Recruiting to the Profession
Recruitment of the next generation of librarians is one of the most pressing issues facing the profession and the association today. Below are resources to help you better understand this issue and support your recruitment efforts.
ACRL Recruitment and Retention Wiki
A project of the ALA Emerging Leaders Program, this wiki is intended to provide a thorough listing of recruitment and retention resources from the perspective of both the employer and the employee.Recruiting to the Profession Video
Produced by ACRL in collaboration with ARL, the video, Faces of a Profession, highlights the role of academic librarians and the satisfactions to be realized in the profession. Included are interviews with academic librarians who discuss what they do and why they made their career choices.Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity among Academic and Research Librarians: The Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement of Librarians of Color (October 2006)
A White Paper by the ACRL Board of Directors Diversity Task Force, produced by Teresa Y. Neely, Ph.D. and Lorna Peterson, Ph.D.Culture Keepers VI
A companion piece to the ACRL Diversity White Paper by Julie Todaro.Recruitment, Retention & Restructuring: Human Resources in Academic Libraries
(Members only) (May 2002)
This white paper, prepared by the Ad Hoc Task Force on Recruitment & Retention Issues (a subcommittee of the Association of College & Research Libraries Personnel Administrators & Staff Development Officers Discussion Group) summarizes the labor gap currently facing academic and research libraries, outlines the related issues and themes, and provides strategies for dealing with recruitment and retention issues in your library. The document is also available in PDF and can be ordered as a print publication from ACRL.Science Majors Needed (PDF)
This brochure from ACRL's Science and Technology Section provides information on science librarianship and outlines job opportunities.WESS Recruitment to the Profession Committee
Promotes academic librarianship as a career path for individuals with foreign language skills by collaborating with various organizations, making presentations, and otherwise disseminating information.Casting our nets or ice fishing?: Recruiting future college librarians
Streaming audio and video from ACRL's College Library Section's 2003 Annual Conference program. Three speakers provide different perspectives on recruitment to the academic library profession.You Might be an Academic or Research Librarian if . . . (PDF)
A recruitment flyer to help prospective librarians understand the appeal of working in an academic or research library as well as the nature of the work. Suitable for use at outreach activities including student information fairs, library school presentations, career centers, etc.A Great Career @ your library (PDF)
ACRL's recruitment brochure with information on why and how to become an academic librarian. A great recruitment tool!
Top Issues Facing Academic Libraries
This article from the November 2002 issue of C&RL News outlines the primary issues facing academic libraries today, including recruitment, education, and retention of librarians. The findings in the article are the results of research conducted by ACRL's Focus on the Future Task Force.Voices of the Future: Next Generation Professionals Speak
A May 2008 article in C&RL News summarizes discussions with UCLA library school students and early-career librarians in focus groups facilitated by 2007-08 ACRL President Julie Todaro. Two separate 90-minute focus groups were designed to elicit comments about career choices and interests and desired working environments and conditions in order to learn more about the perspectives of the next generation of library professionals.
UCLA Early-Career Librarians Focus Group Summary (PDF)
UCLA Library School Students Focus Group Summary (PDF)Job of a Lifetime
This C&RL News column was created to inform librarians and potential librarians about innovative and unusual positions in academic and research librarianship. Share these articles with your campus career centers and students who express an interest in a library career:
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Information literacy, technology, and forgotten barcodes (solo academic librarian, June 2007)
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Building a library for the business of fun (hospitality management librarian, February 2007)
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You can hear the smiles in Claudia Covert’s voice (reader's services librarian, Rhode Island School of Design, October 2006)
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Documents and diplomacy (librarian for Latin American and Iberian studies, March 2006)
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Technology and teamwork (Web site and virtual library coordinator, November 2005)
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Yours, mine, and ours: Reinventing reference at San Jose (academic services librarian at a joint-use library, September 2005)
Making sure fair use gets a fair shake (copyright specialist, June 2005) -
Preserving our cultural heritage, one MSIS at a time (lecturer/conservator, April 2005)
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Where innovation is the order of business (government agency librarian, February 2005)
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Steering the course for the SUNY Maritime College Library (maritime library director, December 2004)
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Learning and teaching through technology (liaison librarian, October 2004)
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The kind of job you could only have in Washington (director of museum library [Smithsonian Institutions], July 2004)
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Preserving Afghanistan's present and past (special collections cataloger and curator, April 2004)
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Scouting out the best of the 'Net (metadata and cataloging coordinator, Februrary 2004)
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World library partnership (Library Skills Exchange program, December 2003)
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Bringing history to life (digital projects manager, October 2003)
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Observations of an observatory librarian (solo librarian, July/August 2003)
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When your campus is Alaska (off-campus librarian, May 2003)
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Informationists: Making rounds makes a difference (librarians serving a university's medical center and school of medicine, March 2003)
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Adventure, mystery, romance, and LCSH! (popular culture cataloger and reference librarian, January 2003)
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Around the world in 100 days (Semester at Sea librarians, November 2002)