Take This Job and Shelve It
by Julia A. Wilson
Librarians are no longer just shussshhhing readers. These days, the masters of our nation's libraries are making the noise.
A new generation of high-tech librarians is warning that low pay, mass retirement, corporate competition, and a stubborn image problem threaten to deplete their ranks in coming years.
Their clarion call is prompting action on several fronts as innovative national and local campaigns move forward to lure new blood into the field and shatter the stereotype of the fussy old woman who stares you down over her bifocals.
The nation's 136,000 librarians have quietly transformed themselves into a new breed of highly skilled, techno-savvy, human search engines. They conduct research using complex databases, train readers to use the Web, and some even design websites. In fact, modern librarians are so wired that when they share ideas online, many use the nickname "Marian the Cybrarian," playing off the so-called dowdy image of "Marian the Librarian" from the The Music Man.
But like other education institutions, libraries are being hit hard by baby-boomer retirements. According to a Library Journal survey, more than 25 percent of master's level librarians and 40 percent of library directors will retire by 2010.
This age wave comes as more library science master's graduates turn to the private sector, where their computer, data management and people skills fetch heftier salaries. According the American Library Association (ALA) 2002 salary survey, starting librarians earned $35,000 a year—about half the amount paid to starting systems analysts or database administrators.
"In seven years, nearly one in four librarians in the United States will reach retirement age," said ALA President Maurice Freedman. "Who will take our place? It's hard to say when the skills we well-qualified candidates have mastered in the Internet age are hardly matched by our salaries."
The brain drain recently prompted First Lady (and former librarian) Laura Bush to speak out, announcing that the administration will earmark $10 million this year to recruit and train new librarians.
In addition, the ALA has launched Campaign for America's Librarians, which seeks to undercut stereotypes, particularly the view that library work is just old-fashioned women's work.
"Our compensation isn't always comparable to others with similar qualifications, experience, and responsibility who work in fields that are predominantly male," the ALA states.
As the ALA campaign moves forward, local and regional library systems are beating the bushes for new recruits and attacking stereotypes as well. An innovative search for new librarians is underway by the Bloomington Alliance Library System, a group of 300 public, academic, and private libraries in the Bloomington, Illinois area. After receiving a $102,000 federal grant, the alliance contracted a marketing firm and launched the Great Librarian Adventure, which puts modern librarians smack in front of potential recruits.
Karen Bresche, the alliance's communications consultant, says the face-to-face sessions "bust old stereotypes and let them know what we do." The program targets young people making career choices and older people interested in a second career. "I was an entrepreneur for 15 years," Bresche says. "I made that money, then put it away and started a second career as a librarian."
Retiring or retired teachers are prime candidates for library positions, given their knowledge of school libraries, ability to work with students, and propensity for public service.
In that vein, Breshe adds that being a librarian supplies one fringe benefit not always available in corporate America. "We can't promise huge salaries," she says, "but we can promise the personal satisfaction of helping someone."
Librarian Lindsey Hundt of Montgomery County, Maryland, is a case in point. She originally worked for a law firm and a trade association but moved to the public library system after having her first child so she could work part time. She admits, though, that if she were supporting herself she doesn't think she could have chosen public librarianship.
But she still loves the job. "It's really fun to be in a place where there are constantly new things going on and new things to learn. I'm always learning. I feel like a fact-receptacle. Being a librarian is not a stagnant job."
