Your first instinct may be that you need to major in English Literature to be a librarian. While that's a common background, libraries need people with all areas of undergraduate expertise, and you'll actually stand out more with other areas. You may want to major in Education Studies if you want to work with children or take a teaching role in libraries. You might want to major in Hispanic Studies if you see yourself working in a public library in an area with a large Spanish-speaking population. Perhaps you want to study history - that would be a great bridge to working in a library archives area. You might just love Biology, but not want to work in a lab or in patient care - there are many colleges or health science libraries that would love to have that experience, since more librarians *do* historically come from a Humanities background.
The key is - there is no wrong answer. Come talk to us and we'll discuss pros and cons of different majors.
Want to know what DePauw alumni working in libraries majored & minored in? Here's the breakdown, representing the 40 alumni for whom we have data. Some had a single major, while others listed double majors, or several minors.
There are ways to build experiences during your time at DePauw that can help prepare you for a potential career in librarianship. Here are some ideas.
To be a librarian in an academic library, most higher-paying public libraries, and school libraries in many states, you will need a Master's Degree in Library and/or Information Science.
The best place to explore possible graduate programs in North America is the American Library Association's list of accredited programs.
Note: there are also Ph.D. programs in Library & Information Science, but they're generally pursued by those interested in teaching in a library and information science graduate program, or perhaps to go into library administration. A more useful path in additional grad studies for many students is getting dual master's degrees - the MLIS and something in a subject area. This is particularly helpful in obtaining an academic library position, even more so in research universities, where there are a lot of graduate students and librarians in specialized libraries (such as Business, Sciences, etc).
For more information on graduate studies, check out the ALA's How to Choose a Library Science School page.