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LJ’s 2024 Placements & Salaries Survey sees new grads grapple with questions of relocation, living wages, and job drift, but eager to begin careers in the field.

There are many barriers to earning a Master of Library Science degree, particularly for those in minoritized populations, and moving the needle for would-be librarians has proved to be a challenge. Initiatives to increase diversity in librarianship have been slowly increasing. Among these, the Pathways to Leadership program at Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), launched in 2021, is a particularly strong example of how wraparound support can look—and succeed.

A Georgia senate bill aimed at detaching the state from the American Library Association (ALA) could send ripples throughout Georgia’s public library system and the state university that trains librarians. Senate Bill 390 would put a firewall between Georgia libraries and ALA. Effective on July 1, 2025 if enacted, it would remove ALA as an accrediting organization within the state and would ban ALA and its affiliates from receiving taxpayer—and even privately donated—funds for the association’s materials, services, or operations.

Although lacking 2022’s dramatic job market gains, this year’s Placements and Salaries survey demonstrated a hard-won stability.

Today, we're sharing the stories of three different libraries and how their decision to become data-driven is increasing patron engagement.

With the onslaught of pressures facing librarians today, how are library and information science programs preparing the next generation of graduates?

In “Uprooting Racial Health Disparities: Genealogy as a Community Health Library Service,” Lynette Hammond Gerido, University of Michigan School of Public Health, studies the outcomes and affordances of genealogical and family health history research.

In “Spanish-speakers Preferred: How Libraries Can Make Their Workforce Better Reflect Their Communities,” Andrew A. Wakeleea (Fresno City College) and Kim M. Thompson (University of South Carolina) study library employment trends and offer suggestions for how to better foster a more inclusive workforce.

LJ is piloting a new column called Research Briefs, which will summarize in plain language some key takeaways of recent research on librarianship, and point to the full paper for those who want to know more. In “The Effects of Counterproductive Workplace Behaviors on Academic LIS Professionals’ Health and Well-Being,” Christy Fic (Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania) and Maggie Albro (University of Tennessee Knoxville) study how counterproductive workplace behaviors (CWB)—which include theft, sabotage, interpersonal aggression, wasted time or resources, and workplace rumors—lead to professional burnout in academic librarians and archivists.

Salaries are way up, and culture is even more important in this year’s Placements and Salaries survey.

For librarians looking to change career course, post-MLIS certificates can help them learn a new specialization or catch up on technologies.

Update: The fund met its endowment goal of $50,000 by March 31, and will be able to begin awarding scholarships in fall 2023.

In response to a call for increased diversity at the University of Texas (UT) Austin iSchool—and to boost representation and participation among students of color in information sciences fields overall—a group of UT alumni have created an endowed scholarship for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) students. The committee’s goal is to raise a total of $50,000 by March 31 so that it can begin awarding scholarships in fall 2023.

In the beginning of October, the Department of Education announced temporary changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) that are projected to help 22,000 borrowers with consolidated loans without further action, and another 27,000 may be able to qualify with additional certification. The DOE expects the changes will help over 555,000 borrowers who previously consolidated their loans and may get an additional two years of qualifying payments. The new program stands to help out librarians in particular.

Catherine Sheldrick Ross died on September 11. Professor, dean, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, she was a renowned library and information scholar. She leaves a legacy of research and publications critical to reader, reference, and public services.

2020 LIS graduates faced a dip in salaries, an increase in remote work, and a drop in satisfaction, but not a major rise in unemployment.

This year’s featured MLIS programs trained numerous library leaders honored by Library Journal as Movers & Shakers. Read more to find out which programs helped launch these talented members of the library community.

In fall 2020, the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Rhode Island (URI) launched a master’s track in Information Equity, Diverse Communities, and Critical Librarianship. The 12-credit track, one of four that comprise the university’s LIS program, is fully online and will continue to be offered remotely as URI transitions to a fully online setting in the next year.

Internships and practicums are important to learning and jobseeking. During COVID, LIS programs and students have had to get creative at a distance.

LJ caught up with Dr. Nicole Cooke, Augusta Baker endowed chair and associate professor at the School of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina, to ask what librarians need to know about how misinformation and disinformation work in the modern era and how they can be combated effectively.

University of Washington iSchool researchers present an overview of the Open Data Literacy project's work to date, and share highlights from a survey of the current landscape of open data in Washington State's public libraries.

Library Journal’s annual Placements & Salaries survey reports on the experiences of LIS students who graduated and sought their first librarian jobs in the previous year: in this case, 2019. Salaries and full-time employment are up, but so are unemployment and the gender gap; 2019 graduates faced a mixed job market even before the pandemic.

The LJ placement and salaries survey provides a valuable professional snapshot of the job-seeking experiences of graduates and their institutions as a service to the LIS community. LJ invited each of the 52 American Library Association–accredited library and information science schools located in the United States to participate.

As universities and colleges across the United States grapple with the best way to proceed with fall terms given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, American Library Association–accredited library science programs are providing a variety of options to their students. Some are going fully online while others are offering hybrid courses with online and in-person components.

As the field increasingly expands to include work with a wide range of physical and electronic materials, resources, and data, the question “What is a librarian?” does not have an easy answer. Prerequisites for any librarian job include curiosity and a desire to help expand others’ knowledge. But a satisfying library career may take many forms.

The importance of diversity and inclusion in librarianship is a common topic in LIS pedagogy today. Not long ago, that was far from the norm. However, in 1967 the University of Maryland’s School of Library and Information Sciences (SLIS) offered a comprehensive program that focused on topics designed to better serve the disadvantaged. It included an experimental library, High John, created and facilitated by SLIS in a predominately African American community named Fairmount Heights.

Recognizing the immense achievements of librarians in a variety of disciplines is worthy of a big annual shout-out — and that is exactly what Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers program is all about.

Guidance from those who have been there can help prospective students as they consider librarianship and choose a library science program.

Simmons University School of Library and Information Science has partnered with seven academic health sciences and research libraries and science publisher Elsevier to establish the Research Data Management Librarian Academy (RDMLA), a free online professional development program. RDMLA launched on October 7.

LJ's 2019 Placements & Salaries survey looked at grads entering the LIS field for their second careers and the kind of education or experience they were bringing to their new roles.

LJ's 2019 Placements & Salaries survey looked at grads entering the LIS field and discovered that the highest paying jobs are in the Pacific region, and that the regional differential between salary extremes is 59 percent larger than last year.

LJ's 2019 Placements & Salaries survey showed that the top job skill cited was again reference and information services (10 percent), but in second place for the first time was user experience/usability analysis (9 percent). This is the first year that LJ asked graduates about soft skills training in conflict resolution, cultural competency, customer service, design thinking, ethics, and leadership.

LJ's 2019 Placements & Salaries survey considered how and when LIS students and grads conducted their job searches, and learned that 44 percent are hired before they finish their degrees. Job seekers are leveraging not only traditional outlets, such as listservs and employment sites, but social media and networking opportunities, too.

LJ's 2019 Placements & Salaries survey looked at grads entering the LIS field and at the salaries they command. This provides a snapshot of graduates' job-seeking experiences at 41 ALA-accredited institutions and identifies comparative trends from previous years. Two schools are new this year, 35 schools used our survey, and six schools created independent assessments.

Recovery from the 2008 recession continues: This year’s Placements & Salaries survey indicates that graduates from LIS programs have more options and better opportunities in the field. Highlights include positive trends in salaries and employment status, gender-based pay parity, and employment in LIS institutions. Graduates placed user experience/usability analysis in the top two primary job duties for the first time.

LJ's 2019 Placements & Salaries survey learned that full-time grads earned on average 6.2 percent more than they did last year. Top earners tend to have private sector and special collections jobs.

There will always be a place in libraries for people to fill traditional roles in programming, collection development, and working with children or teens. But many recent graduates earning their MLS (or equivalent degree) have learned new competencies that are increasingly in demand.

Whether you have only recently decided to pursue librarianship and are eager to learn the ropes, or have been working in libraries for years and are hoping for the expanded opportunities that the degree can bring, finding an MLIS program that is right for you depends on a number of factors.

Created to address Michigan’s low literacy rates, Wayne State University’s School of Information Sciences is launching an experimental program for spring/summer 2019 aimed at increasing the number of professional school librarians in the state.

Librarians eager to steer patrons toward library collections will appreciate the opportunities for collaboration this tool provides; although the Grant Papers are available in their original form online at the Library of Congress, the quality and readability of this work’s text and its user-friendliness make it an excellent alternative

This month's professional media reviews include an excellent tool for training and planning sessions for library staff, boards, and government officials; useful strategies and ideas for library administrators and marketers; and a solid playbook for managers overseeing all types of projects.

In an age when inaccuracy disseminates with the click of a mouse, reliable reporting is more vital than ever. These widely varied databases pay tribute to the history of journalism

America’s approximately 17,000 public library outlets’ staff are focused on meeting the needs of their communities, providing innovative programs, and connecting community members to resources that make a difference in their lives. But all too often they are reinventing these things from scratch.

Every sector of the higher education industry faces challenges, but the future outlook for small colleges is even direr. Amidst talk of closures, mergers, and other decline, should librarians at these institutions be worried?

My postelection depression was triggered by all the rancid rhetoric coupled with the fear and deep concern brought on by the bomb mailings and the killings of two in a market in Louisville, KY, and 11 worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.

In my last column, I shared a conversation I had with Sally Pewhairangi, a New Zealand librarian working on a new website called The Library Boss. We explored how confidence in our abilities is just as important as competence. We finish our discussion this time with a deep dive into qualities that should be part of the information professional’s skill set.

Long a mainstay of LIS professors, who advance the field with their examination of learning behaviors and library praxis, increasingly such discoveries are part of the learning experience for students as well.