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Researcher’s Corner: Rightsizing

Rightsizing was not a term I had heard before coming across Kathleen Baril’s article. Like many folks, I’ve been thinking and worrying about economic uncertainty, possible recessions, and shaky funding in libraries. I was interested to read about this conceptual alternative to downsizing, and I think you will be to.

If this post whets your appetite and you’d like to read more, see the following citation:

Baril, K. (2025). Staffing rightsizing: analyzing staffing studies to inform potential rightsizing practices. Reference Services Review, 53(1), 43-51. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-03-2024-0013

Rightsizing in Libraries

As academic institutions continue to face uncertainty with the upcoming demographic cliff in enrollment or due to recent changes in federal funding, institutions are looking for ways to reduce costs. Often when more drastic cuts are needed, institutions turn to personnel cuts to quickly reduce costs which is what is commonly called downsizing. Rightsizing is a more measured approach which is invested in both long and short term goals for the organization and tries to align the work of the unit to the organization’s goals. It is a carefully planned activity involving analysis of work. Rightsizing may or may not reduce costs or personnel as part of the analysis process.

Rightsizing can occur at any time but in libraries optimal times for rightsizing might be: the creation of new strategic plans or directions, a change in leadership, change in technology, the need to improve the user experience, retirements or current staff leaving positions. Any rightsizing activity should improve the library’s activities which could be an improvement in the efficiency of workflows or the improvement of the library’s services.  

The library literature is mostly concerned with working with the effects of downsizing but some examples of rightsizing can be found. For example, there are several studies that looked at trends in staffing and expenditures. These trends could possibly assist libraries to benchmark their staffing and expenditures to advocate for more staffing or a larger budget. Libraries could rightsize on a macro level using this data.  

Another approach found in the literature for determining staffing was activity analysis. In these studies, libraries analyzed tasks or a particular task within a unit to determine what staffing was needed and to find ways to be more efficient in the completion of the task. For example, several researchers (Fuller and Dryden, 2015 and Meert-Williston and Sandieson, 2019), analyzed their chat reference transcripts and looked at the questions being asked and who could best answer those questions. From this data, they could determine who needed to monitor their chat reference. There are various activities that could be analyzed in the library including how books are cataloged, activities at service points such as the circulation and reference desks, and how workflows are conducted for interlibrary loan. Activity analysis could be made fairly easy if data is already being collected (like the chat transcripts). 

Another approach to rightsizing is for an organization to move to outsourcing. This practice can be controversial as often it is used to reduce costs by reducing staffing. This practice can be used in an ethical manner though for short-term projects or projects where specialized expertise is needed. For example, Michalak (2023) describes how his library utilized an outside vendor for a large deselection project. The vendor’s expertise in data analysis enabled the library to more easily identify good candidates for deselection and allowed for more efficient removal of materials. Oftentimes, especially for smaller libraries, budgeting to use an outside vendor to accomplish a task may be worth the extra money versus trying to train a staff member for a one-time task.  

Rightsizing is an important practice as it aligns current work practices with the institution’s current strategic goals and vision. Even for libraries which are not part of a larger institution, as strategic directions change, work practices will need to develop to meet new directions. Whether it be analyzing smaller activities or looking at larger trends, embedding rightsizing into a library’s activities can enable it to be more nimble to address a variety of changes. Rightsizing can also enable libraries to maintain efficient services and mindfully manage their resources to best serve their users.

References:

Baril, Kathleen. 2025. “Staffing Rightsizing: Analyzing Staffing Studies to Inform Potential Rightsizing Practices.” Reference Services Review 53 (1): 43–51. Available at: doi:10.1108/RSR-03-2024-0013.

Fuller, K. and Dryden, N.H. (2015), “Chat Reference Analysis to Determine Accuracy and Staffing Needs at One Academic Library”, Internet Reference Services Quarterly, Vol. 20 No. 3–4, pp. 163–181. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10875301.2015.1106999.

Meert-Williston, D. and Sandieson, R. (2019), “Online Chat Reference: Question Type and the Implication for Staffing in a Large Academic Library”, The Reference Librarian, Vol 60 No. 1, pp. 51–61. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2018.1515688.

Michalak, R. (2023), “Outsourcing Technical Services to Streamline Collection Management: A Case Study of an Academic Library’s Book Reduction Project”, Journal of Library Administration, Vol. 63 No. 5, pp. 682–699. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2023.2219604.

Kathleen Baril is the director of the undergraduate library at Ohio Northern University. She enjoys working at a small academic library where she can work in a variety of areas: instruction, marketing, outreach, management and facilities planning. She considers herself lucky to work with colleagues both inside and outside the library who are student-centered and always looking for better ways to teach.

For Public Review: Unnamed job hunter 38

Welcome to crowd-sourced CV and resume review for LIS job hunters!

Please help the job hunter below by using the comment button to offer constructive criticism on her resume. Some resources for constructive feedback:

This 2 page resume was submitted by a job hunter who says they are

“an MLIS holder returning from a career break. I am using this resume to apply for entry-level public library positions, including roles in General Services, Adult and Teen Services, Reference, Makerspaces, Cataloging, and Acquisitions.

I would also love to hear thoughts about optimizing for resume readers/ATS?”

Redacted resumeDownload

 

To submit your own resume or CV For Public Review,

  • First, take a look at the comments on previously posted resumes/CVs and see if any would apply to yours.  Edit if necessary
  • Your CV or resume will be posted as-is, so please remove any information that you are not comfortable having publicly available (I suggest removing your email address and phone number at a minimum)
  • Then, send it as a PDF to HiringLibrariansPeerReview@gmail.com
  • Please include a short statement identifying if it’s a resume or CV and describing the types of positions you’re using it for (institution type, position level, general focus)
  • Finally, you will also need to confirm that you agree to comment on at least five other posted resumes/CVs

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E12: Jay

Oh hey, it’s the twelfth episode of season two!

This episode my guest is Jay, who you may know from the Library Punk podcast. If you haven’t listened to it, it’s a leftist podcast, and I find it fun, interesting, and opinionated. I did an episode back in October. While I was there, Jay mentioned that he had recently transitioned from his role as the director of a small academic library to a role in the cataloging department of a public library system. I thought that would be an interesting journey to talk about, so (six months later) here we are. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

My system to generate the AI-generated and not completely error free transcript is currently down, but I’ll get that linked here ASAP.

Speaking of links, in this episode we talk about:

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E09: Katie Quirin Manwiller (part one of two)

Oh hey, it’s the ninth episode of season two! This is the first of two episodes discussing disability and LIS hiring. This first episode focuses a bit more on advice for people looking for work, and the second episode focuses a little more on advice for people doing hiring. But both of these perspectives come up in each episode.

Katie Quirin Manwiller is the Education Librarian and Assistant Professor at West Chester University. She is chronically ill and dynamically disabled. Katie’s scholarship focuses on improving disability inclusion in libraries through incorporating disability into equity work, addressing disability misconceptions, and creating accessible work environments. She is currently pursuing a second master’s degree focused on disability inclusion in higher education.

A few months ago, I was looking for resources to add to the “Accommodations and Disabilities” section of Interview Resources for Job Seekers. Katie Quirin Manwiller, who had written Hiring Better: Disability Accommodations & the Hiring Process here on Hiring Librarians, popped up to provide several great links. She was also kind enough to agree to come on the podcast to talk about this more (and not just once, but twice!)

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

Here are links for some of the things we talk about in this episode:

  • #CripLib Website – for access to the Discord support network, and other LIS disability news and resources
  • ADA timeline – While we don’t specifically reference this timeline by the American Bar Association, we do discuss the relative recency of the ADA, and talk a little bit about the timeline of Disability rights in the US.
  • We Here Job Board – This is a job board for BIPOC in LIS. We don’t know of any job boards specifically for people with disabilities, but this one might be good for BIPOC library workers with disabilities.
  • Job Accommodations Network – One of the things this website provides is suggestions and information about possible accommodations for various disabilities, limitations, and occupations.
  • Navigating the Academic Hiring Process with Disabilities by Gail Betz – article describing academic librarians’ self-accommodations strategies (and you might also be interested in the synopsis she wrote for Hiring Librarians)

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

Call for Participation: LIS Hiring and Careers Research

Hi Friends!

I’m reaching out to a new round of folks for the series I call Researcher’s Corner. This series invites people who are researching some aspect of LIS hiring and careers to share their work in informal language, here on Hiring Librarians. Topics have included but are not limited to job seeking practices and experiences, career preparation, equity in the profession, salary, job skill requirements, and recruitment practices and experiences.

I have combed the databases for current papers and am in the process of emailing people to ask if they are interested. However, my dumb emails tend to get sent to spam by dumb overly-aggressive university spam filters. So, I thought I’d reach out in another way.

Are you a researcher into one of these topics? Would you like to share your research here? If so, would you please get in contact with me, either through my contact form or directly at HiringLibrarians at gmail?

Your Pal,

Emily

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E08: Meggan Press

Oh hey, it’s the eighth episode of season two!

I taped eight episodes last fall/winter and have been very very slow to edit. I’m very pleased to be able to share this one!

Meggan Press is the author of Get the Job: Academic Hiring For the New Librarian. This is a really good book about getting hired! She offers non-generic and empowering information for folks looking to start librarian work in academic libraries. It’s as if you had a smart, kindly mentor walking you through the process – not just the how but the why. But don’t take my word for it! In this episode, you’ll here more about her advice and opinions – we talk about the book and much more.

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

Hiring Librarians Podcast S02 E04: Lindsay Cronk

Oh hey, it’s the fourth episode of season two!

As I mentioned last week, the thing that galvanized me to get this back up and running is that I wanted to do episodes with the candidates for 2026-27 ALA President. Voting starts March 10, so that gave me a pretty firm deadline.

I posted an episode with Andrea Jamison on Tuesday and last week I posted an episode with Maria McCauley.

This is the third candidate and final episode, with Lindsay Cronk. Normally I would post this next Tuesday, but voting will already be open by then, so here it is on a Friday.

I enjoyed talking with all of the candidates. My hope is by listening to all three episodes, you’ll have a better sense of their unique perspectives on the work that faces ALA in our current extremely challenging time.

Some links to things Lindsay and I discuss in this episode:

  • Lindsay mentions Fobazi Ettarh’s work on Vocational Awe
  • I talk about resilience as a property of the organization, rather than the individual. My thinking on this was catalyzed by this article:
    • Berg, J., Galvan, A., & Tewell, E. (2020). Responding to and reimagining resilience in academic libraries. Journal of New Librarianship, 3(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.21173/newlibs/4/1
  • We talk about the ALA-APA, ALA’s Allied Professional Association
  • Lindsay recommends Kate Woodsome’s Substack Invisible Threads
  • Lindsay also recommends the concept of critical hope, especially in the work of Kaetrena Davis Kendrick. You can learn more about Kaetrena’s work on critical hope here and here. And if you’ve got your own thoughts about critical hope, she and Ione T. Damasco are editing a book on the topic and the call for proposals is open.
  • I mention the poem Even in a Time of Intolerance by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, which I found through the newsletter of yoga teacher Vickie Russell Bell

You can find an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here.

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

“There are still a lot of people who want to be librarians”

Please note: This is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling hiring practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest. If you are someone who hires Library, Archives or other LIS workers, please consider giving your own opinion by filling out the survey here

Current Hiring Practices and Organizational Needs

These questions are about your current hiring practices in general – the way things have been run the last year or two (or three).

Where do you advertise your job listings?

Linkedin, California Library Association, governmentjobs.com

Do you notice a difference in application quality based on where the applicant saw the job ad?

No

Do you include salary in the job ad?

√ Yes

Do you use keyword matching or any automation tools to reduce the number of applications a human reads while considering candidates?  

√ Yes

Do you consider candidates who don’t meet all the requirements listed in the job ad?

√ Yes

Does your workplace require experience for entry-level librarian positions? (Officially or unofficially…)

√ No

What is the current most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?

Lack of public library experience/customer service experience

Does your organization use one-way interviews? (Sometimes also called asynchronous or recorded interviews)

√ Yes

Do you provide interview questions before the interview? 

√ No

Does your interview process include taking the candidate out for a meal?

√ No, and I don’t think we ever have

How much of your interview process is virtual?

√ First round/Initial Screen:

Do you (or does your organization) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?

√ No

What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve their hirability?

Practice situational questions.

I want to hire someone who is: 

trainable

Your Last Recruitment

These are questions about the last person you hired (or the last position you attempted to fill). This person may not have been a librarian, and that’s ok.

Think about the most recent time you participated in hiring someone (or an attempt to hire someone) at your organization. What was the title of the position you were trying to fill?

Library Assistant

When was this position hired?

√ Within the last three months

Approximately how many people applied for this position?

√ 25-75

Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?

√ 25% or less

And how would you define “hirable”?

Library Experience

How did the recruitment for this position compare with recruitments in previous years?

More people with library experience

Your Workplace

This section asks for information about your workplace, including if you have lost positions in the last decade.

How many staff members are at your library/organization?

√ 50-100

Are you unionized?

√ Not unionized, but we do bargain/negotiate contracts collectively

How many permanent, full time job openings has your workplace posted in the last year?

√ 5-6

How many permanent, full time librarian (or other “professional” level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?

√ 3-4

Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?

√ There are more positions

Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?  

√ Yes

Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with non-librarian, lower paid staff positions over the past decade?   

√ No

Is librarianship a dying profession?

√ No

Why or why not?

There are still a lot of people who want to be librarians

Demographics

This section asks for information about you specifically.

What part of the world are you in?

√ Western US (including Alaska, Hawaii and Pacific Northwest)

What’s your region like?

√ Suburban area

What type of institution do you hire for (check all that apply):

√ Public Library 

What type(s) of LIS professionals do you hire? 

Programming and Collection Management

Are you a librarian?

√ Yes

Are you now or have you ever been: 

√ A hiring manager (you are hiring people that you will directly or indirectly supervise)

#25 #books #GLAMJobs #Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryWork #LISCareers #lisJobs

“pay was not enough to justify childcare”

Please note: this is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling job searching practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest.

Your Demographics and Search Parameters

How long have you been job hunting?

√ Less than six months

Why are you job hunting?   

√ I’m unemployed,

√ Looking for more money

Where do you look for open positions?  

ALA Joblist, usajob.gov, state emoployment website, local library website

What position level are you looking for?  

√ Entry level,

√ Clerk/Library Assistant

What type(s) of organization are you looking in? 

√ Academic library,

√ Archives,

√ Public library,

√ Special library

What part of the world are you in?

√ Western US (including Pacific Northwest)

What’s your region like? 

√ Urban area

Are you willing/able to move for employment? 

√ No

What are the top three things you’re looking for in a job?

Pay, flexible schedule, training opportunity

What steps, actions, or attributes are most important for employers to take to sell you on the job?  

√ Pay well,

√ Funding professional development,

√ Prioritizing work-life balance

Do you expect to see the salary range listed in a job ad?

√ Yes, and it’s a red flag when it’s not

Other than not listing a salary range, are there other “red flags” that would prevent you from applying to a job?

warning about potentially dangerous patrons, environment, etc.

The Process

How much time do you spend preparing an application packet?

too much time. days

How do you prefer to communicate with potential employers?

√ Email

When would you like potential employers to contact you? 

√ To acknowledge my application,

√ To tell me if the search is at the interview stage, even if I have not been selected,

√ Once the position has been filled, even if it’s not me

How long do you expect an organization’s application process to take, from the point you submit your documents to the point of either an offer or rejection?

one month

How do you prepare for interviews?

read sample questions and answers, practice or rehearse in head,

What are your most hated interview questions, and why?

what is your worst weakness or quality?

During your current search, have you had any of the following experiences:

  • Submitted an application and got no response √ Happened more than once
  • Had an interview and never heard back √ Not Applicable
  • Interviewed for a job where an internal candidate was eventually chosen √ Not Applicable
  • Asked for an accommodation for a disability √ Not Applicable
  • Withdrawn an application before the offer stage √ Not Applicable
  • Turned down an offer √ Happened once

If you’ve turned down an offer (or offers), why?

pay was not enough to justify childcare

You and Your Well-Being

How are you doing, generally?

√ I’m somewhat depressed,

√ I’m energized,

√ I feel alone in my search

Job Hunting Post Graduate School 

If you have an MLIS or other graduate level degree in a LIS field, what year did you graduate? (Or what year do you anticipate graduating?)

2009

When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?

√ After graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree

In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position?

√ Hasn’t happened yet – I’m still looking

What kind of work was your first post-graduation professional position? 

√ N/A – hasn’t happened yet

“my best advice if you’re having trouble breaking into the profession is to get some kind of library job”

Please note: This is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling hiring practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest. If you are someone who hires Library, Archives or other LIS workers, please consider giving your own opinion by filling out the survey here

Current Hiring Practices and Organizational Needs

These questions are about your current hiring practices in general – the way things have been run the last year or two (or three).

Where do you advertise your job listings?

Depends on the level.  Paraprofessional just on internal site.  Professional on state association site and sometimes ALA.

Do you notice a difference in application quality based on where the applicant saw the job ad?

Sometimes

Do you include salary in the job ad?

√ Yes

Do you use keyword matching or any automation tools to reduce the number of applications a human reads while considering candidates?  

√ Other: City HR handles all this so I don’t know.

Do you consider candidates who don’t meet all the requirements listed in the job ad?

√ No

Does your workplace require experience for entry-level librarian positions? (Officially or unofficially…)

√ Other: Yes, but not necessarily library experience.

What is the current most common reason for disqualifying an applicant without an interview?

Does not meet basic criteria.  No MLIS if professional, no relevant experience for para.

Does your organization use one-way interviews? (Sometimes also called asynchronous or recorded interviews)

√ No

Do you provide interview questions before the interview? 

√ No

Does your interview process include taking the candidate out for a meal?

√ Other: I think they do this for director level and director’s direct reports, but not for anything I’ve ever hired.

How much of your interview process is virtual?

√ Other: Only virtual if candidate is not local

Do you (or does your organization) give candidates feedback about applications or interview performance?

√ Other: City HR will provide copies of the selection comment form for the candidate.  It’s not really very helpful.

What is the most important thing for a job hunter to do in order to improve their hirability?

Fill out the application completely.  Our process is driven by the city, and we cannot evaluate candidates based on their resume.  Job duties section in the application is KEY.

I want to hire someone who is: 

flexible

Is there anything else you’d like to say about hiring practices at your organization or in current trends?

I’m not a fan of the trend I see some places of deprofessionalizing the librarian job titles.  I think the MLIS means something.

Your Last Recruitment

These are questions about the last person you hired (or the last position you attempted to fill). This person may not have been a librarian, and that’s ok.

Think about the most recent time you participated in hiring someone (or an attempt to hire someone) at your organization. What was the title of the position you were trying to fill?

Library Services Supervisor

When was this position hired?

√ Within the last three months

Approximately how many people applied for this position?

√ 25-75

Approximately what percentage of those would you say were hirable?

√ 26-50%

And how would you define “hirable”?

Met minimum quals.

How did the recruitment for this position compare with recruitments in previous years?

I’ve never hired this position before, so unable to judge.

Your Workplace

This section asks for information about your workplace, including if you have lost positions in the last decade.

How many staff members are at your library/organization?

√ 200+

Are you unionized?

√ No

How many permanent, full time job openings has your workplace posted in the last year?

√ 7 or more

How many permanent, full time librarian (or other “professional” level) jobs has your workplace posted in the last year?

√ 7 or more

Can you tell us how the number of permanent, full-time positions at your workplace has changed over the past decade?

√ There are the same number of positions

Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with part-time or hourly workers over the past decade?  

√ Other: We are in the process of increasing the number of librarians, so our trend is the other way – paraprofessional positions are being replaced by librarians.

Have any full-time librarian positions been replaced with non-librarian, lower paid staff positions over the past decade?   

√ No

Is librarianship a dying profession?

√ No

Why or why not?

The expertise of librarians is still needed.  Librarianship is a CHANGING profession.

Demographics

This section asks for information about you specifically.

What part of the world are you in?

√ Mid-Atlantic US

What’s your region like?

√ Urban area

What type of institution do you hire for (check all that apply):

√ Public Library 

What type(s) of LIS professionals do you hire? 

I personally hire programming librarians and managers.

Are you a librarian?

√ Yes

Are you now or have you ever been: 

√ A hiring manager (you are hiring people that you will directly or indirectly supervise), 

√ A member of a hiring or search committee

Do you have any other comments, for job hunters, other people who hire, about the survey, or for Emily (the survey author)?

For job hunters with MLIS and no experience, my best advice if you’re having trouble breaking into the profession is to get some kind of library job.  I had years of paraprofessional experience including supervisory and my first professional job after getting my MLIS was as a branch manager. Degree is great. Degree + experience puts you above the crowd. 

#25 #books #GLAMJobs #Librarian #librarians #libraries #Library #libraryHiring #libraryInterview #libraryJobs #libraryWork #LISCareers #lisJobs

Researcher’s Corner: How could the Library and Information Studies curriculum better prepare graduates to address equity, diversity, and inclusion issues in their workplace?

In this installment of the Researcher’s Corner, I’m pleased to be able to share this piece by Alison Hicks. This UK researcher shares some of the process and results from a study about how library school prepares (or doesn’t prepare) students for EDI work. This post may be particularly of interest to those of you who participate in decision making about curriculum for LIS programs.

If you’d like to read more, see the following citation:

Drewry, C., Matsuno, S., Hicks, A., & Inskip, C. (2024). How could the Library and Information Studies curriculum better prepare graduates to address equity, diversity and inclusion issues in their workplace? Journal of Information Science, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01655515241245960

If you went to library school, how did your Library and Information Studies (LIS) education prepare you to address questions of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) when you entered the workplace? If the findings of our study into graduate preparedness are anything to go by, your answer is probably mixed, with participants noting the presence of some effective pedagogical strategies in their professional education alongside notable gaps in provision. The wish to address these oversights, as well as to develop more meaningful ways of engaging with structural anti-oppressive work, provided the original motivation for our article. To this, we would also add the desire to continue challenging narratives that position diversity as a problem to be ‘solved’ instead of interrogating the “systemic character of racial domination” (Hudson, 2017, p.17) and recognising the role that “white-centred thinking” plays in perpetuating privilege and inequality (Hathcock, 2015).

The site for our research was University College, London (UCL). Home to the UK’s first school of librarianship, the MA programme in LIS is located in one of the UK’s most multicultural and diverse cities. Our recent ALA accreditation meant that it was even more important that we foregrounded critical approaches to information challenges within our curriculum. To this end, we worked with campus career services to survey graduates of our MA programme about 1) the inclusion of EDI topics within their graduate education and 2) EDI-related activities that they are engaged with in the workplace. Recognising that EDI is “maddeningly vague” (Hudson, 2017, p.6), we defined the term as referring to “the ways in which inclusion and equitable treatment of diverse individuals are practiced and promoted within an organisation.” We also highlighted how the UK Equality Act of 2010 establishes protected characteristics as referring to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

We received 59 valid responses (8% response rate) to our questionnaire, which was open for 6 weeks. The majority of responses were from Europe, including the UK (79%), and the most common decade of qualification was 2011-2020 (47%). Roughly a third of respondents indicated that they identified with the UK Equality Act protected characteristics, although only one respondent selected Race or Ethnicity. This under-representation of certain demographics created notable limitations to our research. The generalisability of our study was also constrained by the focus on graduates from one UK-based LIS programme; outdated alumni contact details may further have focused attention on the responses of more recent graduates. 

Analysis of the questionnaire’s open-ended responses, which we coded individually before jointly establishing the final coding structure, revealed insight into what participants considered to be effective pedagogical strategies for EDI-focused work. Drawing on personal identity or experiences of marginalisation, for example, were seen to be useful ways to encourage learning in this area, with participants indicating that becoming a manager, leading EDI sessions, or becoming responsible for legislation, had created the most insightful educational experiences to date. For others, it was working together that proved to be most impactful, whether in a professional association or with sympathetic allies. Providing emotional support for people who felt isolated in the field, community building was also seen to be particularly useful when it was backed up by library management who could effect structural change. Participants further talked of the value of embedding EDI throughout educational work, rather than seeing it as a tacked on addition. These suggestions provided useful guidance for how our LIS curriculum could be reviewed. 

At the same time, findings also revealed several problematic gaps in the provision of an EDI focused curriculum. Modules focused on management and leadership were pulled out as one area where LIS education could be enhanced, including through the need to incorporate knowledge of inclusive hiring into teaching material, as well as modelling how EDI could be embedded in strategic planning initiatives. A greater focus on positionality was also seen as essential, with responses indicating the difficulties that some people have in seeing layers of institutional inequalities. In effect, we noted that while some participants found it easy to talk about their EDI knowledge they seemed to find it harder to position themselves in relation to marginalisation or understand how their positionality impacts how they are able to move within the world. The tracing of ageist microaggressions, amongst other issues, within participant responses also indicated the need to engage learners with a broader scope of EDI work. These answers all suggest areas where our LIS teaching could be improved. 

Analysis of these responses has provided considerable food for thought as we take the next steps towards redesigning our LIS curriculum. We found that answers to our questions helped to provide the useful concrete detail about the design of EDI programming that is often missing from big picture literature, including educational standards, while also highlighting several areas of more urgent focus. At the same time, these findings also reveal certain tensions that still need to be resolved, including related to the labour of marginalised communities; while findings indicate the value that active listening, amongst other strategies, can play in allyship, we are also very aware of the dangers of perpetuating ‘racial capitalism,’ in which a person’s social or economic value is seen to be derived from their racial identity (Leong, 2012). We also note that the tenor of many responses seems to focus on retrofitting the profession or developing individual competence rather than challenging the systems of domination (Hathcock, 2015) that led to the original marginalisation. 

Since the publication of our article, we have continued to take steps to address the structural issues that lie behind many of the responses represented here, including through the hiring of new staff members. Our focus will now be on working with our colleagues in Archives and Records Management, who are already supporting a shift to more person-centred and relational educational models (e.g., Sexton et al., 2023), to meet our goals of preparing LIS graduates for diverse, activist, and anti-oppressive working environments. 

References

Hathcock, A. (2015). White librarianship in blackface: Diversity initiatives in LIS. In the Library with the Lead Pipe. http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2015/lis-diversity/

Hudson, D. J. (2017). On” diversity” as anti-racism in library and information studies: A critique. Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies, 1(1)

Leong, N. (2012). Racial capitalism. Harvard Law Review, 126, 2151-2226. 

Sexton, A., Shepherd, E., & Duff, W. (2023). Relational and person-centred approaches to archival practice and education. The Journal of Community Informatics, 19(1), 3-22.

Alison Hicks is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Studies at UCL, the UK’s first school of librarianship.

A librarian for ten years, Alison’s research agenda centres on information literacy, risk and transition within academic, health, everyday and work contexts. Alison is also a committed advocate for critical LIS teaching.

 

Please note: this is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling job searching practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest.

Your Demographics and Search Parameters

How long have you been job hunting?

√ Less than six months

Why are you job hunting?   

√ Looking for more money, 

√ Looking for remote/virtual work (or at least hybrid)

Where do you look for open positions?  

We here get money list, archivesgig

What position level are you looking for?  

√ Entry level, 

√ Requiring at least two years of experience, 

√ Supervisory

What type(s) of organization are you looking in? 

√ Academic library, 

√ Archives

What part of the world are you in?

√ Other: Urban areas in states that aren’t actively pursuing anti-trans legislation

What’s your region like? 

√ Urban area

Are you willing/able to move for employment? 

√ Yes, to a specific list of places

What are the top three things you’re looking for in a job?

Trans inclusion and anti racist, good pay, remote/hybrid work options

How many jobs have you applied to during your current search? (Please indicate if it’s an estimate or exact)

7-10

What steps, actions, or attributes are most important for employers to take to sell you on the job?  

√ Pay well, 

√ Having (and describing) excellent benefits, 

√ Having a good reputation, 

√ Funding professional development, 

√ Prioritizing EDI work, 

√ Prioritizing work-life balance

Do you expect to see the salary range listed in a job ad?

√ Yes, and it’s a red flag when it’s not

Other than not listing a salary range, are there other “red flags” that would prevent you from applying to a job?

Seems like 2-3 jobs rolled into one, seems like there is little support, no statement about DEI being everyone’s work, required or preferred qualifications seem oddly specific and targeted at a former employee that didn’t work out, bad feedback in the Green Book for Libraries, a trans exclusionary application process

The Process

How much time do you spend preparing an application packet?

Generally 1-2 hours, most jobs I apply for are similar enough that the application packet itself doesn’t take long

What are the steps you follow to prepare an application packet?

Update CV to reflect some language used in the job ad, updating cover letter to address areas the job ad particularly focuses on, reading statements and policies I can find on the library website, etc

How do you prefer to communicate with potential employers?

√ Other: Phone for good news and email for bad news, but email first to arrange a time for the phone call

When would you like potential employers to contact you? 

√ To acknowledge my application, 

√ To tell me if the search is at the interview stage, even if I have not been selected,

√ Once the position has been filled, even if it’s not me

How long do you expect an organization’s application process to take, from the point you submit your documents to the point of either an offer or rejection?

I’ve grown to expect that this will take about 6 months, even if I personally hate that timeframe

How do you prepare for interviews?

I do a lot. If they don’t give me questions in advance, I have a list of questions I’ve been asked at other interviews that I’ll practice with if they seem relevant. I’ll look at the job responsibilities and required qualifications to try to construct relevant questions they could ask. I browse the library and department website to read news items and look at policies and other information so I can ensure I don’t ask questions that have already been answered online, and so I can ask specific questions showing I did my research. I practice answering questions for at least an hour each day leading up to the scheduled interview. Sometimes I practice over a solo recorded zoom call or one with friends, just so it feels similar to the interview itself (this helps a lot with my nerves). I strongly believe in being prepared.

What are your most hated interview questions, and why?

I hate “tell us about a time when…” questions when they aren’t given in advance. I’m terrible at thinking of good examples on the spot, and I don’t think springing this question format on applicants is likely to lead to good responses you can compare between candidates. Most often I have to tell them that I’m bad at thinking of these on the spot, but that the way I handle communication issues or conflict or whatever is X.

During your current search, have you had any of the following experiences:

  • Submitted an application and got no response √ 
  • Had an interview and never heard back √ 
  • Interviewed for a job where an internal candidate was eventually chosen √ I don’t know
  • Asked for an accommodation for a disability √ 
  • Withdrawn an application before the offer stage √ Happened once
  • Turned down an offer √ Happened once

If you have ever withdrawn an application, why?

I got another job offer first, and needed to go with the guaranteed offer.

If you’ve turned down an offer (or offers), why?

I honestly did not think I would get the offer. I got the feeling that the supervisor didn’t like me during the interview because he was very gruff. When I asked the search committee what they liked about working there, they talked about the collection materials and none of them mentioned their coworkers or the work environment (which was a red flag), it would have been a pay cut and a benefits cut (less than half the vacation days I currently have), there were no remote/hybrid work options, and lastly, the entire department was white.

If you want to share a great, inspirational, funny, horrific or other story about an experience you have had at any stage in the hiring process, please do so here:

I am trans and a person of color. I applied for a very white liberal arts college that maybe had 1-2 poc working in the library, and the library website and committee spent a lot of time talking about how awful this was and they wanted to do better. I asked something about how their library supports the retention of trans and gender diverse and poc employees. They started excitedly telling me about how they have gender neutral bathrooms, pronouns in email signatures, etc. and someone mentioned employee affinity groups. They were very proud to tell me there was an lgbt affinity group, a women of color faculty group, and a men of color faculty group. When I pointed out that I was non-binary so having gendered affinity groups for poc wouldn’t work for me, they got very awkward and quiet.

What should employers do to make the hiring process better for job hunters?

Trans inclusive hiring policies, sharing questions a couple days ahead of time, no more meals or having meals alone during the interview, consider what meetings can happen remotely to shorten the day, consider if presentations are truly necessary for the position, post a salary range

You and Your Well-Being

How are you doing, generally?

√ I’m maintaining 

Job Hunting Post Graduate School 

If you have an MLIS or other graduate level degree in a LIS field, what year did you graduate? (Or what year do you anticipate graduating?)

May 2017

When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?

√ Less than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree, but still before I graduated

In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position?

√ Other: My on-site interview was during finals, I got the job offer a couple weeks after graduation 

What kind of work was your first post-graduation professional position? 

√ Full Time, 

√ Residency

Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?

I had two professors serve as references, but that’s it. 

https://hiringlibrarians.com/2024/08/21/i-strongly-believe-in-being-prepared/

Please note: this is an anonymous response to an online survey; I do not have any way of contacting the respondent or verifying responses. Their answers may reflect good, bad, or middling job searching practices. I invite you to take what’s useful and leave the rest.

Your Demographics and Search Parameters

How long have you been job hunting?

√ Less than six months

Why are you job hunting?   

√ My current job is awful/toxic, 

√ I’ve been threatened at my job or had to deal with hostility/danger/scary behavior from the public or coworkers, 

√ Because I reassessed my priorities after COVID

Where do you look for open positions?  

All of those listed plus idealist

What position level are you looking for?  

√ Supervisory, 

√ Department Head, 

√ Director/Dean

What type(s) of organization are you looking in? 

√ Academic library, 

√ Archives, 

√ Library vendor/service provider, 

√ Special library

What part of the world are you in?

√ Southeastern US

What’s your region like? 

√ Suburban area

Are you willing/able to move for employment? 

√ Yes, to a specific list of places, 

√ Yes, as long as at least some of my moving costs are covered

What are the top three things you’re looking for in a job?

Healthy work environment, good benefits, good salary

How many jobs have you applied to during your current search? (Please indicate if it’s an estimate or exact)

40

What steps, actions, or attributes are most important for employers to take to sell you on the job?  

√ Pay well, 

√ Having (and describing) excellent benefits, 

√ Having a good reputation, 

√ Funding professional development, 

√ Prioritizing EDI work, 

√ Prioritizing work-life balance

Do you expect to see the salary range listed in a job ad?

√ Yes, and it’s a red flag when it’s not

Other than not listing a salary range, are there other “red flags” that would prevent you from applying to a job?

If the application process is a pain (making me relist what’s on my resume as an example).

The Process

How much time do you spend preparing an application packet?

Less than 30 minutes

What are the steps you follow to prepare an application packet?

Fill out the application, update the cover letter, Google the institution…

How do you prefer to communicate with potential employers?

√ Email

When would you like potential employers to contact you? 

√ To acknowledge my application, 

√ To tell me if the search is at the interview stage, even if I have not been selected, 

√ Once the position has been filled, even if it’s not me

How long do you expect an organization’s application process to take, from the point you submit your documents to the point of either an offer or rejection?

Less than two months

How do you prepare for interviews?

Research the institution and look up who’s coming to the interview if I know the name

What are your most hated interview questions, and why?

What are my strengths/weaknesses; what would your current supervisor say about you; what are your salary requirements

During your current search, have you had any of the following experiences:

  • Submitted an application and got no response √ Happened more than once, Happened the majority of the time or always
  • Had an interview and never heard back √ Happened more than once, Happened the majority of the time or always
  • Interviewed for a job where an internal candidate was eventually chosen √ Happened once, I don’t know
  • Asked for an accommodation for a disability √ Not Applicable
  • Withdrawn an application before the offer stage √ Happened the majority of the time or always
  • Turned down an offer √ Happened more than once

If you have ever withdrawn an application, why?

I heard something about the institution or the supervisor that made me bolt

If you’ve turned down an offer (or offers), why?

Really bad vibes at the interview 

If you want to share a great, inspirational, funny, horrific or other story about an experience you have had at any stage in the hiring process, please do so here:

Got a rejection letter over a year later. In a zoom interview during a break, the hiring committee said some problematic things about me while they thought I was away.

What should employers do to make the hiring process better for job hunters?

No more full day interviews. No more multiple day interviews. Zoom interview should be the norm!!

You and Your Well-Being

How are you doing, generally?

√ I’m somewhat depressed, 

√ I’m frustrated, 

√ Not out of money yet, but worried, 

√ I feel alone in my search

What are your job search self-care strategies?

I only apply for jobs on Mondays. Keeps me focused.

Do you have any advice or words of support you’d like to share with other job hunters, is there anything you’d like to say to employers, or is there anything else you’d like to say about job hunting?

To employers: pay candidates for their time!

Do you have any comments for Emily (the survey author) or are there any other questions you think we should add to this survey?

Excited to see what you find

Job Hunting Post Graduate School 

If you have an MLIS or other graduate level degree in a LIS field, what year did you graduate? (Or what year do you anticipate graduating?)

2006

When did you start your first job search for a “professional” position (or other position that utilized your degree)?

√ Less than six months before graduating with my MLIS/other LIS degree, but still before I graduated

In relation to your graduation, when did you find your first “professional” position?

√ Other: I was a paraprofessional for almost a decade before I got my first professional job. 

What kind of work was your first post-graduation professional position? 

√ Full Time

Did you get support from your library school for your first job hunt (and/or any subsequent ones)?

Lol no 

https://hiringlibrarians.com/2024/08/14/zoom-interview-should-be-the-norm/

Interview Questions

Have you been on a library interview recently? Or are you prepping for one?

Sounds like you could use The Interview Questions Repository!

This resource holds questions that people were asked in interviews from more than 550 respondents over nearly a decade. Click on the upside down triangle to the right of the question in the header row to sort by things like interview type, position, etc.

Please help this resource grow! Share the link widely with your friends and colleagues and if you’ve had a library interview recently, report the questions you were asked.

Crowdsourced Salary Info

Interested in viewing Salary Info from more than 300 LIS workers? The second page of the Interview Questions Repository shares that data. If you are interested in adding your own salary info, please use this form.

If you have feedback, I’d love to hear it. Please feel free to email me or use the contact form.

Chat, Connect, or Follow on Way Too Many Social Media Sites

You can always email me at hiringlibrarians AT gmail or comment on one of the posts (remember when commenting used to be a thing and there were good discussions in the comments? That did happen)

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This site is free to use. I pay for the website and other tools out of pocket, and no one pays me for my time. Your monetary support is appreciated. One more link for you:

  • Patreon: hiringlibrarians (read more about this site’s finances and other ways to donate or provide non-monetary support here)

Best,

Emily

A View of the Yellow Repository. The National Archives (UK), CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

https://hiringlibrarians.com/2024/06/04/reminder-report-your-interview-questions-or-your-salary-or-read-what-others-have-reported/

Note: This will be the last podcast episode for about a month!

My guest is Ray Pun. In this episode, we talk about his work in all the different kinds of libraries, the STAR method, and his candidacy for ALA president. Ray’s website is https://www.raypun.info/

Voting starts March 11th.

I will link an AI-generated and not completely error free transcript here soon – having some trouble with my transcription service. Apologies! 

This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube music and other various podcasting sites (let me know if you can’t find it on your preferred platform).

We are going on hiatus for the next month or so! I need to feel a little less busy, and then round up some new guests and maybe figure out a better microphone than the dinky one in my laptop. I’d love to hear your requests or other feedback for moving forward. And please do reach out if you want to be a guest!

https://hiringlibrarians.com/2024/02/27/hiring-librarians-podcast-s01-e11-ray-pun-2/