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Is There a Library Job in Your Future?
by Barbara tenBroek

The job market for librarians is either dead or booming, depending on who you are listening to. The Library & Information Science program at the University of Denver released a fast fact sheet with growth projections of 10.2% in library employment between 2002 and 2012.[i]  By 2012, they expect there will be a total of 469,000 library jobs.  They further estimate the average number of librarian job openings to be 16,000 per year.  This growth in job openings is attributed in large part to the graying of the work force, the growth of more libraries, and openings for librarians in non-library fields. The Information Management Journal also paints a rosy picture in an article titled “Wanted: A Few Good Librarians.”[ii]  This article points to a continuing high demand for the information management, web-site development, training, and database technology skills that we as librarians have learned.  It also mentions many non-library jobs for people with library degrees; information specialists are in great demand by the business sector, private archives, and the government. Sounds like a great time to be a librarian!

Unless, of course, you listen to Rachel Holt and Adrienne Stock.[iii]  They project that the number of jobs will decrease while the drive to produce new professional librarians will flood the smaller job market.  They provide statistics that show a production of 5000 new librarians per year, while the job market only produces 4100 jobs.  What happened to the 16,000 jobs predicted by the University of Denver?  According to Holt and Stock, while librarians are approaching retirement age, many are not retiring.  The weak economy and the rising cost of living are keeping workers on the job much longer than expected, and is causing many libraries to face budget cuts.  Some states and communities are even closing their public libraries.  For example, the Niagara Falls (N.Y.) Public Library and the Hampden (Mass.) Public Library could close their doors permanently due to lack of funding.  Sounds like a really bad time to be a librarian! 

So whom do you believe?  I’d prefer to take an optimistic view.   There are jobs out there; they are just harder to find.  Librarians, now called information specialists, are adapting.  They are entering new fields of employment including government researchers, patent searchers, vendors, and webmasters.  Some are even becoming entrepreneurs and opening information brokerages.  If your dream is to be a “library librarian,” you may have to work a little harder to find a job.  Some states that have previously cut library budgets are now increasing them.[iv]  Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin are just a few that are increasing libraries’ 2006 budgets rather than cutting them. 

We all have an idea of our dream job; this dream sustains us through the hard times we have while going to school.  Realistically, we may have to give a little to find anything close to that dream.  We have all heard about library school graduates who have been searching for a job for over a year and can’t find one.  When asked what kind of position they want, we find out that their ideal job would be a head librarian position in their hometown, with a salary of $50,000 per year.  Oh, and that hometown is in the Midwest with a population of about 5,000.  Some dreams are not immediately attainable, but if job seekers are willing to give a little, a job can be found. 

Revise your expectations of the job you want:   

• Consider a lower pay scale.  Don’t take a job where you can’t support yourself or your family, but have realistic expectations.  According to an ALA survey, the 2004 average starting salary for a librarian is $39,918. [v]  This is a pretty good salary depending on what part of the country you live in.  The August 2005 issue of American Libraries contains a regional recommended starting salary guide for public libraries.[vi]  These recommendations range from a low of $22,000 in South Dakota to a high of $45,000 in Massachusetts. 

• Consider moving to take a job.  Bigger cities have more libraries and schools and thus need more librarians.  If you can’t stand the thought of city living, than expect your job hunt to take longer. 

• Don’t be hung up on titles.  It takes a lot of hard work to become a senior librarian.  Starting out as a reference librarian can gain you valuable experience as you make your way up the administrative ladder. Reference jobs are more plentiful as these librarians perform the main function of the library: answering questions.  Someday that head librarian position in your hometown will become available; build experience along the way so you’ll be ready as the best person for that job when it does.

A good place to start job hunting is, of course, the Internet.  The Hot Jobs page of the American Library Association [vii] website is updated every day with job openings.  Web sites are popping up all over the Internet with job postings and free information on how to find a job in a library.  For example, LIScareer.com, the web site you are reading right now, has how-to articles on resumes and cover letters.[viii]  Experienced librarians share tips on cover letters, resumes and interviews on this and similar web pages. 

Remember why you wanted to be a librarian?  The dreams that sustained you during the education process should be able to sustain you during the job hunt, too.  You have a degree in information; use it to find the best job you can.  After all, that’s what we do as a profession: dig for information.

About the Author: 

Barbara tenBroek is the Technical Services librarian at Savannah State University.  She was a library paraprofessional before receiving her masters’ degree from Florida State University.

Article published Jan 2006

Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in LIScareer articles are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the LIScareer editors.

Page last updated 01/01/2006
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