It’s Staturday!



Although the survey is and will remain open at

http://tinyurl.com/hiringlibschoolsurvey,

responses do seem to be petering out, and as it is such an auspicious day for this sort of thing, we are happy to present to you:

Results!

There have been 263 responses, as of the morning of 8/16/2013. Here are some graph-based representations of them. Please be advised this is not science, and you shouldn’t try to extrapolate these trends to the world at large. Be a dear and also forgive the cut off labels on the charts – this is how Google forms deals with verbosity.

Do library schools teach candidates the job skills you are looking for in potential hires?

Yes 21 8% No 32 12% Depends on the school/Depends on the candidate 187 72% You can’t teach the job skills I need in library school 5 2% Other 16 6%

Should library students focus on learning theory or gaining practical skills? (Where 5 is practice, 1 is theory and 3 means “both equally”)

1 (theory) 2 1% 2 24 9% 3 (both equally) 125 48% 4 83 32% 5 (practice) 26 10%

What coursework do you think all (or most) MLS/MLIS holders should take, regardless of focus?

Reference 206 78% Collection Management 190 72% Project Management 168 64% Library Management 161 61% Soft Skills 155 59% Research Methods 154 59% Web Design/Usability 152 58% Cataloging 148 56% Instruction 143 54% Field Work/Internships 143 54% Outreach 130 49% Marketing 129 49% Budgeting/Accounting 123 47% Digital Collections 118 45% Information Behavior 109 41% Readers’ Advisory 98 37% Grant Writing 94 36% Programming (Events) 89 34% Metadata 84 32% Services to Special Populations 67 25% History of Books/Libraries 60 23% Other 38 14% Programming (Coding) 33 13% Archives 23 9% Vocabulary Design 22 8% Portfolio/ePortfolio 15 6%

When deciding who to hire out of a pool of candidates, do you value skills gained through coursework and skills gained through practice differently? (Example: a candidate who took an instructional design class vs. a candidate who taught library instruction sessions.)

Yes–I value skills gained through a student job more highly 125 48% Yes–I value skills gained through coursework more highly 4 2% No preference– as long as they have the skill, I don’t care how they got it 107 41% Other 27 10%

Which of the following experiences should library students have upon graduating?

Internship or practicum 202 77% Library work experience 195 74% Professional organization involvement 102 39% Other presentation 58 22% Teaching assistant/Other Instructional Experience 57 22% Student organization involvement 48 18% Other 36 14% Conference presentation 28 11% Other publication 11 4% Scholarly publication 10 4%

Where are you?

Northeastern US 45 17% Midwestern US 68 26% Southern US 61 23% Western US 59 23% Canada 10 4% UK 6 2% Australia/New Zealand 5 2% Other 6 2%

Where are you?

Urban area 94 36% Suburban area 51 19% City/town 87 33% Rural area 26 10% Other 4 2%

What type of institution do you hire for?

Academic Library 121 47% Public Library 112 43% School Library 5 2% Special Library 14 5% Archives 0 0% Other 8 3%

How many staff members are at your library/organization?

0-10 42 16% 10-50 107 41% 50-100 50 19% 100-200 26 10% 200+ 35 13%

Are you a librarian?

Yes 248 95% No 3 1% It’s complicated 11 4%

Are you now or have you ever been:

A hiring manager (you are hiring people that you will directly or indirectly supervise) 203 45% A member of a hiring or search committee 220 49% Human resources 12 3% Other 14 3%

Would you like to have information about you or your organization shared ?

No, I prefer to remain anonymous 232 89% Yes, and I’ll give you my email address on the next page 30 11%