Book excerpt: Library personnel managers, SLIS recruiters, college and university guidance counselors, along with those considering LIS as a career, gain behind-the-scenes perspectives on the lives of real liberal arts-educated librarians who have chosen this service-oriented profession.In this seminal research, Watson-Boone, independent researcher and former academic librarian, investigates the relationship in the College Alumni Librarians Study (CALS surveys 431 librarians who graduated from eight liberal arts colleges (Carleton, Denison, Earlham, Grinnell, Kalamazoo, Lawrence, Macalester, and Swarthmore) from 1962-2000. Following up related studies and connecting to broader library career issues, this study complements prior quantitative studies with a qualitative approach covering 39 years.Library personnel managers, SLIS recruiters, college and university guidance counselors, and