Not Lost – Stolen!

One factor essential to understanding the absence or disappearance of library jobs, whether you are just out of library school or an experienced librarian facing budget cuts, is that the problems behind getting or keeping a job these days has little to do with your professional qualifications, your ability to network, your resume, your experience or even the role you as librarian play at that place so often referred to as the heart of the school, the campus, the community. Yes, all these job-hunting regulars do play a very important role in getting a job (see Rosen for a typical perspective on the solution to joblessness) but the main problem has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the economy and decisions made regarding it.

“Duh…” one might say. “Of course it’s about The Economy.”

We might know this rationally, but how to we express our relationship to the elusive or bygone job?

“I can’t find a job.”

“I lost my job.”

“Maybe I just don’t have enough experience.”

“Maybe I was a failure as an advocate for my position.”

Well, Another Unemployed Librarian is here to tell you this – we are not losing our jobs, they are being stolen! Furthermore, if you are a new librarian, chances are you cannot find a job, not because you’re inexperienced or under-qualified, but because the jobs new librarians often got 20 and more years ago were actually given away through the process of deprofessionalization. Many librarian positions that were once considered “entry level” have been given over to paraprofessionals, and this process has been underway for the past two decades, even longer in some areas.

Consider this, the library technician (a wonderful, dedicated, and very competent person) with whom I worked, before my job was eliminated, is now virtually in charge of the library. She is paid around $12.00 per hour. My pay was just over $30.00. What budget-cutting principal could fail to see the savings to be had here? The replacement of professional librarians by paraprofessionals has been happening for over 20 years in all kinds of libraries, all across the country, the product of a combination of factors including budget cuts, technology, and "streamlining."

“What about all those librarians who are retiring?” you might ask.

Well, not only are they not retiring in the droves predicted, but there is another phenomena – the retire/rehires. I have no idea how prevalent this practice is, but in Washington state it is not uncommon, and just recently I met two school librarians who are retired, but who were rehired, one to continue in her former position, another to work part-time. Each receive both their retirement pay and a monthly salary. This means that the positions they occupy are not available to people wanting to enter the field. While the retire/rehire practice might provide many advantages for all concerned, it is completely unfair to the new generation of librarians (teachers, principals and administrators) who want, need and deserve opportunities to begin their careers, and also to those of us, still far from retirement, who want, need and deserve to continue ours.

If all the jobs that don’t exist right now, for all the people who need them, weren’t lost, then who stole them – or gave them away?

Was it deprofessionalizing Library Manager?

Was it number-crunching City/County Offical?

Was it making-happy-with-corporate-lobbyists President/Senator/Representative?

Was it ponzi-scheming Stock Portfolio Banker Man?

Stay-tuned next week for This Mess Has a History.