as the private sector improves, government revenues will improve, and there will be restored funds. In the meantime, I have a recommendation that you may not have tried yet. Prisons. In most states, prison libraries staffed by MLIS librarians are mandated by law, making them essential positions that can’t be eliminated. My wife was a librarian at a prison for a few years. The job is terrible..My wife worked without a/c or the Internet and had to deal with guards who treated everyone who wasn’t a guard like a prisoner. However, the job will get you experience and you can hang in until the job market for public and academic librarians turns around in a few years (hopefully).

D.