University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Workforce Competencies: Focus on Urban Public Libraries

Gonzalez, Maria E.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/18733

Description

Title
Workforce Competencies: Focus on Urban Public Libraries
Author(s)
Gonzalez, Maria E.
Issue Date
2010
Keyword(s)
  • Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science
  • Public librarians -- Recruiting -- United States.
  • Core competencies.
  • Vocational qualifications.
  • Library personnel management -- United States.
Abstract
Urban library leaders convened in 2008 to explore gaps between essential organizational competencies and the individual competencies of professionals entering the field. The 2008 Urban Libraries Summit aimed to focus collective wisdom in shaping suitable curricula for the education and training of future library professionals. This article examines the results of focus groups undertaken at that time, which identified current and future challenges facing librarians in urban settings and the educational and training experiences that would best prepare young professionals to confront them. Content analysis is applied to texts gleaned from structured questions posed to members of the focus groups. The questions probed the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) considered by members of the focus groups as critical to the successful employment and performance of individuals aiming to work in urban or complex library settings. Results of the focus groups yielded insights of potential value for new professionals, practitioners, and LIS educators in the United States. Substantial experience in community organizing, teaching, and face-to-face customer service is preferred. Candidates for urban libraries would be best equipped with undergraduate study in social work, urban planning, popular culture, languages, business administration, and instructional design.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ISSN
0024-2594
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18733
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2010 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 59 (1-2) Summer/Fall 2010: Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science, Part 2 PRIMARY
Library Trends 59 (1-2) Summer/Fall 2010: Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science, Part 2. Edited by Joanne Gard Marshall, Susan Rathbun-Grubb, Deborah Barreau, and Jennifer Craft Morgan