Posted by Michael Kelley on
November 08, 2011
The Wall Street Journal today published a sortable listing of how college majors fare in the job market, based on 2010 Census data. Unfortunately, library science fared as one of the worst majors. Among the 173 majors listed, library science majors had the fourth highest unemployment rate at 15 percent. The median salary of $36,000 was fifth from the bottom. And in terms of popularity it held the 159th place out of 173.
LJ’s in-depth 2011 Placements & Salaries Survey found pockets of optimism but generally it reported similarly distressing numbers, particularly in the public library sector. For example, among reports from LIS programs, 34% indicated there was less demand for talent to fill positions than previous years. Employers described getting 200 or more applications for one available spot. Of the 1,547 graduates reporting a job of any type, a mere 59.2% described those jobs as being both permanent and professional.
Posted by Ashley MacDonald on
October 27, 2010
LJ's annual Placements & Salaries Survey, with 1,996 respondents representing 38.7% of the approximately 5160 2009 LIS graduates, found an uptick in starting salaries, but bigger bumps in part-time and temporary jobs, an expanding gender gap, se...
Posted by Ashley MacDonald on
October 26, 2010
The Recession’s Toll
Where Are the Jobs?
As the Grads See It
The View from the Schools
Growing Equity Gap
Explore the Data
Life for the Lucky Few
Each year's survey provides an opportunity to examine the health of the profession throu...
Posted by Ashley MacDonald on
October 26, 2010
The Recession’s Toll
Where Are the Jobs?
As the Grads See It
The View from the Schools
Growing Equity Gap
Explore the Data
Life for the Lucky Few
Disappointment and disillusionment were words that the 2009 graduates used frequently wh...
Posted by Lynn Blumenstein & Norman Oder on
October 26, 2010
Three librarian positions to be paid $10K lessBudget stagnant, reference questions downDirector, staffer disagreeAs expenses rise faster than budget increases, and some traditional work for librarians like reference decreases, the Marathon County Public L...
Posted by Jennifer Pinkowski on
October 26, 2010
The three-month labor dispute between the Greater Victoria Library System (GVLS), BC, and 250 library workers represented by CUPE 410 has heated up. Earlier this week, library staffers walked off the job for two days, shutting down all nine branches in th...
Posted by Norman Oder on
October 26, 2010
Unionized workers at the Greater Victoria Public Library, BC, have been conducting a variety of strike actions since early September, and today are concluding a three-day shutdown of the nine-branch systems. The workers went out on strike on October 20, c...
Posted by Jennifer Pinkowski on
October 26, 2010
Write a 1200-word paper analyzing the ALA-APA's 2007 salary data and get a free copy of a survey. The organization is putting out a call for paper proposals concerning either the ALA-APA Salary Survey-Librarian: Public and Academic or the ALA-APA Salary S...
Posted by Jennifer Pinkowski on
October 26, 2010
Vancouver Public Library doors remain shut more than 30 days into a labor strike by library staffers and municipal employees, and now VPL director Paul Whitney and CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) Local 391 president Alex Youngberg are trading ba...
Posted by Norman Oder on
October 26, 2010
For more than two weeks, librarystaffers and other municipal workers have been striking in Vancouver, BC, shutting down the 22-branch Vancouver Public Library system for the first time ever. Yesterday, after six days of bargaining, the three striking unio...