New Librarians’ Issues Survey Results

New Librarians’ Issues Survey Results

New Librarians’ Issues Survey ResultsMLA Membership

MLA Member52%

Not a Member48%

MLA Member

Not a Member



2

16

17

54

80

682

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Retired

Unemployed (not a student or retired)

Other (please specify)

Library school student

Part-time (less than 35 hours per week)

Full-time (35 hours or more per week)

Employment Status



New Librarians’ Issues Survey ResultsHow long have you been employed at current job?

Less than 5 years48%

5-10 years17%

10+ years22%

Skipped Question

13%


328

292

78

4635

00

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

VerySatisfied

SomewhatSatisfied

SomewhatUnsatisfied

VeryUnsatisfied

Neutral N/A

Current Job Satisfaction


Same Employer in 10 Years

Yes36%

No64%

New Librarians’ Issues Survey ResultsPlease list some of the ways MLA (or your chapter) is working to

improve issues facing new librarians.

• Offers mentoring; New members SIG; salary survey; scholarships for new members to attend meetings and take CE

New Librarians’ Issues Survey ResultsPlease list some of the ways MLA (or your chapter) is

working to improve issues facing new librarians.

• Very good chapter annual meetings – CE, speakers, NLM updates


• I last attended an MLA function in 2003. The effort to welcome newcomers was commendable albeit a little “embarrassing” for some as they were paraded about. The emphasis was nice to see.

Please list some of the ways MLA (or your chapter) is working to improve issues facing new librarians.



• MLA is an association of our peers. They address librarian issues. New librarians must address librarian issues regardless of length of time within this field. This is an asenine [sic] question.



• MLA is adding more people to committees to provide more opportunities to get new librarians involved.

• MLA continues to monitor educational needs of librarians new and seasoned.

• They actively solicit classes to fill those needs. • The CORE database has been designed to

assist librarians in [sic] fill the gaps in their professional education and develop a personal plan.



• MAC is excellent at creating networking opportunities.


• In comparison with SLA (or even ALA), I feel that MLA does not pay enough attention to basic issues or librarian survival. There is far too much emphasis on research and “status” (eg. SHIP), and not enough on the nuts and bolts of being a librarian, especially for solo librarians or small hospital libraries.

Please list some of the ways MLA (or your chapter) is contributing to the barriers facing new librarians.


• Lack of CE courses that address more than just theory and talking about the issues; we need concrete skills (especially web, media, and other tech skills) to make ourselves indispensible [sic] to our organizations; we also need better advocacy for higher wages and advocacy that promotes the recognition of librarianship as a meaningful and vital profession.



• All workers face barriers re: job security and happiness. New librarians are just a subset. This is all so bizarre. Again: why are you asking these questions and what do you wish to get out of this? The questions are leading, biased.



• Recruiting new librarians when ther aren’t any jobs currently. Every job wants a librarian with at least 5 years of experience. No one wants a new librarian just out of school.



• Contributing to the barriers is equivalent to doing nothing about the issues stated above.



• Getting new librarians into the field does NOT help with our value and wages. We need FEWER people who do what we do, NOT MORE!



• When I became a member of MLA it asked if I was interested in the mentor program. I answered yes and never heard anything from them. What’s the point of asking if they’re just going to ignore it?



• Too numerous to list – 1) need dynamic, enthusiastic leadership (not stuffy people that hold a tight rein on activities); 2) need more aggressive outreach agenda; 3) sorely needs diversity; 4) sorely needs younger people with fresh, new ideas



• High dues discourage all librarians from joining MLA. I am very proud that our regional chapter has very reasonable dues. MLA has a very complicated structure which can be overwhelming to a new librarian. The AHIP application is very complex and unwieldy.



• Not changing rapidly enough to meet new needs of librarians.

• Not tailoring programs to meet needs of new librarians

• Not recognizing what energy new librarians bring to ideas.



• I try to express interest & offer support to anyone new in the profession. I have had both good & not-so-good expreiences in this profession…most of which hinge on management.

Please list any ways you have worked to improve issues facing new librarians.


• I took this survey. I spoke up and wrote about the issues in my management class.



• I have offered internships for students at the MLA program here.



• Trying to raise consiousness on issues among colleagues and advocating in my work place.



• Have gone to other hospitals in area to provide inservices, survival tips and support to new medical librarians.



• I have been in this position 5 years and still feel like a “new librarian.”



• Telling them to go away.



• None



• Never thought of it that way, before. I suppose nothing.



• I’ve sat on several diversity panels at various professional gatherings, speaking as both a “young person in the field” and as a person from a multi-cultural background.

• I also sit on the Membership and Professional Development Committee of one of the professional organizations I’m involved with.

• I have mentored several library school students at my alma mater.

• And I have talked openly about the challenges facing new librarians and work to create stable forums for these conversations to take place within several professional groups.



• Lower rates for membership, and increased marketing.

Please list suggestions for solutions to any of the issues:


• Stay ahead of the curve on new technologies and services and offer practical/technical programs/CE on implementing them, rather than discussions of the issues surrounding them.



• Need people with strong convictions that will work for their people.



• Frank discusses of impact.



• Try to get the image of librarians strengthened rather than continuing as milquetoast pansies.



• Take advantage of available opportunies [sic] create opportunies [sic] be creative stop whining.



• Lower dues, stop recruiting new medical librarians.



• I think we need to rid the profession of the fantasy that there are lots of jobs for librarians out there. There aren’t now, and never really have been.



• Recruit younger librarians to take more responsible positions. Listen to younger librarians. Don’t just nod, say “uh-huh” and then continue on with your own line of thinking. Listen and consider our ideas seriously. Sure they may radically challenge notions of what libraries are today, but change (and the concomitant growing pains) is not a reason for dismissal.



• Go back to what the members need – not what the association needs.



• I’m new to the profession but have been active in other library associations (SLA, ALA, ASIST) and have found them to offer more support in every way than MLA. Plus MLA doesn’t seem to be as friendly and welcoming; there is a sense that the Oldies stick together so when I end up talking to people at events, it’s usually to other newbies. But of course it’s much smaller an organization than the others so it’s perhaps not fair to make comparisons.

Did we miss anything? Please enter any further comments here.


• I don’t think MLA or any of the chapters really contribute to the barriers, but I do feel that new members sometimes look at the associations and see them as “run by old people,” and therefore don’t get involved. That’s really too bad, because most of those “old people” were once young members, too, and many of us remember that experience.



• It is not what you have missed…rather, what are you going to do to improve the obvious – an association of stuffy librarians with tunnel vision rehashing the same issues with no intention of changing anything.


Documents

New Librarians’ Issues Survey Results