Workforce Planning and the School Library Media Specialist

This article utilizes data collected through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)–supported Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science 1 (WILIS 1)1 survey of graduates (1964–2007) of the five library and information science master’s programs in North Carolina to consider career patterns and what these career patterns tell us about recruitment, retention, and retirement of school library media specialists (SLMSs). A life course approach is used to interpret the survey data and to suggest areas needing attention in recruiting and retaining SLMSs and planning for their retirement. Perhaps the most noteworthy finding is that a major influence on turnover of SLMSs is the lack of opportunities for career growth and development. Suggestions are offered for enhancing career development opportunities for SLMS. Introduction The work of the school library media specialist (SLMS) has the potential of being among the most complex of specializations in the world of information as SLMSs are called upon to be master teachers, instructional consultants, technology specialists, and leaders and administrators along with all of the traditional functions within librarianship, including both user and technical services.2 The American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) Information Power (1998) highlights the roles of teacher, instructional partner, information specialist, and program administrator. The new standards for the 21st-Century Learner (AASL, 2007) only reinWorkforce Planning and the School Library Media Specialist Paul Solomon and Susan Rathbun-Grubb LIBRARY TRENDS, Vol. 58, No. 2, Fall 2009 (“Workforce Issues in LIS.” edited by Joanne Gard Marshall, Paul Solomon, and Susan Rathbun-Grubb), pp. 246–262 © 2010 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois