Every year, the Library Research Service’s Public Library Annual Report surveys Colorado public libraries about challenges to their materials or services. The libraries that report receiving one or more challenges are then asked to provide additional information. This Fast Facts addresses the number, nature, and outcome of the challenges reported in 2015.
Postings for library jobs continued their upward trajectory in 2015, according to LRS’s popular library job posting website, LibraryJobline.org. In 2015, 656 jobs were posted—the most ever since the service’s launch in 2007—and almost 3 times that of 2009’s low of 228 postings. Average hourly salaries for Academic ($21.79) and Public ($20.80) library positions were at an all time high, though the average salary for School libraries ($16.62) fell by 20% since its high in 2012 ($20.74). Read on to learn more about how the rest of 2015 shaped up.
Library jobs have officially recovered from the Great Recession, according to LRS’s popular library job posting website, LibraryJobline.org. In 2014, 615 jobs were posted—the most ever since the service’s launch in 2007—and more than twice that of 2009’s 228 jobs, a site low. We also saw the highest average starting wages for positions preferring the MLIS ($24.45 per hour) and requiring the MLIS ($25.31 per hour). Read on to learn more about how the rest of 2014 shaped up.
As the country slowly recovers from the latest economic recession, librarians and future librarians are looking to salary comparisons to better understand their current and potential earnings. The ALA-APA Salary Survey provides this information annually for positions requiring an ALA-accredited master’s degree. Here, we take a look at some of the highlights from this survey:
Click here for a printable version of this graphic.
For more information, see our Fast Facts, “2012 U.S. Academic Librarian Salaries: The West & Southwest Region Remains Competitive.”
Introduction
An examination of data from Library Jobline, a job-posting website operated by the Library Research Service, provides insight into Colorado’s library job climate. The data from 2012 shows that, for the third year in a row, the number of employment opportunities in the field has increased, but the level of compensation for professional-level library positions1 has decreased slightly since 2011.
Job Postings
In 2012, 393 library positions were posted to Library Jobline, thus continuing the upward trend since 2009, when the number was just 228 (Chart 1).2 On average, 33 library positions were posted to Library Jobline each month during 2012. Compared with other months, June saw the most postings (49), whereas April saw the fewest (25).
Subscriptions
Library Jobline’s website redesign in early 2012 may have contributed to the influx in its subscriptions. An additional 97 employers registered with Library Jobline in 2012—an increase of 19 percent over the previous year—which brought the total number of registered employers to 602. The number of registered job seekers rose by 44 percent, or 729 members, which propelled Library Jobline’s total number of registered job seekers to almost 2,400.
Views
Despite sizeable increases in the number of job postings and the number of registered job seekers, LibraryJobline.org experienced less traffic in 2012 than in the previous two years. In 2012, Library Jobline postings were viewed 521,655 times—down more than 100,000 views from 2011, and more than 200,000 views from 2010. Curiously, more than one-third (37%) of the 2012 views were of jobs that were posted prior to 2012.
The diminished traffic might be partially attributed to job seekers’ reliance on alternative notification channels. By the end of 2012, Library Jobline (@libraryjobline) had accrued 345 Twitter followers (up from 202 at the end of 2011), and tweeted 616 times—159 times more than in 2011. Additionally, Library Jobline generated 272,243 email notifications in 2012, and individual RSS feeds were accessed 64,737 times.3
Requirements and Preferences
About one-fifth (21%) of the Library Jobline postings for 2012 specified that a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree was required—a decrease from 2011, when one-third (33%) required one (Table 1). An additional 15 percent of job postings in 2012 specified a preference for candidates with an MLIS degree, compared with 13 percent in 2011. The remaining 64 percent either specified that an MLIS degree was not required, or simply included no information about it. The percentage of job postings that listed additional requirements and/or preferences changed little from 2011.
Starting Wages
Compared to 2011, the average starting hourly wage decreased by $0.34 per hour for Library Jobline postings that specified the requirement of an MLIS/MLS degree, and $0.67 per hour for those that listed it as a preference (Chart 2). Conversely, the average starting hourly wage for postings that did not require an MLIS/MLS degree increased by $0.66 per hour. Although this may be unsettling for those who choose to pursue MLIS/MLS degrees, it is too soon to determine whether the decline in compensation for professional-level library jobs since 2011 is a trend.
Conclusion
Library Jobline’s 2012 data offers mixed messages about Colorado’s library job climate. The number of employment opportunities listed with Library Jobline has steadily increased since 2009, and offers hope that it might soon reach pre-recession levels. Unfortunately, average starting hourly wages for library positions posted with Library Jobline do not demonstrate the same upward trend.
Indeed, 5 years of data suggest that starting wages are stagnant overall. Job seekers can likely expect more opportunities for Colorado library employment in the coming years; however, they should not count on higher levels of compensation.
LibraryJobline.org, an online resource maintained by the Library Research Service (LRS) at the Colorado State Library, lists job postings from employers in Colorado and beyond.4 Library Jobline dates back to 2007, offering 5 years’ worth of statistics about Colorado’s library job climate.
An analysis of Library Jobline statistics over time, in conjunction with data gathered from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the American Library Association (ALA), and Library Journal, indicates slight improvements to the library job climate in 2011. This Fast Facts addresses these improvements as they pertain to the number of job postings, full-time positions, and starting salaries, and provides current job seekers with reason to feel cautiously optimistic about their quests to find library jobs.
Quick Look: 2011 Library Jobline Statistics
Subscriptions
In 2011, more than 500 employers and 1,600 job seekers—223 of whom joined in 2011—were registered with Library Jobline. Almost two-thirds (63%) of those job seekers were signed up to receive email notifications of new job postings, and another 656 job seekers (39%) had opted into a custom RSS feed to stay abreast of the latest library job opportunities. Library job seekers can also monitor Library Jobline postings via Twitter; in 2011, @LibraryJobline had accrued 224 followers.
Job Postings Continue to Rise
Since bottoming out in 2009, the number of annual Library Jobline postings rose 43 percent in 2011, from 233 to 334 (see Chart 1). March, May, and June saw the most job postings, or an average of 35 new jobs per month, whereas January, September, and November were the worst months for job seekers, with an average of only 19 new postings per month. As compared to previous years, the monthly average of 26 postings per month is the highest since 2008, which saw an average of 35 new jobs per month.
The number of times that Library Jobline postings were viewed overall decreased slightly in 2011, from an all-time high of 728,024 in 2010 to 651,599—a difference of 10 percent (see Chart 2). In addition, the number of views per job posting also dropped by almost 30 percent, from an average of 2,757 in 2010 to 1,951 in 2011. While this shift could signify a healthier job market, in which fewer people are looking for open positions, it might also be attributed to the rise in the number of Library Jobline users who receive news about available positions via customized emails, RSS feed, or Twitter, rather than by accessing those postings directly from LibraryJobline.org.
*No job view data is available for 2007.
Requirements and Preferences
Across all 2011 Library Jobline postings, one third (33%) required applicants to have an ALA-accredited Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree or Master of Library Science (MLS) degree. Another 12 percent of jobs preferred candidates who had an MLIS or MLS degree. The remaining 54 percent of job postings did not require an MLIS or MLS degree.
Entry-level library job seekers may be relieved to know that in 2011, only 1 in 4 Library Jobline postings specifically required 1 or more years of library experience, and only 1 in 5 stated experience as a preference. More than 80 percent of employers did not require professional-level library experience, and 11 percent listed professional-level experience as a preference. Just 1 in 10 postings (38 in total) required 1 or more years of supervisory experience, while another 11 percent preferred it.
More than one-fifth (22%) of all 2011 postings gave preference to candidates with Spanish-language skills, and 2 percent made Spanish a requirement.
Full-Time and Permanent Postings
While just over half (53%) of job postings in 2010 were full-time positions, nearly 62 percent of 2011 postings to Library Jobline were for 40-hour-per-week positions. Only 21 postings, a mere 6 percent, were for temporary positions.
2011’s Hot Jobs
These LibraryJobline.org postings were viewed more than any others in 2011:
Starting Salaries
In 2011, the average starting salary for professional positions was $24 per hour, which was equal to the starting salary for professional positions in 2010, but still down from the $24.50 average in 2009 (see Chart 3). Wages for positions which did not require an MLIS continued to climb for the third year in a row.
Related National Data
In 2010, the median annual wage for a librarian, according to BLS,5was $54,500 annually, or an hourly rate of $26.50. Whereas data from the 2010 ALA-APA Salary Survey6 (the most recent year available) shows an average starting salary of $48,317 annually, or $23.23 per hour. For recent LIS graduates—notably not all librarians—Library Journal’s “Placements & Salaries Survey 2011”7 reports an average starting salary of $42,566, or $20.46 per hour. Although these data points are valuable in evaluating current and potential salaries for librarian positions, caution should be exercised in comparing them to each other or to Library Jobline data, as they represent different data sets and geographic areas.
Conclusion
Data collected from Library Jobline shows modest improvement in 2011 for Colorado’s library job market, as marked by an increase in job postings. Starting salaries for positions that required an MLS/MLIS remained stable, and they improved slightly for those jobs that did not require an MLIS. While restoring hope for both library job seekers and employers, this information demonstrates that despite some signs of recovery the job market has not fully recuperated.
In May 2011, librarians, library staff, and library school students weighed in on the LRS 60-Second Survey The Value of an MLIS Degree to You. Almost 2,500 people from every state and 15 countries, representing all library types, responded. Around 1,300 respondents left comments, sharing additional thoughts on the value of the MLIS degree today.
When asked if they thought their MLIS degree was/is worth the time and money invested in it, 4 in 5 respondents (79%) strongly agreed or agreed that their degree was worth the investment (see Chart 1). Eleven percent of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, and 10 percent were “neutral.”
Chart 1
My MLIS Degree Was/Is Worth the Time and Money Invested in It
Respondents who have had their MLIS degree the longest were more likely to indicate that the time and money invested in the MLIS was worth it (see Chart 2). Nine out of 10 (92%) respondents who have had their MLIS for 16+ years strongly agreed or agreed that the degree was worth the investment. Almost 90 percent of respondents who have had their degrees for 11-15 years strongly agreed or agreed that the investment in the MLIS degree was worth it, as did 80 percent of respondents who have had their degrees for 6-10 years. While around two-thirds of newer professionals felt that their investment in the degree was worthwhile, they were less likely to strongly agree and were more likely to be neutral or disagree. Respondents who completed their degree 1-5 years ago were the most likely to indicate that the degree was not worth the time and money they invested in it.
Survey respondents also indicated whether or not they would recommend pursuing an MLIS degree if asked today. Almost two-thirds of respondents (63%) would recommend pursuing the MLIS degree, with one-fourth of respondents indicating they would “highly recommend” the degree (see Chart 3). Close to 1 in 6 respondents would not recommend pursuing the degree, and 7 percent would actively dissuade others from pursuing it. Around 14 percent of the respondents said that they were not sure if they would recommend the degree if asked.
Comment Analysis
An analysis of respondents’ comments offered insights into why respondents would or would not recommend the MLIS degree. Comments were grouped into the following 6 categories and could be coded in more than 1 category (see Chart 5):
Comments were also coded as positive, negative, or neutral/mixed in tone (see Chart 6). Respondents commented predominantly negatively on the job market, the cost of the degree, and the perception of the profession, but they were more upbeat about the degree’s intrinsic value and possibilities for career advancement. Comments relating to MLIS content were the most ambivalent in tone.
Conclusion
The Value of an MLIS to You 60-second survey showed that a majority of respondents would both recommend the degree to others today (63%) and agree that the MLIS is worth the investment of time and money (79%). While a sizeable chunk of respondents would be reluctant to recommend the degree or to say that the MLIS retains its value today, their comments show that any hesitations about recommending the degree stem largely from a weak job market, the financial burden of education, concerns about the content and delivery of LIS curriculum, and a generally negative perception of the profession by the public. Yet, comments about the intrinsic, non-monetary awards of the librarianship, and about opportunities for career advancement, compensate for these drawbacks, especially for those who have had their degrees for more than 15 years. As 1 survey respondent articulated: “Every day I go to work excited about what I do, whether it’s doing story time, visiting classes, doing readers advisory for our patrons or teaching classes to the staff and public, I feel like what I do matters to the quality of life of our individual patrons and to the vibrancy of our community.”
For a more detailed analysis of this survey and respondents’ comments, as well as a comparison to LRS’s 2008 Value of an MLIS survey, see the Closer Look Report at: http://www.lrs.org/documents/closer_look/MLIS_Value_Closer_Look_Report.pdf.
AskColorado (www.askcolorado.org), a statewide virtual reference service, was launched on September 2, 2003. Colorado libraries joined the cooperative as members to provide 24/7 chat reference service to Coloradans. Over the years, the cooperative honed in on 3 essential and high-use entry-points for patrons: K-12, General, and Academic. These entry points remain today. In 2008 the cooperative’s academic libraries voted to accept academic members from outside the state of Colorado; and in 2010, the academic queue was re-branded as AskAcademic and a separate website was launched (www.askacademic.org). AskColorado and AskAcademic are funded with contributions coming directly from the member libraries and federal funds provided by the Colorado State Library under the Library Services and Technology Act.
Though AskColorado as a whole was previously evaluated by the Library Research Service (LRS), 2011 marks the first year LRS has evaluated AskAcademic as a separate entry point. This Fast Facts presents the results of the AskColorado and AskAcademic customer exit surveys that were administered to almost 1,300 people (1,091 AskColorado users and 206 AskAcademic users) between April and October 2011.8
AskColorado User Satisfaction
Responses show that the majority of AskColorado users are pleased with the service and are likely to be repeat users (see Chart 1). Four out of 5 users (80%) rated AskColorado librarians as “very helpful” or “helpful,” and 6 out of 7 users (85%) said that they would be “very likely” or “likely” to use the service again. Responses to the question “To what extent are you satisfied with the answer(s) to your question(s)?” were similarly positive: More than three-fourths (77%) of AskColorado users were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the answers they received. Compared with previous evaluations of AskColorado, in 2011 the service received the highest ratings yet on the questions of librarian helpfulness, future use, and overall satisfaction.
AskAcademic User Satisfaction
Satisfaction was even higher among AskAcademic users. Nearly 9 in 10 AskAcademic survey respondents indicated that the librarians who assisted them were either very helpful or helpful (89%), and most (86%) were either very satisfied or satisfied with the answers they received to their questions. Answers to a question about the likelihood of using AskAcademic again were even more enthusiastic, with 94 percent of respondents saying that they were “very likely” or “likely” to utilize the service again (see Chart 2).
Outcomes
The surveys also asked respondents about what they achieved by using the service. Respondents could select multiple answers to this question. The most popular outcomes for both services were to “identify a new source of information to search” (31%), “obtain a specific fact or document” (30%), and “do research for homework for a school project” (30%) (see Chart 3).
*“Other” responses included assistance with job searches, e-readers, and other library services.
In addition, comments from AskColorado and AskAcademic users show that these virtual reference services complement and enhance traditional library services, enabling users to speak with a librarian late at night or to fill in the gaps caused by closures and reduced hours. In all 5 years of AskColorado evaluations, “Learned how the library can help me” has been a top outcome. Respondents may even use the services to gauge whether a trip to the library is worth their time. For example, 1 user commented: “This feature showed me how I might find info at the library, making it worth a trip downtown on a Saturday. LOVED this.”
Conclusion
Survey data gathered from 2004 to the present shows that Coloradans are consistently and increasingly pleased with the virtual reference service AskColorado. In its first year of evaluation, AskAcademic performed similarly well. Respondents’ comments further underscored the value users place on these services: “[The AskColorado librarian] did her best with a difficult research problem and found information in a few minutes that took me months!” concluded one user.
