E-JASL: The Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship
Date of this Version
Summer 2009
Document Type
Article
Citation
Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (Summer 2009) 10(2). Also available at http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v10n02/chu_m01.html.
Abstract
Background
Nearly one out of every ten librarians is under the age of thirty. The average age of a graduate student in library and information science is 30-35 years old. Between 2010-2020, 45% of librarians will reach the retirement age of 65 years old. The relative age of the profession will continue to decrease as retirements increase. Statistically, the population of young librarians is a growing minority.
Young, new librarians face age discrimination, including disrespectful treatment in the workplace and unrealistic expectations of performance. Ageism in academic libraries results in job dissatisfaction and loss of retention for these new librarians. A “revolving-door trend” of new librarians is particularly troubling in light of concerted recruitment and retention efforts. The following explores library literature on ageism and presents anecdotal evidence related to age discrimination in academic librarianship.
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Higher Education Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Scholarly Communication Commons, Scholarly Publishing Commons, Work, Economy and Organizations Commons
Comments
Copyright 2009, the author. Used by permission.