Sustainabili ty, librarianshi p, and family- friendly policies Women in libraries 83% of Librarians are women X% of Directors are women Women retire x years later than men X% get tenture X% work part-time Female librarians make x% of male librarians The Librarian Bubble (70%) graduating MLIS are under 30. Median graduation age of (27). Only ( 4%) of working librarians are under 30 and (19%) are under 40. Median age for working librarian is 55, and (48%) of librarians are over 50 In the past two decades the median age for working librarians has risen by ten years Family-Friendly Policies and the Working Mother Half of U.S. women do not return to the workforce after having children Wage Gap: (75%) Some “family friendly” management policies are: Paid Maternity Leave Daycare friendly hours Flex-time Research in Progress Surveys sent to Library Directors Identify current management practices are, and see which libraries are hiring and retaining younger female workers Case Studies on current libraries Identify best management practices for libraries to better serve libraries, female librarians,and librarians acting as primary caregivers Literature Cited Connell, Ruth S. "Maternity and Paternity Policies Available to Academic Librarians." College and Research Libraries 74.3 (2013): Web. Graves, Stephanie J., Jian Anna Xiong, and Ji-Hye Park. “Parenthood, Professorship, and Librarianship: Are They Mutually Exclusive?” Journal Of Academic Librarianship 34.3 (2008): Web. Sweeper, D. and Steven A. Smith.”Assessing the Impact of Gender and Race on Earnings in the Library Science Labor Market.” College and Research Libraries 71.2 (2010): Web Tordella, Stephen J., and Thomas E. Godfrey. "The Recent History and Future Supply of Librarians: Implications for Retirement by 2015." Research and Statistics Resources, Office of Research and Statistics. Ed. Denise M. Davis. American Library Association, June Web. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor. "Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014). Web. Zemon, M., and A. H. Bahr. "Career And/or Children: Do Female Academic Librarians Pay a Price for Motherhood?" College and Research Libraries 66.5 (2005): Web. Acknowledgements A special thank you to Prof. Mary Wilkins Jordan of Simmons GSLIS and to my hard-working research assistant “Pete.” Cassandra Watt, 2014Simmons GSLIS Alum 2012 How moms can solve the Library Bubble: Sustainability of librarianship through family-friendly management policies Academic and Public Libraries tend to lack family friendly management policies Many librarian positions require nights, early mornings, weekends, and on-call hours, and part-time positions are scarce because they tend to be filled by senior librarians Family benefits available to librarians do not tend to be as generous as benefits available in other, similar professions, such as tenure track academics Key Questions Are some libraries doing a better job than others at hiring and retaining young female librarians? Can best practices be developed and implemented? Motherhood and the Library Bubble 85% of librarians are women, but women make up only 52% of library directors Wage gap is worse for librarians than other, similar professions Women in Libraries Over 55% of Librarians are over 50 Only 17% under 40 Library Bubble Challenges: Sustainability of profession? Advancement and placement for younger workers? Library Bubble Family-friendly management policies help women stay working and to advance in their careers Some policies are: Daycare friendly shifts, flextime, ability to work from home, pump rooms, and paid maternity leave Women, Work, & Motherhood Female librarians with children face challenges balancing family and career obligations Women are much more likely than men to be primary caregivers of small children Female librarians with young children tend to have a greater need for family-friendly policies than their male counterparts The Library Bubble is more apparent in women than in men Female librarians tend to leave the profession in their early 30s and rejoin in their late 30s or early 40s Women starting their career later and retiring later than their male counterparts contribute to a sustainability crisis in the LIS profession Why?