The Future of Librarians in the Workforce:
Status of Special Libraries
Special Libraries Association Annual Conference June 16, 2008
Seattle, Washington
José-Marie Griffiths, Dean and Professor
Donald W. King, Distinguished Research Professor
School of Information and Library ScienceUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Topics Covered• Description of six special library surveys• Number of special libraries and size of library
staff• Future need for special librarians• Trends in services• Special libraries workforce includes workers
outside of the library• Description of special librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education
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Six Special Library Surveys• General survey (n=2004)• Staff survey (n=680)• Detailed operations survey (n=377)• User services survey (n=431)• Functions performed by in-library staff
survey (n=312)• Librarian competency survey (n=441)
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Topics Covered• Description of six special library
surveys• Number of special libraries and size of library staff• Future need for special librarians• Trends in services• Special libraries workforce includes workers outside
of the library• Description of special 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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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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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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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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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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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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Topics Covered• Description of six special library surveys
• Number of special libraries and size of library staff
• Future need for special librarians• Trends in services• Special libraries workforce includes workers outside
of the library• Description of special librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education
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Number of Special Libraries (American Libraries Directory)
TYPE 2007-08 2002-03
Law 1,515 1,627
Medical 2,017 2,272
Religious 1,070 1,126
Academic (included above)
Law (182) (165)
Medical (255) (243)
Religious (244) (204)
Government (without law, medical) 957 767
Law (405) (417)
Medical (214) (471)
Total (1,476) (1,655)
Other 3,722 4,660
Industry, companies (1,694) -----
Other (foundations, FFRDCs, museums, etc.) (2,028) -----
Total 9,181 10,452
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Average Number of Librarians (MLS) Per
LibraryChange per year is 0.994
Therefore the average decreases by 0.994 each year
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Type of Library
Proportn. without MLS Librarian (%)
Average No. of Current
MLS Libn 5 Years Ago
Change (%)
Academic 7.0 4.86 4.79 +1.5Industry 19.8 2.15 2.40 -10.4Government (n=275)
26.2 2.34 2.46 -4.9
Medical (n=692) 14.9 2.03 2.28 -11.0
Law (n=408) 23.8 2.31 2.17 +6.5
Religious (n=87) 27.6 1.45 1.41 +2.8
Other (n=392) 36.2 1.51 1.78 -15.2
ALL (n=2003) 22.7 2.07 2.08 -2.9
Average Number of MLS Special Librarians Currently and 5 Years Ago by Type of Library
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Changes in Staffing Patterns 2002 to 2007
Staff (Headcount) 2002 2007 Change (%)
Librarian MLS (accredited school)
19,139 18,535 -3.2
Professional in librarian capacity
6,027 5,519 -8.4
Professional in other capacity 5,390 5,326 -1.2
Paraprofessional librarian 14,737 12,710 -1.4
Non-professional 9,092 8.391 -7.7
TOTAL PAID STAFF 54,385 50,481 -7.2
Unpaid staff or volunteer* 11,899 11,642 -2.1*Mostly medical and religious libraries
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Topics Covered• Description of six special library surveys• Number of special libraries and size of library staff
• Future need for special librarians• Trends in services• Special libraries workforce includes workers outside
of the library• Description of special librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education
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Future Need for New Special Librarians (MLS)
2007 2012 2017
Current Number
18,535 --- ---
Current Remaining
--- 12,329 8,657
Expected Number
---- 16,717 15,078
Required Need ---- 4,388 6,421
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Steps to Calculate Need for New Special 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 Special Librarians (MLS) continued
• Estimate expected number of special librarians (MLS)– Establish trend in number of libraries– Establish trend in average number of librarians
per library– Estimate expected number orf MLS special
librarians
• Subtract disposition of current librarians from expected number
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Total MLS librarians 18,535
Number who left 2,695
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Topics Covered• Description of six special library surveys• Number of special libraries and size of library staff• Future need for special librarians
• Trends in services• Special libraries workforce includes workers outside
of the library• Description of special librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education
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Current Average: 72,900 persons per library
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• Description of six special library surveys• Number of special libraries and size of library staff• Future need for special librarians• Trends in services
• Special libraries workforce includes workers outside of the library
• Description of special librarians• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education
Topics Covered
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• Description of six special library surveys• Number of special libraries and size of library staff• Future need for special librarians• Trends in services• Special libraries workforce includes workers outside of the
library
• Description of special librarians – accredited MLS
• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education
Topics Covered
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Hispanic or Latino: 3.1%
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Topics Covered• Description of six special library surveys• Number of special libraries and size of library staff• Future need for special librarians• Trends in services• Special libraries workforce includes workers outside of the
library• Description of special librarians
• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education
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Topics Covered• Description of six special library surveys• Number of special libraries and size of library staff• Future need for special librarians• Trends in services• Special libraries workforce includes workers outside of the
library• Description of special librarians• Librarian career paths
• Implications for librarian education
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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: [email protected], [email protected]• 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