Need advice: career change, keep job?

[10centwings]

Here's the story:

I've been accepted into an English MA program with a fairly nice fellowship award.

I currently have an MLS and have worked as a librarian for two years. Before leaving my full-time librarian job, I took an additional part-time librarian gig in order to save up a substantial sum of money should I not receive any funding. I reached my savings goal and now only work part-time (I can live off next to nothing; I'm extremely frugal).

The dream is a PhD and a teaching position at a small college or community college (I'd be quite happy teaching freshman writing courses for the rest of my life; I have no delusions of grandeur here).

My plan was to keep my part-time librarian job as I return to grad school for two reasons: 1) income and 2) to keep one foot professionally in "library land". Let's face it: it's a risky transition into teaching the humanities! It's a good idea to have a fall-back plan. I have no guarantee that I'll be admitted into a PhD program with funding once I've earned the MA. If I do get into a funded PhD program, there is no guarantee I'll have a job once I'm finished. I believe I owe myself this chance, but I'm not taking the risk without a safety net. If my worst nightmares come true and I cannot get a job teaching in higher education, I can always go back to librarianship.

However, now that I've received the fellowship, I don't HAVE to keep my part-time job as a librarian for income. I could live quite well on my stipend alone, plus I can dip into my savings if the stipend proves too tight.

I'm afraid that if I hang on to librarianship as a back-up plan, then that is exactly where I will find myself again (STILL!) in a few years and I'll never be teaching at the college level.

If I haven't lost you yet with this lengthy explanation, here are the questions inducing insomnia in me:

Should I keep my part-time librarian job just to have that as a fall-back career?

Should I instead throw myself wholly into my new chosen educational and career path and leave my librarian days behind? Is "keeping one foot in library land" really setting the stage to "remaining in library land until I die"?

Is this like a relationship? Do I need to make a clean break and get some closure from my first career before attempting success in a different career?

Is it irresponsible to keep my job when I have this fellowship? Is it irresponsible to QUIT my job given the state of the job market right now? The thought of being *technically* unemployed makes my heart race and palms sweat! I worked two jobs all through graduate school for my MLS and hated every second of it though...

What would you do?

I would like to know what others have done/would do in a similar situation as mine. Thank you in advance.

[rising_star]

I would check the terms of your fellowship to see if you're even allowed to keep your PT job. If you are, I would. It's good to do something different, especially if it's something you enjoy. As long as you keep it to 15 or so hours per week, it probably won't interfere with your work.

[twocosmicfish]

I would not look at the job as a way to "keep your foot in the door" - you will have 2 masters degrees when you graduate plus experience in the field, you should not have problems going back to a library!

I would keep the job only if you really need the money and/or really enjoy the work. As you experienced before, job + grad school = extra stress. If the job does not give you something you really need, I would focus on doing a fantastic MA which will help you get into the PhD - your ultimate goal.

[flit]

I continued my teaching job - in a totally unrelated field - while I did my MA and would like to hold onto it while I do my Phd, as well, although it seems like they are not going to be as accommodating as the MA program has been.

But that's teaching... and at a place that I would like to go back to when I'm done, albeit in a different department altogether. I don't know if I would keep it if it were something I wasn't sure I wanted to go back to.