Growing demand for librarians across the United States has resulted in improved benefits and salary offerings for potential employees, as libraries try to lure younger people into the profession.
"In America's libraries, thousands of good jobs are going begging," said Judith S. Robinson, professor and chair of the department of library and information studies in the UB School of Informatics. "Today, the American Library Association placement center lists more open library positions than at any time in the last 20 years."
The average starting pay for a young librarian is currently between $35,000 and $40,000, varying by region, according to Sal Bordonaro, a librarian at the Lackawanna Public Library and president of the Librarians Association of Buffalo and Erie County Public Libraries, a librarian union.
The generous benefit packages given to those graduating with library science degrees also add to the monetary value of the degree.
"We're given very generous vacation, sick leave and medical packages, but when you add that all up, it's a lot of money," said Bordonaro.
To become a librarian, however, does require more than an undergraduate education.
"You have to have four years of college," said Maurice Robillard, director of the Clarence Public Library. "But beyond a bachelor's degree, you need a master's degree which is 36 credit hours."
It is possible to earn a master's degree in library science in a little more than one year and the library science degree covers a broader field than most might anticipate.
"There are academic librarians, public librarians, school librarians, media specialists - who usually become coordinators of a library - and special librarians, such as medical librarians," said Lisa Baker, a first semester student at the School of Informatics.
Baker said she was not surprised when she learned of the librarian shortage.
"I've read a lot of newspaper ads for librarians," said Baker. "Because of a lot of retirements, there are a lot of openings."
The surplus in available jobs can also be attributed to businesses giving those with an MLS higher-paying positions than librarians.
"The movement of librarians into lucrative business positions and the new prosperity of many library systems . has allowed the creation of new positions," said Robinson.
"There's a big movement by the American Library Association and Washington to fill these positions," said Bordonaro.
The librarian position is also being changed by the increasing utilization of computers and other technology that helps people find what they are looking for directly.
"On one hand, that's true. The whole publishing field and the field of scholarly communication is going through a big revolution right now," said Howard Pikoff, a part-time librarian at Lockwood Memorial Library.
The position of librarian, however, is far from obsolete.
"On the other hand, a lot of things are exactly the same as when I got here in the mid 70s. Even though there are computers that provide direct access to material for users, we still find that an intermediary can help the process along."
Baker said that the positive experience she had in the past with these intermediaries is one of the factors that drew her to library science.
"I wanted to become a librarian because of my close relationship with my old librarians. They helped you out with anything you needed," she said. "Some of them are still my friends."
This connection with the people they help is what attracts many librarians to the profession.
"I enjoy working with all sorts of people. I love helping people and giving them information they need. I find it very fulfilling," said Marie Robillard, director of the Clarence Center Public Library. "Working with people, giving them what they want and steering them in different directions that they never thought they would go is what I like most about being a librarian."
