The Future is Now: Shifting Demographics, Emerging Competencies, and the Canadian Library Workforce

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The Future is Now Shifting Demographics,
Emerging Competencies, and the Canadian Library
Workforce

• Stephen Abram
• SLA
• June 14, 2006

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Starting Question

• Will there be a shortage of librarians in the
  next 5 to 10 years due to mass retirements?
• A simple question, no simple answers
• In the process we learned
• No clear succession crisis
• Urgency in other areas of library human
  resources
• Competencies, particularly management and
  leadership
• Education and training
• Workloads and quality of work, work-life balance
• Role overlap between librarians and
  paraprofessionals
• Focus on recruitment, not as much on retirement

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Objective

• Comprehensive investigation of issues around
  recruitment, retention, remuneration,
  repatriation, rejuvenation, reaccreditation,
  retirement, and restructuring (the 8Rs) in the
  Canadian library context

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The 8Rs

• Recruitment
• Retention
• Remuneration
• Repatriation
• Reaccreditation
• Rejuvenation
• Retirement
• Restructuring

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Project Scope

• 3-year study of unprecedented breadth and depth
• 167 data tables
• Over 900 variables
• 275-page report (English and French)
• Analyses of data by library sectors and
  sub-sectors
• 2006 Training Gaps Analysis for Librarians and
  Library Technicians
• Cultural Human Resources Council / CLA

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Methods Cdn Library HR Study

• Institutional Survey
• Phase I 1,357 surveys sent to libraries
• 34 response rate overall (461 respondents)
• 36 public libraries
• 50 academic libraries
• 26 special libraries
• Practitioners Survey
• Web survey sent to 8,626 library workers
• Response rate of 36.5 (3,148 respondents)
• Additional 1,545 responses collected through
  listserv
• Total of 4,693 responses

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Methods Training Gaps Analysis

• Phase II Employer Survey
• 94 institutions surveyed, 58 respondents (61
  response rate)
• Student Survey
• 867 students
• 354 MLIS
• 503 LIT

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Demographics
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Table C.10 Age Category of Librarians and
Paraprofessionals by Library Sector (Individual
Survey)
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(Lack of) Diversity in Libraries

• Visible Minorities
• 7 of librarians and paraprofessionals
• 4 of all senior administrators
• Special libraries have slightly higher
  representation of visible minority staff
• Aboriginal
• 1 of librarians across career levels
• 2 of paraprofessionals

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Retirement
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Table E.3 Librarian Age of Retirement by Library
Sector (Institutional Survey n95)
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Table E.6 Predicted Librarian Retirements Within
the Next 5 and 10 Years (Individual Survey)
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Table J.3 Predicted Future Librarian Supply
Table J.5 Predicted Future Library Technician
Supply
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Figure E.2 Organizations with Succession Plan
by Library Sector (Institutional Survey n276)
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Recruitment
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Most Significant Barriers to Recruitment by
Whether or Not Recruited in Past Year
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Competencies
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Table G.7 Percent of Recent Librarian Entrants
Agreeing that MLIS Program Provided Skills to
Effectively Perform their Jobs by Library Sector
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Competency Match MLIS Programs

• Students see largest gap in perceived importance
  and provision of business skills, followed by
  leadership and managerial skills
• 46 of students believe their program provides a
  realistic depiction of what is like to work as a
  librarian /in a related field
• 68 of current students satisfied with education
  quality
• 75 of employers believe MLIS education equips
  graduates with the competencies required to be
  professional librarians at their organizations
• Suggestions for improvement
• Students and recent grads more practical
  training
• Employers improvements to management curriculum

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Competencies Library Technicians/Paraprofessional
s

• Important competencies
• interpersonal/people skills (100),
• organizational commitment (95) and communication
  skills (93)
• Most important and difficult to fulfill
• ability to respond flexibly to change
• IT skills
• public service skills

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Competency Match LIT Programs

• Minor gaps between key competencies and their
  provision in the diploma program found
• 78 of current LIT students believe program is
  providing them with a realistic depiction of what
  it is like to work as a library technician
• 83 of LIT students satisfied with program
• 90 of employers believe LIT diploma programs
  equip students for the workplace
• Suggestions for improvement
• Students better course content
• Employers better IT training, specialized
  training

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Role Shifts

• Traditional librarian duties are being taken on
  in an increasing capacity by paraprofessional
  staff
• 78 of institutions reported that
  paraprofessionals have taken on more of these
  responsibilities over the past 5 years
• Role shift expected to continue to over the next
  5 years

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Professional Development
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Table H.2 Librarians Needing Significant
Training by Career Level of Librarian by Library
Sector (Institutional Survey n270)
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Table H.3 Organization Provides Sufficient
Opportunities to Participate in Training by
Career Stage by Library Sector (Professional
Librarians Only Individual Survey n1,897)
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Implications

• Environmental factors how to deal with limited
  budgets, etc.
• Need to attract the best and brightest to the
  profession and to individual libraries
• Need to ensure strong candidates get leadership
  and management development
• Much of the training and development
  responsibility currently lies with libraries
• How can associations and library schools play a
  role?
• How will libraries predict what competencies are
  needed as time goes on?
• Will the knowledge economy mean greater
  competition for highly-skilled library staff?
• Large research libraries will be the winners
• Small or rural libraries may find recruitment
  retention issues compounding over time

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Quality of Work
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Job Satisfaction

• 79 of librarians and paraprofessionals state
  they are satisfied or very satisfied with
  their jobs

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Workload Manageability and Stress

• Agreeing workload manageable
• Librarians 39
• Paraprofessionals 53
• Agreeing they have little job-related stress
• Librarians 24
• Paraprofessionals 35
• Agreeing job allows work-life balance
• Librarians 62
• Paraprofessionals 75

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Implications

• Appears to be no imminent crisis in library staff
  supply and demand
• We havent shattered the myth of a shortage in
  the library workforce, but softened it

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Implications

• Shifting roles experienced between librarian and
  paraprofessional staff
• Access to education for all staff
• Base education programs
• Continuing professional development
• Leadership and management potential and
  competencies of new and existing staff

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Charge to the Community

• Recruitment isnt about numbers, but about
  qualities and competencies
• Management, leadership, IT
• Recruitment isnt just to institutions, but to
  the profession
• Convergence between the profession and the
  schools
• Address the challenge of increasing and
  supporting diversity in the library workforce

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Charge to the Community

• Build greater accessibility to library education
  programs
• Commit to professional development for all
  library workers
• Take on leadership and management development as
  core competencies to be nurtured within the
  workforce
• Gain greater understanding of role shifts and how
  they define core competencies
• What do new and mid-career staff see as necessary
  competencies?
• How can training barriers (due to limited
  budgets) be addressed?

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Getting the Information Out

• The Future of Human Resources in Canadian
  Libraries download
• http//www.ls.ualberta.ca/8rs
• Training Gaps Analysis for Librarians and Library
  Technicians download
• http//www.culturalhrc.ca/research/default-e.asp
• CLA Presidents Council
• IMLS study of library workforce in the United
  States
• http//www.libraryworkforce.org

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Study Sponsors and Supporters

• University of Alberta
• Canadian Association of Research Libraries
• Canadian Urban Libraries Council
• Library and Archives Canada
• Alberta Community Development, Government of
  Alberta
• Canadian Library Association
• Cultural Human Resources Council (Training Gaps
  Analysis)

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