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Careers

Between 2006 and 2009, 0.2% of employed doctoral graduates, or 30 doctoral graduates in total, are known to have been working as librarians six months after graduation.

Job description

Academic librarians are part of the ‘other occupations' cluster of doctoral occupations.

Academic librarians provide support to members of an academic community including students, researchers and lecturing staff. Typically, an academic librarian will manage, organise, evaluate and disseminate information. They are often responsible for a specific academic subject area or a particular function such as resource ordering, loans, special collections or information and communications technology systems and may also undertake project work for the library as a whole. A key aspect of their work is facilitating and supporting learning by teaching information retrieval skills to students and staff. Academic librarians spend a considerable amount of time working with electronic resources and are increasingly involved with database management and web page development. This role has little to do with reading books and is very much a people-focused occupation.

Typical work activities

For academic librarians, specialist responsibility for an academic subject or function is common even at basic-level posts. The following is a list of tasks typically undertaken within the role:

  • Managing and developing collections of books, journals and websites
  • Managing buildings, furniture and equipment
  • Managing staff, which may involve recruitment and selection, appraisals, disciplinary action, staff rotas and training, as well as day-to-day management of staff
  • Managing budgets and, in some cases, purchasing resources
  • Maintaining relationships with external bodies such as suppliers
  • Contributing to academic course development and liaising with academic departments
  • Managing books for reading lists and allocating length of loans
  • Creating, updating and managing information resources - both electronic and printed;selecting, acquiring and cataloguing information using library and information software
  • Assisting researchers with literature searches using databases, printed resources and the internet
  • Delivering information and learning skills courses for students and staff
  • Dealing with user enquiries which may involve one-on-one advice sessions
  • Keeping up to date with relevant debates in the library sector
  • Participation in professional groups or networks.

Entry requirements

Qualifications in the following subjects may increase your chances of success:

  • Librarianship
  • Information science/management
  • Language studies
  • Computing

Many institutions require applicants to have either a specific information management qualification or good experience in the field. Vacancies for subject librarians will require specific academic subject area knowledge.

Candidates need to show evidence of the following:

  • Good interpersonal, communication and presentation skills - supporting students' learning is an increasingly important part of the job;
  • It skills - academic libraries are highly computerised, so expertise with databases, the internet, online searching and web editing is vital;
  • Flexibility - the work is changing rapidly as more information becomes available in electronic format and a greater emphasis is placed on supporting students' learning;
  • An appreciation of the pressures and demands within the academic work environment.

Salary

  • Range of typical starting salaries for newly qualified (0-2 years experience): £21,000 - £24,000 (salary data collected Nov 09).
  • Range of typical starting salaries for chartered librarians (2-5 years experience): £24,000 - £32,000 (salary data collected Nov 09).
  • Range of typical starting salaries for information director/head of service: £55,000+ (salary data collected Nov 09).
  • Professional salaries have traditionally been set on national academic-related scales, but this is currently being reviewed as a result of wider changes within the higher education sector. A list of recommended salaries is published by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)

Sector and disciplinary information

Sector information

Doctoral graduates from 2006-9 working in this occupation were known to be employed in the following profiled sectors six months after graduation:

Discipinary background

The most common subject backgrounds for doctoral graduates (2006-2009) entering librarian jobs were:

But individuals from a wide range of science, social science and arts and humanities disciplines work as librarians on completing their doctorates.

Career stories

Jennifer de Lillo

Electronic Editor of Medieval Manuscripts, University of Birmingham

"With medieval manuscripts there is often no definitive version. Our electronic versions enable scholars to access all of the different versions so that they can compare and analyse them. My experience of working with manuscripts through my librarian and doctoral training has been essential to doing this kind of work."

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