may08b.indd


our academic futures 

Jenifer Abramson, Pat Hawthorne, Joan Kaplowitz, and Leslie McMichael 

Voices
of
the
future


Next generation professionals speak 

During a March 2008 visit to UCLA, ACRL President Julie Todaro met with library 
school students and early career librarians 
in two separate focus groups to learn more 
about their perspectives. Both 90­minute 
focus groups were designed to elicit com­
ments about career choices and interests 
and desired working environments and 
conditions. 

Five students from the Department of 
Information Studies program in the UCLA 
Graduate School of Education and Informa­
tion Studies participated in the focus group. 
The group included four female and one 
male participant; four of the students were 
in the second year of the program and one 
in the first year. All of the students are Mil­
lennials (born after 1980) and ranged in age 
from 23 to 27. The participants included a 
majority of Caucasians and one participant 
of mixed ethnicity. All are interested in 
academic libraries, and most mentioned 
interests in areas related to technology. All 
are currently working in academic library 
settings while earning their degrees, and all 
worked in libraries (most as undergraduates) 
or related fields prior to entering graduate 
school. 

In discussing their choice of the library 
profession as a career, the students used 
terms such as “exalted profession” and a 
“calling, not a job,” and all expressed a com­
mitment to the profession. With the majority 
of the student participants nearing gradua­
tion, the discussion on job hunting had a 
practical tone. Students shared their view 
of the “seller’s market” and outlined how 
they are planning broad job searches and 
seeking as much education and experience 

in as many functional areas of librarian­
ship as possible to make themselves more 
marketable. 

Location 
Geographic limitations of the group very 
much reflect the trend noted in LJ’s Annual 
Salary and Placement Survey, where the 
majority of graduates take their fi rst job 
in the state or region where they attended 
library school. The students seemed to feel 
graduate coursework must be coupled with 
library work experience and/or internships 
in libraries. 

Nontraditional jobs rate as desirable to 
this group, which also expressed a strong 
desire for work­life balance. The major­
ity are interested in management and see 
themselves in managerial and leadership 
roles eventually. 

Eleven librarians from all sectors of the 
UCLA campus, all with ten years or less 
experience as a professional librarian, par­
ticipated in a separate focus group. Made up 
of nine female and two male participants, 
the group included seven Caucasians, two 
Mexican­Americans, one Latino, and one 
South Asian. 

The participants ranged in age from 29 
into their 40s, and included Baby Boomers 

Jenifer Abramson is assistant director of library human 
resources, jenifera@library.ucla.edu; Pat Hawthorne is 
director of library human resources, e-mail: path@library. 
ucla.edu; Joan Kaplowitz is head of research, instruction, 
and collection services, e-mail: jkaplowi@library.ucla. 
edu; Leslie McMichael is in library administration, e-mail: 
lesliem@library.ucla.edu, at UCLA 
© 2008 Jenifer Abramson, Pat Hawthorne, Joan Kaplowitz, and 

Leslie McMichael 

262C&RL News May 2008

mailto:lesliem@library.ucla.edu
mailto:jkaplowi@library.ucla
http:ucla.edu
mailto:jenifera@library.ucla.edu


(those born between 1946 and 1964) and 
Generation Xers (born between 1965 and 
1980). 

Nine participants had earned their MLIS 
degrees between 2003 and 2007, one earned 
the MLIS in 1998, and another participant 
did not hold the MLIS degree. Nine of the 
participants had worked as degreed profes­
sionals for three years or less and two had 
worked for more than four years at the 
professional level. 

All but one participant had earned their 
degrees from either the UCLA or San Jose 
State University programs. At least half of the 
11 worked as paraprofessionals in academic 
libraries prior to earning their degrees. Four 
have additional graduate degrees at the 
master’s and doctoral level, and two are 
currently working on additional graduate 
degrees. All indicated they would recom­
mend the profession to others. 

This group of professionals described 
unique career paths into academic librari­
anship, most noting the encouragement of 
professionals as playing a key role. Like the 
students, these participants would recom­
mend librarianship to others. The group 
included professionals in first or second jobs. 
In discussing job postings, this group was 
more specific about what they look for in 
postings and clearly noted they look for fi t 
between themselves and the institution. 

In response to the question “Has the 
reality of your job played out according to 
what you expected?,” the responses were 
varied and reflected different experiences 
in different institutions. 

As working professionals, the group 
discussed both their positive and frustrat­
ing experiences learning to work within an 
organizational culture and academic bureau­
cracy, getting access to needed and desired 
technology, and the craving for mentoring 
from senior professionals and administrators. 
Six are interested in moving into manage­
ment and leadership roles. 

Similar to the student group, they noted 
the importance of library work experience 
and internships coupled with the graduate 

program as critical. Remaining in academic 
librarianship will be dependent on “sustain­
able” salaries and professional development 
support and funding (an important factor 
for the students in job searches). While this 
group included different generations (Baby 
Boomers and Gen Xers) and the student 
group was Millennials, the desire for work­
life balance was also evident. 

For complete summaries of these two 
focus groups, visit the “Working with and 
Retaining New Librarians” section of the 
ACRL Recruitment and Retention wiki at 
wikis.ala.org/acrl/index.php/Working_with 
_and_Retaining_New_Librarians and offer 
your comments. 

Editor’s note 
Julie Todaro facilitated these focus groups 
on Monday, March 10, 2008, on the UCLA 
campus. Jenifer Abramson, Pat Hawthorne, 
Joan Kaplowitz, and Leslie McMichael served 
as note­takers and collaborated on compil­
ing the focus group summaries. Both focus 
groups at UCLA were conducted in compli­
ance with UCLA’s Institutional Review Board 
protocols. 

The focus group planners gratefully ac­
knowledge the assistance of the leadership 
of the Department of Information Studies 
program and Librarians Association of the 
University of California­Los Angeles (LAUC­
LA) in setting up these focus groups. 

ACRL President’s Program 
If you are interested in recruitment and re­
tention in our profession, attend the ACRL 
President’s Program at the 2008 ALA An­
nual Conference in Anaheim on Monday, 
June 30, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. to hear Dan 
Ariely speak on his new book, Predictably 
Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape 
Our Decisions. Ariely will be joined by a 
panel of four early­career academic librar­
ians—Mario Ascencio, Brett Bonfi eld, Ellie 
Collier, and Marla Peppers—from around 
the country and a variety of institutions. 

May 2008  263 C&RL News