LJ 2011 Job Satisfaction Survey | Rocked By Recession, Buoyed By Service
Braced to meet the tension of the times, most still feel happy to work in libraries June 1, 2011A recession that has rocked the bottom lines of libraries nationwide has not, despite any expectations to the contrary, managed to unseat the basic satisfaction of the workers who keep them ticking every day. That workforce is just as likely to choose a career in libraries as it was before the recession took hold: a full 86 percent said so, the same resounding number as in LJ’s last job satisfaction survey in 2007 (covered in a three-part series starting with “Great Work, Genuine Problems,” LJ 10/1/07, p. 26–29). When asked directly about job satisfaction, 70 percent of library workers across all library types and at all levels stated they were satisfied or very satisfied, just two percent down from 2007.
As a reality check, however, more respondents feel they have a “poor” chance at career advancement (47 percent, compared to 38.9 percent in 2007) and slightly more than that think they might leave libraries before retirement. Perhaps most telling: 31 percent are actively job searching, with six percent looking outside libraries—and that number skyrockets for those who are not at all satisfied (six percent of total respondents), to 66 percent job searching, with 21 percent of those turning away from libraries entirely.
The joy of doing good work
Those who are satisfied are sustained by doing public good and the relationships and human interactions involved in serving their constituencies. Across all library types, 49 percent of respondents agreed that their chief satisfaction is helping users and working with the public. “Each day I get to help people in a thousand different ways,” one public librarian noted. “By helping them, I learn and grow as a human being. It is as simple as that.”
Other satisfactions, trailing far behind in the results, include “working with wonderful coworkers” (nine percent), and spread out below that are “knowing I make a difference,” the “variety of tasks,” “autonomy,” and “LOVE what I do.” Comments from respondents also focused on the pleasures of problem solving, the ability to try new things, and an ongoing connection to the community, be it in whatever environment.
The pain of managing with less
That is not to say, however, that they are free of frustration. While there is less agreement in the responses on what the chief dissatisfactions are, “low pay” drew 23 percent, poor management/administration, 16 percent (and 22 percent from academic librarians), and budgetary concerns and the need to fight for everything, 16 percent.
These numbers, however, just brush at the issues at play in the workplace. The verbatim texts from respondents reveal profound distress over workload, with many noting that they are scrambling just to keep up and see burnout ahead. Others complain about the grinding pace of bureaucracy and express downright loathing for leadership that is perceived to be unresponsive, out of touch with the times, and not transparent.
That burning frustration is likely founded in the struggle to meet the very real challenges of rapid technological and cultural change—in institutions that are beset by the harsh realities that come with deep budget cuts. Indeed, 74 percent of respondents agreed that “budgetary constraints” are a top threat to libraries, followed closely at 69 percent by the “perception of libraries as nonessential because of the Internet.” Other threats include “unsupportive politicians” (38 percent), “keeping up with technological change” (30 percent), “administrative bureaucracy” (24 percent), and “fear of change” (23 percent).
Identifying those threats merely confirms what many who follow libraries already know, but how poorly library workers perceive libraries to be responding should be a red flag for any library leader. The response to a question about what measures are being taken to combat the identified threats shows at best a scattershot approach and, at worst, no approach at all. A smattering (17 percent) noted advocacy efforts, marketing of services (11 percent), and the addition of more services (eight percent)—with outreach, more training, strategic planning, and seeking alternative funding trailing way behind. By contrast, 34 percent said that “not much/not enough” or “nothing” was being done.
A question of confidence
Such threats, and such poor evaluations on the response to them, hammer home the findings that there is a broad consensus that the library itself is undergoing a deep transformation. When asked how they feel about the future of libraries, optimism reigned but with caution, as 55 percent said, “We’ll get through it; this is an opportunity to reexamine our core.” Another 38 percent see bigger changes ahead: “We’re on a rocky road, and the library will emerge fundamentally changed after this.” Only seven percent see the current state of affairs as cyclical.
Answers to what libraries should be doing reveal a profession torn by the tension between reinvention and the status quo. Calls to focus on books and core services are counterbalanced by those to reimagine what the library is and what skills are needed to make it vital.
From both camps, however, there is a broad push for more. For users, this means offering them more: more ebooks, more services, more open hours. For staff, more pay, more training to stay up to speed, more willingness to change, more freedom to experiment. For library leaders, all that and more transparency, more building of awareness about the value that libraries provide, and more communication at every step of the way with staff and the community.
As a whole, the survey confirms that library workers are resilient, creative, dogged, optimistic, fearful, anxious, angry, exhausted, and largely committed to their users and driven to make the library thrive.
THE RESPONDENTS
The survey was emailed to 32,502 LJ print and newsletter subscribers on February 11, 2011. Recipients were encouraged to share the link widely. The survey was also promoted on Facebook and Twitter. The study closed on March 25 with 3,612 completed responses from the United States: 1890 public, 923 academic, 582 school, and 130 corporate/special libraries, and 87 “other.”
Women comprise 88 percent of the total respondents (97 percent for schools). Just under half of the responses came from library workers under the age of 50 (including ten percent under 30), with the biggest showing (33 percent) from those aged 50–59; 86 percent were employed full time. Both MLS holders (64 percent) and paralibrarians were in the mix, and respondents represented a wide range of job titles and locations.
Academic & Public library data was weighted regionally to conform better to U.S. breakdowns of libraries by state. The survey was programmed, hosted, and tabulated by Laura Girmscheid, Research Manager, Media Source Inc.
| Author Information |
| Rebecca Miller is Executive Editor, Features, LJ |
