Future of Librarianship

Last week I attended a program in NJ on recruiting and mentoring the next generation of librarians from underrepresented groups. The program was good and showed how active the state of NJ has been in trying to recruit a representative workforce. Recruitment is good, but what's next? Earlier this week I was chatting with a friend of mine (a librarian from a traditionally underrepresented group) who told me he wasn't renewing his membership to ALA or ACRL. After chastising him and asking why, this was, in part, his response:

"I thought long and hard about my membership with ACRL and ALA. I finally decided I was not getting enough return on my investment. My vision for the profession does not jive with the Strategic Goals of ALA nor with ACRL. The latter has done a better job of articulating their vision, but I think our interests are diverging. My thoughts on the profession right now are glum. I find myself frustrated with both the micro and the macro level issues. The profession is not aging, and it's not graying. It's already aged; and it's already grayed. It is old, slow moving, filled with barrier thinkers, and way too white and female for me."

While we all know this, what can we do about it? We keep having these "recruitment" efforts, but there isn't much that ALA (or the NJ State Library) can do about retention. My friend is in a residency program and his term will expire shortly and there are no immediate job prospects. I don't know how typical this is among those in residency programs, but these term positions, while they are good at getting your foot in the door and getting some experience, really don't address the retention issue permanently. The culture of libraries generally is also often a turn-off for many under-40 librarians (and even for some over-40). My friend, because of his experience to date, is now thinking about going into private industry where he believes he will find a culture more in line with his expectations. He continues:

"I want to work in an environment that is eager to move forward with organizational and employee development in a creative way; and that wants to use as much new technology as possible. I want to be in a fast, efficient organization that has very few meetings, very little bureaucracy, and that has lots of training and coaching opportunities within a culture of adult learning; and I don't mean workshops on Outlook or sexual harassment."

I don't know where this library is, but I haven't heard of many of them. It seems that my friend is therefore bound for the private sector. In the profession, we keep talking about change and the need to be "accommodating" to the next generation of librarians (and users) but is this all lip service? How can we, in the near future, change the culture of libraries sufficiently to keep the next generation of librarians employed in libraries? How can the next generation of librarians work within our current environment and feel welcomed, included, and valued? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Future of Librarianship