The Future of Librarians in the Workforce:

Status of Public 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 public library surveys• Number of public libraries and size of

library staff• Future need for public librarians• Trends in services• Public libraries workforce includes

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

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Six Public Library Surveys

• General survey (n=3,127)• Staff survey (n=3,892)• Detailed operations survey (n=669)• User services survey (n=639)• Functions performed by in-library staff

survey (n=632)• Librarian competency survey (n=562)

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Topics Covered• Description of six public library

surveys• Number of public libraries and size of library

staff• Future need for public librarians• Trends in services• Public libraries workforce includes workers

outside of the library• Description of public 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, paraprofessionals, non-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 public library surveys• Number of public libraries and size of

library staff• Future need for public librarians• Trends in services• Public libraries workforce includes workers

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

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Number of Public Libraries• NCES Public Libraries

• 2005: 16,543• American Library Directory (ALD)

• 2002-03: 16,598• 2007-08: 17,005

• Public libraries (2007-08)• Main public libraries without branches:

8,354• Main public libraries with branches: 1,411• Public library branches: 7,240

• Sample from ALD population 9,765• 2007: 3,127 libraries

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Number of MLS Public Librarians

• NCES FTE MLS Librarians• 2005: 30,873 MLS Librarians• Estimate of FTE (1.075)

• 2007: 31,963• Survey of estimated MLS Headcount (HC)

• 2007: 35,547 MLS HC

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Change per year is 1.0175, but decreases to 1.0034 by 2017

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Changes in Public Library Staffing Patterns 2002-2007

Staff (Headcount) 2002 2007Change

(%)Librarian MLS (accredited school)

32,593 35,547 +9.1

Professional in librarian capacity

9,332 10,559 +13.1

Professional in other capacity

3,250 4,461 +37.3

Paraprofessional librarian

55,931 63,674 +13.8

Non-professional 72,193 74,449 +3.1

TOTAL PAID STAFF 173,304 188,690 +8.9

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

staff

• Future need for public librarians• Trends in services• Public libraries workforce includes workers

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

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Future Need for New Public Librarians (MLS)

2007 2012 2017Current Number 35,547 ---- ----

Current Remaining ---- 23,556 17,111

Expected Number ---- 37,985 39,228

Required Need ---- 14,429 22,117

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Steps to Calculate Need for New Public Librarians (MLS)

• Estimate disposition of current librarians– Convert FTE (NCES) to headcount– 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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Total MLS librarians: 35,547

Number who left: 3,407

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

staff• Future need for public librarians• Trends in services• Public libraries workforce includes workers

outside of the library• Description of public 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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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 public library surveys• Number of public libraries and size of library

staff• Future need for public librarians• Trends in services• Public libraries workforce includes

workers outside of the library• Description of public 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 public library surveys• Number of public libraries and size of library

staff• Future need for public librarians• Trends in services• Public libraries workforce includes workers

outside of the library

• Description of public librarians – accredited MLS

• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education

Topics Covered

4141

Staff Survey Topics• Position in library - librarian, other

professional, etc.• Department assigned - administration,

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: 3.9%

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

the library• Description of public librarians

• Librarian career paths• Implications for library education

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

library• Description of public 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