Recruitment and Retention of New Academic Librarians in Their Own Words Who They Are and What They Want

Why this project?

Project Details Surveyed new librarians summer 2004 Distributed through listservs 502 total responses; filtered to 378 (academic and working less than five years) Phase II: The Experienced Librarians (255 responses)

The Future: Who They Are (Demographically Speaking) Survey respondents were: 79.1 % female years old 84.1% Caucasian 69.6% holding only an MLS

Experience All respondents have been librarians for five years or less 0-2 years (50.5%) 2-5 years (49.5%)

Involvement Majority are involved in national professional organizations (82.9%) and state or regional organizations (66.3%)

Working environments Cross-section of libraries

Really new, new librarians 70.4% are in their first jobs 41.5% for less than one year

Tenure-track or not?

What kind of librarians are they? Ambitious Bookish Creative Innovative Intellectual Liberal Progressive Technologically Adept

What they are not… Traditional (46 people) Conservative (44 people)

They also think they are… “sometimes overly enthusiastic” “full of contradictions” “…NOT traditional. I like to be an agent for change.”

Personalities Introvert versus Extrovert 147 (Introverted) 103 (Extroverted) In comments, several responders noted being “on the fence” or conflicted

They became librarians because… Worked well in an academic setting Love of research Interaction with students Love of books

Not really because of.. A calling to the profession Always wanting to be a librarian A secure job market

What They Like About Their Jobs Working Environments Support for Professional Development Collegiality of Librarians and Faculty Collegiality of Workplace

and “excitement of scholarly communication field—experimentation and reform” “freedom to be creative when solving problems” “variety of responsibilities”

They are least satisfied with… Pay Perception/respect for the profession Administrative support

And even less satisfied with… Tenure Process Job Market Lack of Leadership Generational Tensions/Resistance/Respect Workload

Who Will Lead? Are you interested in being an administrator in an academic library setting someday? 56.6% yes 43.4% no

What Skills They Need Budgeting Management Project Planning Fundraising and Development Publishing Networking Skills Subject Knowledge

Where will you learn these skills? Which of the above skills/experiences do you think you will be able to gain in your current place of employment? None: 7.8% Less than Half: 44% More than Half: 36.8% All: 11.5%

How well do you think you are being prepared for your future career responsibilities? Not being prepared at all: 38% Somewhat prepared: 52.3% Sufficiently prepared: 27.6% Very prepared: 8.6%

What are the future challenges for libraries Budget/Funding Being Overworked (More Work/Less People) Compensation Issues Keeping up with Technology Recruitment/Retention Diversity

Would you recommend librarianship? Yes: 90.7% No: 9.3%

MLS Only vs. Multiple Advanced Degrees MLS Only (263) Technologically Adept Worked Well in an Academic Setting Large Research University Professional Status Multiple Degrees (98) Intellectual first Worked well in an academic setting Large Research University Tenure Track

MLS vs. Multiple continued Least satisfied with pay Most satisfied with working environment Administrator someday—58.2% yes Least satisfied with pay Most satisfied with collegiality of workplace Administrator someday—51.7% yes

Second part of survey: the administrators 255 total responses Created after the original new librarians survey in order to compare opinions

The bosses were… Predominately female (70.2%) Have 20+ years experience (54.1%) Mostly working at Master’s Level institutions with tenure-track librarians

What are new librarians satisfied with? New Librarians Working Environment Support For Professional Development Collegiality of Workplace Administrators Working Environment Collegiality of Librarians and Faculty Collegiality of Workplace

New Librarians are Least Satisfied With? New Librarians Pay Perception/Respect of Profession Administrative Support Administrators Pay Perception/Respect of Profession Support for Professional Development

What Skills Do New Librarians Need to Acquire? New Librarians Budgeting Management Project Planning Fundraising/ Development Publishing Administrators Management Interpersonal skills Project Planning Subject Knowledge Budgeting

Comments from Administrators New librarians will need to acquire administrative skills more rapidly than those in the past as people retire and the pool of deeply experienced managers becomes smaller Trend awareness Political savvy Ability to "sell" the library and its services

Top Challenges New Librarians Budget/Funding Compensation Issues Being overworked Administrators Keeping up with technology Compensation issues Being overworked

What does this all mean?

What we are prepared for… Something dynamic Change Diversity

What we would like… Mentorship Money Marketing More training Business Technology

We’re challenged by… Red tape Disconnection

PUBLISHING

The good ones will go.

Who we are Michelle S. Millet, Information Literacy Coordinator, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas Liza Posas, Information Services Librarian & Collection Manager, University of California-Santa Barbara