What impressions do young people have of librarianship as a career? Attracting young people to the profession

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What impressions do young people have of
librarianship as a career?Attracting young
people to the profession

• Sarah Newbutt The Grammar School at Leeds
• Barbara Sen The University of Sheffield

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Idea for the research

• Response to Library Workforce Survey 2005 UK
  study
• 56.6 of workforce aged 40-59
• 6 of workforce aged between 60-69
• Over half of people who work in libraries are
  soon to be reaching retirement age
• Not enough young people are coming into the
  profession to take their place
• Similar problem in USA and Australia

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What does this mean?

• Staffing Crisis
• Need to recruit young people
• Barriers
• To people entering the profession
• A Need for Solutions
• What we can do to attract more young people into
  librarianship

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Quotation Ard et al (2006)

• In the eyes of many youth, maybe librarians lack
  the glamour ofother disciplines, or perhaps
  people with more life experience have had more
  opportunities to develop a deeper appreciation of
  the nature of library work.

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The literature

• Problems identified
• Perceptions of the profession, libraries and
  librarians - stereotypes
• Lack of careers advice
• Misunderstanding of what the librarians role
  entails
• Lack of awareness of the scope of libraries, i.e.
  most young people only have experience of school,
  academic or public libraries.
• Misunderstanding of the skills and qualifications
  needed

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Overview of the issues

• Staffing Crisis
• Need to recruit young people
• Barriers
• To people entering the profession
• A Need for Solutions
• What we can do to attract more young people into
  librarianship

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Research aims

• To discover young peoples impressions of
  librarianship as a career
• To identify what barriers there are to young
  people entering the profession
• To explore what appeals about librarianship as a
  career choice

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Two questionnaires

• Librarianship Students
• 16 respondents
• 4 aged 18-24 years old
• 11 were aged 25-39 years old
• 1 was over 40 years old
• 1 no answer
• All had some library experience across a range of
  sectors

• Young People
• 19 respondents
• Age span 18-24
• 14 female
• 5 male
• Roughly 5050 split students/in employment
• Jobs ranged from teachers, IT, sales, ice cream
  van driver!

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Results of the questionnaires
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BarrierMisunderstanding of the librarians role
SHOUT at people!
Put books back on shelves
Researching"
Managing staff and resources
Till work
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BarrierLack of awareness of where we work
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Awareness of the librarians roles

• Librarianship students perceptions
• All librarianship students felt they had an
  increased awareness of the role of librarianship
  work since taking the MA Librarianship course,
  including an increased awareness of different
  sectors and job titles
• Many were surprised at the emphasis placed on
  information technology and information literacy

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BarrierYoung peoples use of libraries
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Respondents use of libraries

• Young People
• 73.7 had used a public library
• 57.9 had used a school library
• 52.6 had used a college or university library

• Librarianship Students
• 100 had used a public library
• 46.7 had used school library
• 100 had used a college or university library

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BarrierAppeal of the profession

• 15.8 said they had considered becoming a
  librarian because of their love of books
• 2 of these respondents knew people who worked in
  libraries (42 of the respondents knew people who
  work in libraries)
• 84.2 had not considered becoming a librarian
  because
• Boring/wouldnt suit my interests
• Lack of careers advice
• Already decided on a different career
• Seems an unintellectually challenging job
• 5 of these respondents admitted they did not
  understand what the job entails. One
  specifically highlighted not a lot of
  information given on the job at school or careers
  advice.

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Appeal of the profession to librarianship students
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What librarianship students said...
I was influenced by people I met who were
librarians
I think that reading and..access to knowledge..
Are two very important things, and the
opportunity to be involved in this seemed to good
to pass up.
I wanted a job that would be interesting and
varied
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Perceptions of librarians

• Librarianship students perceptions
• Learned more about librarians from the course
• Fellow course mates had changed their perceptions
  or librarians and future librarians
• Aware of stereotypical images Boring people who
  wore cardigans
• Stereotypes didnt deter them from entering the
  profession.
• Positive self perceptions as librarians of the
  future.

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The Barriers

• Invisibility of the profession
• Negative stereotypes
• Qualifications required
• Poor careers advice
• Lack of job opportunities
• Money - low salaries

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The BarriersWhat one librarianship student said
When youre younger (and often older!) you want
to do a sexy job that pays a fortuneIts hard to
sell librarianship on these grounds.
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Comparison of perceived barriers

• Young People
• Stereotypes
• Poor careers advice
• Already decided on a different career (lack of
  awareness of librarianship?)
• Not challenging/not intellectual
• Wouldnt suit personality

• Librarianship Students
• Stereotypes
• Poor careers advice
• Lack of awareness
• Qualifications
• Lack of job opportunities
• Money low salaries

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Where did librarianship students want to work?

• The course had opened up options or changed their
  minds about opportunities
• 40 had changed their preferred sector choices
  completely
• The library world is my oyster. Ill see what
  grabs me.

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Summary

• Key issues

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What attracts people to the profession?

• Love of books and reading
• The variety of the job
• Wanting to help users
• Positive influence from library professionals
• Plenty of opportunities to engage with these,
  e.g. customer service, reader development, team
  work, varied projects

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Barriers to young people

• Stereotypical image of librarians particularly
  regarding age
• Lack of awareness of the roles of librarians
• Lack of education about career opportunities in
  libraries

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Conclusions

• The findings of this study supported evidence
  from the literature that
• Library stereotypes persist
• There is a lack of careers advice
• Libraries lack visibility for many young people

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Possible solutions for discussion

• Self-promotion
• Leading by example
• Increase awareness
• Increase visibility
• Marketing and promotion
• Engagement with Web 2.0 technologies
• New buildings, improving library environment
• Banish negative stereotypes

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On a positive note -

• The library students surveyed hadnt been put off
  by the stereotypes they had encountered
• Saw themselves differently
• And where enthusiastic about their new careers
  and the difference they could make in the
  profession

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Any Questions?

• Or please contact me at a later date
  SarahNewbutt_at_yahoo.co.uk