Towards A National Strategy for Library Human Resources in Canada

1. Towards A National Strategy for Library Human Resources in Canada Ernie Ingles International Association of Technological University Libraries 24th Annual ConferenceAnkara, Turkey June 2, 2003

2. Introduction • The knowledge economy holds new opportunities and demands for librarians • Institutions must recruit, retain and develop a committed and talented workforce to maximize opportunities • Adequate numbers of skilled professionals is necessary to address these challenges

3. The Issue • Anecdotal evidence of a coming professional shortage due to retirements and static recruitment • 48% of Canadian librarians will enter retirement age by 2005. Weiler, “Libraries Face ‘Skills Gap’.” Quill & Quire. 66.1 Jan. 2000. • Forecasts of shortages have also been made for the United States and Australia

4. Challenges and Opportunities • Projected mass shortages present a challenge to the ‘natural progression’ of the development of leaders and upper management within the library sector • This projected shift in personnel is also an unprecedented opportunity for the sustained growth and revitalization of the profession • This is a timely opportunity for in-depth research on the profession within Canada

5. Current Data, Aggregate Statisticsand Recent Research

6. Projected Number of Retirements at Age 65 per Year Based on Projections for All Librarians in CMA’s from the 1996 Canadian Census Age 60+ Age 65

7. Projected Number of Retirements (cont.) • CMAs = Census Metropolitan Areas or larger urban areas; this does not include librarians in smaller centres • Two scenarios • Assuming librarians retire at 65 • Projected total retirements 2002-2014: 2,500 • Assuming librarians retire at 60+ • Projected total retirements 2002-2014: 4,000 • The number of librarians turning 65 each year after 2006 is twice the rate of the previous ten years

8. Education and Training • Total numbers of MLIS graduates in the United States have been called “stagnant” • Enrollment in Canadian MLIS programs appears to be increasing; this growth comes after a sustained decline • Students in SLIS tend to be older than in other professional programs • The employment requirement of an MLIS from an American Library Association-accredited program can limit employment opportunities for immigrants – Canada’s fastest growing workforce sector

10. NA NA 20-24 20-24 20-24 20-24 >54 >54 50-54 50-54 6% 6% 11% 11% 25-30 25-30 2% 2% 7% 7% 30-34 30-34 45-49 45-49 25-30 25-30 12% 12% 35-39 35-39 23% 23% 40-44 40-44 45-49 45-49 40-44 40-44 50-54 50-54 12% 12% 30-34 30-34 35-39 35-39 >54 >54 15% 15% 12% 12% NA NA Ages of Students Enrolled in Canada Ages of Students Enrolled in Canada and U.S. MLIS Programs, Fall 2000 *based on total of 13,127 enrolled. Note: Pratt, Western Ontario *based on total of 13,127 enrolled. Note: Pratt, Western Ontario and Toronto data not available. Source: ALISE Library and Information Scienc data not available. Source: ALISE Library and Information Science Statistical Report 2000.

11. Education and Training Questions: • If SLIS easily reach their quotas for students, does this limit motivation for active recruitment? • How does the status of the profession affect recruitment of students with excellent potential? • Is the MLIS degree from an accredited school the most appropriate requirement for a library career? • Are immigrant librarians’ international credentials being ignored?

12. Canadian Library Context • Libraries have undergone enormous changes in recent years • New technologies • Resulting competency shifts • Greater expectations from patrons • Sustained budget cuts • Budget cuts have resulted in a decreased capacity for new hiring during this time period

13. Change in Canadian Libraries • Paradigmatic shifts are currently taking place within libraries • External pressures on the library sector and its resulting reorganization complicate a simple examination of supply of new professionals • A thorough understanding of the demand factors that may limit or expand the need for professional librarians is necessary • Harris and Marshall (1998) surveyed directors and librarians in Canadian public and academic libraries • Librarians now expected to perform generalist management roles to the diminishment of traditional skill sets • Skills and decision-making responsibilities have been redeployed to paraprofessionals • The result is the "compression" of the structure and a reduction in the need for professional librarians

14. Shortages in Positions and Staff • Budget cutbacks have resulted in the elimination or merging of middle and senior positions as they become vacant • Are there enough trained staff to fill upper management vacancies in a scenario of mass retirements?

15. Diversity Issues • Libraries are seen as not creating enough opportunities for women and minorities, both at entry-level and in higher management • By 2011 all net labour force growth in Canada will be supplied by immigrant workers • How will this affect the MLIS hiring requirement?

16. 2.2 million people immigrated to Canada in the last 10 years - the largest amount for any decadeImmigration currently accounts for 50% of all population growthProjected Canadian birth rate decline may increase this percentage Annual number of immigrants admitted to Canada, 1901-2000 Opening & Settlement of the West Thousands World War I 1914-1918 The Great Depression and World War II 1939-1945 2000 Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada

17. Highest proportion of foreign-born since the 1931 Census, but lower than at beginning of the century 2001 – 18.4% Source: Statistics Canada, 1901-2001 Censuses

18. 8.8% in heritage occs. (14.0% in all occs.) were vismin. Visible minorities (people non-Caucasian in race) were under-represented across the library sector Visible minorities as a % of population aged 25-44 in selected library sector occupations % Note: Population who worked in 2000. Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census

19. 87.3% = all occs. The vast majority of visible minorities in the library sector were foreign-born Foreign-born as a % of visible minority population aged 25-44 in selected library sector occupations % Note: Population who worked in 2000. Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census

20. Visible minorities were more likely to have a degree than non-visible minorities % of population aged 25-44 in selected library sector occupations with a bachelor’s degree or higher % Note: Population who worked in 2000. Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census

21. Visible minorities were younger regardless of occupation within the library sector Median age for the population aged 15 and older in selected library sector occupations Years Note: Population who worked in 2000. Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census .

22. Summary: visible minorities working in selected library sector occupations • Visible minorities tended to be under-represented in the library sector. Some groups are more under-represented than others. • Within the library sector, visible minorities were under-represented in all occupations. • Visible minorities within the library sector tended to be more highly educated and younger than non-visible minorities.

23. Current Literature and Perceptions • The majority of the literature considers the American library context • Data sources for literature on the United States are aggregate and present only a sketchy picture • Some library sectors in the United States are reporting a shortage, including cataloguing, school libraries and academic libraries

24. Current Literature and Perceptions • Factors that affect personnel supply and demand: • no expansion of available places in MLS programs • outflow of Canadian graduates to more buoyant US library job market • more lucrative opportunities in the knowledge economy • continued staff cutbacks in publicly-funded libraries • graduates of MLS programs are generally over 30, and therefore have shorter careers than other professionals

25. Human Resource Management • Benefits of national succession planning include: • increased opportunities for newer professionals • Improved employee morale • easing restructuring or downsizing actions • larger pool of promotable employees • Long-term planning and support from top management is necessary • Succession management could provide strategy for rejuvenation in the library sector • Individual libraries have started to take action

26. The Core Problem “There is a dearth of statistics examining the way in which the [library] profession is changing.” Canadian Culture in Perspective: A Statistical Overview. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2000.

27. The Core Problem (cont.) • The majority of literature on the coming shortage is anecdotal • Available data is extrapolated from aggregate sources that show broad trends but can’t explain particulars • The Canadian heritage sector lacks data that can address questions of supply and demand

28. Questions Arising from Problem “Despite the wealth of literature on succession planning or succession management and its importance to organizational health and success, there is a paucity of literature on succession planning in libraries of any type.…” Bridgland, Angela, “To Fill, or How to Fill- That is the Question: Succession Planning and Leadership Development in Academic Libraries.” Australian Academic and Research Libraries. 30.1 (March 1999).

29. Questions Arising from Problem (cont.) • Supply and demand of human resources • Attracting the ‘best and brightest’ to the profession • Attracting talented recruits to all types of libraries e.g. schools as well as post-secondary institutions • Role of the paraprofessional or subject specialist vs. the credentialed professional • What information is needed about issues of recruitment, retention and retirement? • How does the Canadian context differ from the American context?

30. Questions Arising from Problem (cont.) • How do we obtain this information to prepare for succession planning? • At the national level • At the sectoral level • At the institutional level • Who should care? • What is the role of the national association? • What is the role of sectoral associations? • What is the role of library schools? • What is the role of the library administrator? • How can associations and institutions use this information to address the need in a coordinated approach?

31. Current Research Needs

32. Research Needs • Much of the current literature has stated a need for formal investigation of trends in the professional ecosystem • “…more study is needed to identify trends in the library community…[and] should include sampling a larger library population, identifying geographical trends and sources of supply…and so on.” Summerfield, “CLA’s Human Resources and Succession Planning Survey: Analysis and Recommendations.” Feliciter 48.4 2002. • “Other disciplines have criticized library literature over the years as being too anecdotal and too little based on hard research…”David M. Harralson, “Recruitment in Academic Libraries: Library Literature in the 90s.” College and Undergraduate Libraries. 8:1. 2001.

33. Research Needs(cont.) • “Studies of supply and demand should…be carried out at the national level with consolidated support...” Van Fleet and Wallace. “O Librarian, Where Art Thou?” Reference and User Services Quarterly. 41.3 Spring 2002. • We need a multi-level strategy in order to avoid replicating the problems encountered in other sectors

34. Strategies • Build a coalition of the library community across sectors to undertake a national study • Undertake a comprehensive survey to examine issues of recruitment, retention and retirement in Canadian libraries • Initiate a national dialogue and widely disseminate the data and reports so that institutions, associations and even individuals can make strategic decisions that are in their best interests

35. Research Scope • A national strategy that can be tailored to individual libraries will be the most effective and efficient response • The situation implicates libraries across the country, and within every field • It implicates professionals at all stages of their careers • MLIS students and educators, paraprofessionals, new professionals, mid-career professionals, senior management, and those about to retire

36. Research Outline • The study includes participation of municipal, regional and national professional associations as well as institutions • New, mid-career and senior professionals and paraprofessionals in public, academic, school, and special libraries, as well as in SLIS programs will be surveyed  

37. Major Questions • Supply: Is there an impending shortage of librarians exacerbated by a decreasing supply of new recruits? • Demand: How have external factors changed functional requirements and organizational restructuring of library operations and the role of librarians? • Supply + Demand: How does a decreasing supply of professional librarians fit with a changing demand in library operations and for librarians?

38. Objective • Comprehensive investigation of issues around recruitment, retention, remuneration, repatriation, rejuvenation, reaccreditation, retirement, and restructuring (the ‘8 Rs’) in the Canadian library context The ‘8Rs’ • Recruitment • Retention • Remuneration • Repatriation • Reaccreditation • Rejuvenation • Retirement • Restructuring

39. Outcomes • A toolkit of strategies of individual libraries and key recommendations • Baseline data to create a statistical analytic framework and standard indicators for long-range assessment • Study data will be analyzed at local levels

40. Recruitment • Issues at the education level and for new professionals • Areas of investigation • Numbers of SLIS graduates anticipated over the next decade • Numbers of new hires made by Canadian libraries • SLIS recruitment strategies • Library recruitment strategies • Diversity initiatives from SLIS programs and libraries

41. Retention • Areas of investigation • Professional development programs offered to employees (entry level, mid-career, senior) • Experiences of librarians with regard to career progression and mentorship • Libraries’ financial resources for funding training programs • Librarians’ perceptions of major factors that encourage staff retention

42. Remuneration • Areas of investigation: • Salary expectations of librarians over their careers • Extent to which salary plays a role for new professionals, mid-career and senior librarians • Extent to which possibility of non-traditional opportunities influences importance of salary • How libraries compete with other industries

43. Repatriation • For MLIS graduates who obtain work in the U.S. and in non-traditional sectors • Areas of investigation: • Age groups seeking employment outside Canada • Numbers of Canadian librarians currently working in the U.S. • Motivations of Canadian librarians working in the U.S. • Long-term plans of Canadian expatriates in the U.S. (i.e. are they paying off education debt loads and planning to return?) • Numbers of librarians who work in non-traditional sectors

44. Rejuvenation • For librarians in the mid-career stage and nearing retirement. • Areas of investigation: • Mid-career motivation levels • Individual innovation levels • Libraries’ practices to encourage innovative services and practices at the senior level? • What mid- and senior level librarians want for motivational strategies and practices? • Extent to which libraries and professional associations are identifying and working toward future competencies

45. Reaccreditation • To explore the extent to which institutions and individuals are articulating their vision of appropriate accreditation and competencies for the realities of the industry. • Areas of investigation: • Differences between programs that focus on traditional MLIS coursework and those that focus on new technologies • Motivation for different accreditations based on focus • Extent to which libraries recognize immigrant professionals who hold a librarian degree from outside North America?

46. Reaccreditation: Context • Immigrants, with their higher education levels, still have difficulty fully integrating into the workforce: “There are many immigrants whose skills are underused because Canadian regulatory bodies and employers do not recognize their foreign-earned trades diplomas, professional licenses, academic credentials, or work experience.” Source: Human Resource Development Canada, 2002

47. Importance of Reaccreditation • Immigration now accounts for more than 50% of total population growth • 1990’s immigrants accounted for 70% of labour force growth • Increasing number of immigrants admitted to Canada in economic category since mid-1990’s

48. Retirement • Retirement trends in the profession • Areas of investigation: • Numbers of librarians intending to retire at 60 or 65 • Library strategies for dealing with mass vacancies • Will the positions stay open, or will libraries close them under budget constraints? • Retention incentives from libraries for librarians nearing retirement • Incentives that would influence librarians’ decisions to remain in their positions until 65

49. Restructuring • An examination of professional librarians and paraprofessionals • Areas of investigation: • Numbers of librarians and paraprofessionals entering the workforce • Typical job duties of professionals vs. paraprofessionals? • Perceptions of role and status • Restructuring efforts made by libraries to redefine roles

50. Key Study Elements • Review of relevant literature • Survey of heritage sector administrators • Survey of library management • Survey of mid-career library professionals • Survey of new professionals • Survey of paraprofessionals • Survey of library schools • Survey of post-secondary students regarding their perceptions of librarianship • Wide dissemination of the data • Creation of toolkit for individual libraries