Recruiting quality business librarians in a shrinking labor market

Abstract

The library field is projected to grow in the next decade, albeit modestly, so the need for professionals will rise. Combined with large‐scale retirements predicted to begin in 2010, the result may be a shortfall of library professionals. Although no concrete evidence exists to substantiate a claim that this trend may be more pronounced for subject specialists, such as business librarians, the authors of this article were motivated to conduct their research by the apparent shortage of business librarians reported by their colleagues within the American Library Association, specifically in the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) Business Reference and Resources Section (BRARS). This article reports on a survey of job postings from March 2000‐March 2001 and assesses employer satisfaction with the labor market for business librarians and information professionals.