According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), librarian is among the state’s top jobs requiring a master’s degree through 2012. Employing a projected 2,720 Coloradans in 2012, librarian ranks fifth on projected employment behind physical therapist, market research analyst, educational counselor, and mental health counselor.[note]Technical Note: CDLE’s figures cannot be parsed by library sector. Thus, it is not possible to anticipate the extent to which the trends reflected in these projections apply to academic, public, school, and special libraries separately. The fact that it is assumed these positions require a master’s degree might call into question whether these projections include school librarians; however, the majority of the state’s school librarians have master’s degrees. In addition, CDLE’s estimate of 2002 librarian employment—2,270—seems reasonable, knowing that academic, public, and school libraries employ approximately 1,400 librarians known to have master’s degrees and about 1,850 librarians, including public and school librarians known not to have master’s degrees. CDLE’s classification of librarian as a position requiring a master’s degree is based on the federal Department of Labor’s Standard Occupational Classification, which notes that librarian positions usually require a master’s degree. This being the case, the 1,850 figure is probably the more appropriate one to use, leaving about 420 jobs to be accounted for by the state’s special libraries.[/note]
Rounding out the top 10 master’s-degreed jobs will be speech pathologist, environmental scientist, substance abuse counselor, instructional coordinator, and rehabilitation counselor (see Chart 1 in full report).
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