Are You Local? Academic Library Hiring Prior to and During COVID-19 in the United States

Abstract

Using only limited information, job candidates must assess academic libraries as prospective workplaces, while search committee members at academic libraries must make hiring decisions. Highlighting challenges that the pandemic posed to job seekers and search committee members, such as further limiting opportunities to gather information, this study compares a group of individuals hired by U.S. academic libraries before COVID-19 to a group of individuals hired by academic libraries during COVID-19. Results have implications for job seekers and hiring institutions, as they indicate that academic libraries hire more individuals with pre-existing ties to the state or region of the hiring institution and that the pandemic strengthened this tendency.