The Future of Librarians in the Workforce:

Status of Academic Libraries

American Libraries Association Annual Conference June 27, 2008

Anaheim, California

José-Marie Griffiths, Dean and Professor Donald W. King, Distinguished Research Professor

School of Information and Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Topics Covered• Description of six academic library

surveys• Number of academic libraries and size

of library staff• Future need for academic librarians• Trends in services• Academic libraries workforce includes

workers outside of the library• Description of academic librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education

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Six Academic Library Surveys

• General survey (n=904)• Staff survey (n=1,754)• Detailed operations survey (n=173)• User services survey (n=182)• Functions performed by in-library staff

survey (n=190)• Librarian competency survey (n=195)

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Topics Covered• Description of six academic

library surveys• Number of academic libraries and size of

library staff• Future need for academic librarians• Trends in services• Academic libraries workforce includes workers

outside of the library• Description of academic librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education

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General Survey Topics• Population served - size and trend• Physical visits - number and trend• Remote visits to website - number and

trend• Visits to library databases - number and

trend• Current number of employees by type

(MLS, professionals, para- professionals, unpaid)

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General Survey Topics continued

• Current and 5-years-ago number of professionals in departments

• Number of MLS librarians who left in the past year, and for each the reason they left, age, gender and position filled

• Total annual wages and expenditures and trend

• Cooperative arrangements• Parent staff support

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Topics Covered• Description of six academic library surveys• Number of academic libraries and

size of library staff• Future need for academic librarians• Trends in services• Academic libraries workforce includes workers

outside of the library• Description of academic librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education

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Number of Academic Libraries• NCES

• 2000 3,683• 2002 3,964• 2004 3,889

• American Library’s Directory (ALD)• 2002-03 3,480• 2007-08 3,749

• Used ALD numbers because sample drawn from 3,749 academic libraries (ALD)• 2007 n=904 libraries

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Number of Academic MLS Librarians

• NCES full-time equivalent (FTE) librarians• 2000 25,170• 2002 25,881• 2005 25,935• 2007 (projected): 26,015 FTE librarians• 2007 (adjusted): 24,338 FTE MLS

• Survey headcount (HC)• 9-month (10.18%):

• 2,002 FTE MLS• 5,179 HC MLS

• 12-month (89.82%):• 21,626 FTE MLS• 23,840 HC MLS

• TOTAL: 29,019 HC MLS

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Changes in Staffing Patterns 2002-2007

Staff (Headcount) 2002 2007Change

(%)Librarian MLS (accredited school)

25,494 29,019 +13.8

Professional in librarian capacity

1,750 2,033 +16.2

Professional in other capacity

3,105 4,080 +31.4

Paraprofessional librarian 27,484 29,572 +7.6

Non-professional 21,637 23,040 +6.5

TOTAL PAID STAFF 79,471 87,744 `+10.4

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Topics Covered• Description of six academic library surveys• Number of academic libraries and size of library

staff

• Future need for academic librarians

• Trends in services• Academic libraries workforce includes workers

outside of the library• Description of academic librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education

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Future Need for New Academic Librarians (MLS)

2007 2012 2017Current Number 29,019 ---- ----

Current Remaining ---- 20,480 14,954

Expected Number ---- 33,039 37,593

Required Need ---- 12,559 22,639

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Steps to Calculate Need for New Academic Librarians (MLS)

• Estimate disposition of current librarians– Establish current age and gender– Subtract expected number who die or

become ill– Subtract expected number who will retire– Do not include those who go to another

library– Subtract expected number who leave for

other reasons– Add expected number who had left but come

back– Advance the librarian’s age each year– Recalculate the disposition for each year

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Steps to Calculate Need for New Academic Librarians (MLS) continued

• Estimate expected number of academic librarians (MLS)– Establish trend in number of libraries– Establish trend in average number of

librarians per library– Estimate expected number of MLS academic

librarians• Subtract disposition of current librarians

from expected number

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Total MLS librarians: 29,019

Number who left: 2,325

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Topics Covered• Description of six academic library surveys• Number of academic libraries and size of library

staff• Future need for academic librarians• Trends in services• Academic libraries workforce includes workers

outside of the library• Description of academic librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education

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User Services Survey• Whether provided now and 5 years ago• Level of service• Trend in level of service• 11 types of access to library collection• 4 types of access to external collections• Interlibrary lending, borrowing and

document delivery• 11 types of reference and research• 4 types of formal user training• Access to 6 types of library resources

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Current average: 49,404 faculty per library

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Detailed Operations Survey• Detailed expenditures and trends• Detailed services and trends• Detailed collection data and trends• Education and training data and trends• Detailed fringe benefits

– Paid time off: holidays, sick leave, vacation, etc.

– Value-added compensation: retirement, insurance programs, parking, dues, etc.

– Other benefits: child care, flexible hours, recognition, compensatory time, etc.

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• Description of six academic library surveys• Number of academic libraries and size of library

staff• Future need for academic librarians• Trends in services• Academic libraries workforce includes

workers outside of the library• Description of academic librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education

Topics Covered

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Survey of Functions Performed by In-Library Staff

and Others• Whether performed now and 5 years

ago• Proportion performed by in-library staff

now and 5 years ago• 15 types of operations/technical

services• 15 types of user services• 8 types of support functions

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• Description of six academic library surveys• Number of academic libraries and size of

library staff• Future need for academic librarians• Trends in services• Academic libraries workforce includes workers

outside of the library

• Description of academic librarians – accredited MLS

• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education

Topics Covered

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Staff Survey Topics• Position in library - librarian, other

professional, etc.• Department assigned - administrative,

user services, etc.• Degree and year• Level at employment - director,

department head, etc.• Salary or wage• Ratings of satisfaction with salary,

fringe benefits, type of work

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Staff Survey Topics continued

• Fringe benefits available, received and who pays

• Professional affiliations• Recent formal education or training• Career paths - previous experience,

degree, after degree• How well education prepared for initial

assignment, current position

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Hispanic or Latino: 2.0%

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Topics Covered• Description of six academic library surveys• Number of academic libraries and size of library staff• Future need for academic librarians• Trends in services• academic libraries workforce includes workers outside

of the library• Description of academic librarians

• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education

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Topics Covered• Description of six academic library surveys• Number of academic libraries and size of library staff• Future need for academic librarians• Trends in services• Academic libraries workforce includes workers outside of

the library• Description of academic librarians• Librarian career paths

• Implications for librarian education

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Survey of Librarian Competencies

• Whether competencies are applicable to library now and 5 years ago

• Rating of importance of competencies and trends

• 9 operations/technical services competencies• 11 user services competencies and trends• 10 management/administration competencies• 5 technology/systems and 5 digital library

management competencies• 9 general professional librarian competencies

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Acknowledgements• Web-based surveys were conducted by the University

of Pittsburgh, University Center for Social and Urban Research, under the direction of Scott Beach

• Survey director is Robert Keene, UCSUR

• Data analysis by Songphan Choemprayong, Graduate Student, School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

• Presentation graphics and charts by Kathleen J. McClatchey, Senior Research Associate, School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

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José-Marie Griffiths, PhD Dean and Professor Donald W. King

Distinguished Research Professor

• School of Information and Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Email: jmgriff@unc.edu, dwking@unc.edu• phone: (919)962-8366

fax: (919)962-8071 • Mail:

School of Information and Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #3360100 Manning Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3360

• http://www.libraryworkforce.org