College and Research Libraries RONALD RAYMAN Employment Opportunities for Academic Librarians in the 1970s: An Analysis of the Past Decade This study analyzed academic library position vacancies advertised in Li- brary Journal during the period 1970-79 in the categories of position type, position level, and geographical location. The · past decade was characterized by fluctuating levels of advertised job opportunities. Those opportunities presently are entering a period of marked decline , indicating diminished employment prospects for academic librarians in the future . A FREQUENT LAMENT in academic librar- ianship today centers on the perceived de- crease in the availability of job openings in the field. Factors such as increased num- bers of individuals entering the field of li- brarianship, austere library budgets , declin- ing student enrollments, reduced job mobil- ity, and vagaries of the national economy seemingly have operated to constrict the job market, resulting in fewer openings and de- creased employment opportunities for academic librarians at all levels. However, the basic validity of this prem- ise remains untested. How pervasive is this predicament? Are academic librarians ' pessi- mistic perceptions of this situation accurate? Have employment opportunities actually declined over the past decade? What is the current state of the job market? Answers to these questions are of vital interest to academic librarians and are the focus of this study. THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE In 1967, the American Library Associa- tion stated that the shortage of librarians had reached "crisis proportions." To combat Ronald Rayman is associate professor and ref- erence librarian , University Libraries , Western Illinois University, Macomb. the shortage, ALA announced the imple- mentation of steps to: (1) increase recruiting for graduate library science programs ; (2) push lobbying for increased aid for library science programs ; and (3) encourage job re- design. This program worked so well that by 1970, in combination with a slowdown in the nation's economy, an oversupply of li- brarians existed and the job market became tight. 1 Scattered reports surfaced during the 1970s about librarians experiencing prob- lems in securing employment. In its 1970 annual report on placement and salaries for new library science graduates , Library journal noted that "for the first time in the [nineteen-year] history of this series, we can observe a marked reduction in the number of openings available to the beginning li- brarian, " thereby signalling that the dispar- ity between supply and demand , which had characterized librarianship for two decades , had narrowed significantly. 2 An ALA survey conducted the following year confirmed that declining employment prospects were in the offing as libraries reported budget cuts, hiring freezes, and even reductions in hiring. 3 By the end of the decade, librari;mship was being rated as one of the ten worst pro- fessions for potential employment. This situation was compounded by a general de- I 229 230 I C allege & Research Libraries • May 1981 cline in higher education nationwide. -Pessi- mistic employment projections were accom- panied by frustration generated by em- ployers who increasingly demanded experi- ence yet were reluctant to offer chances to acquire the necessary experience. 4 METHODOLOGY Determining a workable test sample and procedure- for this project presented a num- ber of problems. It was decided that a de- cade-long perspective would best be gained by analyzing position openings advertised in library-related periodicals. This perspective probably would provide a represenlative overview of the situation. Nationally circulated library publications such as American Libraries, College & Re- search Library News, and Library journal regularly list position openings . Library journal (Lj) was eventually chosen for three major reasons. First, it had been in exis- tence since 1876 and was well established as an advertising medium by 1970. Second, its wide circulation made it appealing to poten- tial advertisers. And third, Lj's greater fre- quency of publication (twenty-two times per year as opposed to eleven for American Li- braries and eleven for College & Research Li- brary News) encouraged larger numbers of position advertisements. A random check revealed that Lj included more academic li- brary advertisements overall. Consideration was initially given to utilizing all three periodicals. However, an attempt to com- pile statistics from advertisements appearing in all three proved to be an unmanageable and unnecessary task, and it was aban- doned. Two methods of data collection were em- ployed on a trial basis to ascertain which best suited the total project. Photocopying each page of advertisements , clipping them apart, and then comparing to eliminate du- plication was the first option. s While this method guaranteed near-perfect accuracy, it was time-consuming , costly, and wasteful. The second option , which ultimately was adopted, involved sight perusal of advertise- ments . This procedure involved some back- tracking, cross-checking, and occasional photocopying of advertisements to ensure that each position was counted only once. These steps were crucial to the study ' s validity and were adhered to scrupulously. A check of this method revealed that it was not only simpler and faster, but equally as accurate as the clipping method tested. Assigning each advertised position vacan- cy an appropriate designation of type and level was relatively simple since advertise- ments normally stated this information in exact terms. The geographical determina- tion of listings was axiomatic, and required no interpretation. Where multiple duties were listed, the first library position/func- tion given was used to determine the posi- tion designation . Only library vacancies in the United States were included. Canadian, overseas, and library science teaching posi- tions were excluded . Only full-time posi- tions were recorded, including temporary positions if the contract period ran at least nine months. . FINDINGS A total of 2 , 531 academic library job openings were advertised in Lj during the decade 197~79 . Of that number, 1,237 (or 49 percent) were classified as public service positions , 897 (or 35 percent) as technical service, and 397 (or 16 percent) as adminis- trative (table 1). Administrative classifica- tions pertained only to library directors or assistant directors. Administrative classifica- tion within other positions will be described in a later section on position levels. It was evident from yearly totals that a cyclical pattern of position availability plagued academic libnirians throughout the decade (figure 1). The strong level of job openings that launched the decade gave way to two years (1971 and 1972) of declin- ing prospects , which bottomed out in the latter year. A substantial upswing in adver- tisements occurred in 1973, followed bv a modest gain in 1974, a plateau in 1975, ~nd another significant increase to the decade 's high point in 1976. A sharp decline took place during the years 1977-79, a drop that shows no signs of abating as the 1980s get under way . The falling level of advertised positions, and the decreased opportunities for profes- sional employment inherent in that decline, was exacerbated by the fact that the total number of academic librarians increased over the last decade. Their numbers grew Employment Opportunities I 231 TABLE 1 TYPE AND NUMBER OF POSITIONS ADVERTISED, 1970-79 Number of Positions by Year Typ<· of Position 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Public Services Archives/special collections (60) 3 2 4 Audiovisual (105) 7 7 4 Bibliographer (85) 0 7 4 Bibliographic instruction (13) 0 0 0 Branch/departmental (125) 10 7 12 Circulation (72) 11 3 6 Government ~uhlications (38) 9 0 1 Pu >lie services (178) 29 18 14 Reference (561) 44 36 32 Technical Services Acquisitions (126) 27 16 4 Cataloging (544) 71 4.5 43 Serials/periodicals (73) 10 6 2 Technical services (154) 15 6 16 Administrative (all) (397) 27 19 25 Totals (2,.531 ) 263 172 167 from about 20,000 in 1970 to an estimated 26 , 500 in 1980 , a 32 percent increase , which contributed to the constricted job market. 6 This point is especially noteworthy since the number of positions advertised in _1970 (263) exceeded by one-third the num- ber advertised in 1979 (200). .Most position types advertised followed the overall cyclical pattern already de- scribed, particularly those in the public ser- vice category. Technical service positions displayed some resistance to the extremes of the general pattern, although this cate- gory actually fared worse than the other two since the number of technical service posi- tions advertised in 1970 (123) was never equaled during the ensuing decade. Adver- tisements for reference (561 ) and cataloging (544) positions far exceeded those in any other category. Taken in the aggregate, they accounted for 44 percent of all posi- tions advertised. Analysis of position levels indicated in the advertisements provided insight into the job market for academic librarians over the past ten years. It should be acknowledged that advertisements in a national publication such as LJ possibly might include fewer be- ginning or assistant positions. These would likely be filled utilizing less expensive 6 9 9 6 10 7 4 7 21 21 12 10 9 7 17 12 12 14 8 6 5 1 0 0 1 5 4 2 12 15 12 19 19 14 5 7 8 8 9 7 7 6 0 3 3 4 6 7 5 8 18 13 23 18 20 17 52 51 60 92 80 65 49 15 12 10 12 12 14 4 52 56 43 66 59 63 46 14 7 7 4 11 7 5 11 13 18 20 17 23 1.5 27 4.5 55 72 55 42 30 .229 270 271 354 317 288 2