College and Research Libraries Do Instruction Skills Impress Employers? Chris Avery and Kevin Ketchner Several members of the Education for Bibliographic Instruction Commit- tee (ACRL Instruction Section) conducted a pilot project to investigate the perceived importance of library instruction skills to employers, and whether instruction experience or coursework is important in getting a job for which library instruction is a stated responsibility. Results of a telephone survey indicate that library instruction is viewed as an impor- tant service within academic libraries and that employers do consider skills or experience in the area of library instruction in the hiring pro- cess. ll ver the years, a great deal has been written about the impor- tance of library instruction within the academic library set- ting. Equally well documented is the per- ception that current training for library instruction is often insufficient and that there is a need for library school curricula to prepare librarians for library instruc- tion duties. However, to date, library schools have demonstrated a reluctance to incorporate education for library in- struction into their curricula, although there are some exceptions to this general trend (for example, at the State Univer- sity of New York at Albany and at the University of California-Los Angeles). 1 This reluctance is somewhat puzzling as almost all public service nonadministra- tive jobs in academic libraries (and a healthy percentage of technical services positions) include library instruction as a responsibility. This apparent impasse. attracted the attention of the Education for Biblio- graphic Instruction (EBI) Committee within the Instruction Section (IS, for- merly the Bibliographic Instruction Sec- tion) of ACRL. The charge of this com- mittee is in part to "explore, encourage, and ·foster the development and expan- sion of the study of bibliographic instruc- tion in library schools." In thinking about ways to encourage the teaching of library instruction skills in library schools, com- mittee members realized that investigat- ing attitudes of employers toward library instruction might yield data lending fur- ther support to the idea of formal educa- tion in library instruction for library school· students. Committee members hypothesized that employers would place some value on instruction skills given the widespread inclusion of instruction in job descriptions, and became inter- ested in examining the role that library Chris Avery is Social Sciences Librarian, Pattee Library, The Pennsylvania State University; e-mail: cca@psulias.psu.edu. Kevin Ketchner is Instruction Librarian, Cline Library, Northern Arizona Univer- sity; e-mail: ketchner@nau.edu. This paper was sponsored by the Instruction Section of ACRL. 249 250 College & Research Libraries instruction skills play in hiring deci- sions and whether such skills confer any competitive advantage. Committee members designed a pilot project in the form of a telephone survey to explore such issues. Review of the Literature In a search for relevant literature on the relationship between library instruction skills and the job market for librarians (as well as any mention of library school cur- ricula as they relate to "employability"), it quickly becomes apparent that little is available. One of the few exceptions is an article by Charles Curran in which he dis- cusses several topics related to teaching reference work. 2 Curran urges library schools to consider the marketplace and what it requires. He notes that almost all new hires in public service positions will have instruction responsibilities and that library schools owe it to potential employ- ers to provide candidates with suitable skills. Others, such as Lizabeth Wilson, have generally concentrated on discus- sions of needed proficiency in instruction and have made attempts to combine theory and practice in advocating the More than half of the respondents indicated that bibliographic instruction skills played a fairly important role in the hiring decision (53% assigned a 4 or a 5). need for development of future library instruction education programs.3 The issue of encouraging incorpora- tion of a course in library instruction into the library school curriculum is some- what sensitive. There are two valid sides to the debate over whether such a course deserves to be included in the curriculum. The catalyst for recent debate is a 1990 survey conducted by Diana Shonrock and Craig Mulder. A sample of IS members evaluated the importance of eighty-four library instruction skills in a variety of May 1996 categories. Members identified twenty- five skills that a librarian involved with library instruction should possess. For thirteen of these twenty-five skills, mem- bers had a preference for acquiring them through library school programs as op- posed to acquiring them through other avenues.4 Herbert S. White responded to early re- ports pertaining to the Shonrock--Mulder survey in an opinion piece.5 He summa- rizes the arguments on the other side of this coin (arguing against inclusion of li- brary instruction in the curriculum) and addresses employment considerations as well. White contends that: [S]ome of these sought-after attri- butes do not in any way describe li- brarianship as a discipline but only identify personality traits that there- spondents found important for bib- liographic-instruction librarians .... The solution for employers in seek- ing to emphasize these skills seems simple. Employers should concen- trate in their search on the kinds of people they are looking for. If they encounter candidates that do not meet these criteria, they should not hire them. 6 White goes on to discuss the opinion voiced by many librarians that specific skills necessary in their professional lives were not taught in library school pro- grams. He contends that complaints have more to do with lack of training for a spe- cific job than with deficiencies in profes- sional education. He concludes that, "At present we have no assurance that t~e hiring of prospective bibliographic in- struction librarians will be predicated on the completion of the appropriate biblio- graphic instruction courses." 7 Additional literature includes several studies written primarily by librarians who are involved firsthand with library instruction. The general theme seems to be that library instruction is being ne- Do Instruction Skills Impress Employers 251 glected in today' s library school curricula. An example is Scott Mandernack' s article, which discusses a survey of academic li- brarians. The survey examined the actual and preferred.methods by which librarians acquire knowledge relevant to library in- struction.8 Mandernack concludes that current training in library instruction is often insufficient and that organized con- tinuing education courses are needed. Also relevant is Robert Brundin's ex- ploration of the reasons for the lack of attention in library school curricula to education for library instruction.9 Devel- opments in education for library instruc- tion and possible solutions to problem areas are highlighted in Brundin' s article. Conversely, library instruction has made occasional inroads into the library school curriculum over the years. Mary Ellen Larson and Ellen Meltzer reported the results of a three-year study which col- lected the syllabi of library school courses that mentioned library instruction (1983- 1986). They then analyzed the syllabi for the purpose of identifying trends in li- brary instruction in the library school curriculurn. 10 Thus, the literature search shed some light on ways in which practicing librar- ians feel they could best be prepared to do library instruction, as well as on rea- sons why library instruction is usually not formally taught in library schools. The issue of the importance of library instruc- tion skills in the marketplace and percep- tions of employers related to library in- struction skills appears to be uncharted territory. These results from the literature review led members of the EBI commit- tee to the conclusion that a survey of em- ployers would probably generate some interesting insights'. Methodology The subcommittee decided that inter- viewing employers with fairly recent ex- perience (within the past six months) in hiring a librarian would be the best means of answering questions about the irnpor- tance of instruction skills. To that end, the subcommittee developed a short ques- tionnaire to be administered over the tele- phone which explored some aspects of the relationship between library instruc- tion skills, the qualifications of newly hired librarians, and the hiring process. Subcommittee members pretested the questionnaire and refined it prior to con- ducting the interviews. As a service to its members, ALA main- tains a placement service during its An- nual and Midwinter Conferences. Com- mittee members examined job announce- ments and noted that there was a substan- tial amount of variation in types of librar- ies advertising positions. Members also were unable to discern a geographic bias The issue of the importance of library instruction skills in the marketplace and perceptions of employers related to library instruc- tion skills appears to be uncharted territory. to the announcements. Thus, they de- cided that for the purposes of this pre- liminary inquiry into employer attitudes toward library instruction, the job postings available at the placement cen- ter would represent a reasonable cross section of jobs available in academic li- braries nationally and would provide a valid means of acquiring a sample of employers to interview. The EBI subcom- mittee examined job postings at the 1993 and 1994 ALA Midwinter Meetings from academic and special research libraries in which library instruction was stated as one of the job duties. Positions in which involvement in library instruction was limited to supervision or administrative responsibility were excluded. The job postings collected were primarily an- nouncements for reference librarian po- sitions, but there were a few for technical service positions that included a library instruction component. 252 College & Research Libraries May 1996 FIGURE 1 How much of their time (%) will the new employee spend on bibliographic instruction? (42 responses) ~ Q) Q) C) >.m o-- c Q.Q) E ~ Q) Q) - a. o m Q; C) .0 c E+=' ::J~ z (/) 16 --,..---- 14 -t---- 12 -t---- 10 -1---- 8 +---- 6 6 4 2 0 16 6 2 2 0 0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50 % or more Total amount of time (as a percentage) employer estimates that new employee will spend on bibliographic instruction. Through a process of trial and error (i.e., making calls and numerous follow- up calls), the subcommittee determined that it took a minimum of three to four months for job vacancies posted at Mid- winter to be filled. Calls to employers in 1993 and 1994 yielded a total of forty-two complete questionnaires. As was the case in 1993, many of the calls made to em- ployers listed on 1994 job postings did not result in an interview because the posi- tion advertised had not yet been filled. All of the employers contacted agreed to participate in an interview. In all cases, the interviewer asked to speak to the per- son with supervisory responsibility for the position advertised. At the end of the second round of interviews, the subcom- mittee decided that further interviews probably would not reveal much in the way of new information; a certain con- sistency in questionnaire responses had become apparent. Findings As indicated earlier, all of the interviews were conducted with employers who had actually filled a position involving library instruction within the previous six months. However, in half of the cases, the person hired had not actually started working. The sample consisted of a good mix of academic libraries, from large re- search libraries to small college libraries. The subcommittee asked employers to estimate the amount of time the new em- Do Instruction Skills Impress Employers 253 FIGURE2 How important is bibliographic instruction in this position? 16 14 12 ~ 10 Q) >. 0 a. E 8 Q) -0 ._ Q) ..c E 6 ~ z 4 2 0 2 Not important at all ployee would spend on activities related to library instruction. At the start of the interview, callers defined bibliographic in- struction as "scheduled instruction or edu- cation done on an individual or group basis. Instruction done only at the refer- ence desk is not considered to be biblio- graphic instruction in the context of this project." The percentage of time spent on library instruction ranged from a low of five percent to a high of 50 percent, with 10 percent being the most frequent re- sponse (see figure 1). Employers were then asked to rank on 3 4 5 Very important a scale from 1 (low) to 5 (high) the impor- tance of bibliographic instruction in the position being discussed. Only five em- ployers assigned a ranking of 1 or 2. Most employers indicated that bibliographic instruction was fairly important (about 60% assigned a ranking of 4 or 5). (See figure 2.) Employers also were asked to rank (using the same scale) the importance of bibliographic instruction in their library. Results indicate that instruction matters a great deal in libraries. All employers (with the exception of one) gave a rank- i-~~.;.::.:;-~~-=::.=. :~.-1:.::..-. :~ ~~~g;;_::: •• ; _;;y· :1 1 _ :\-1 ---=-=- ~k_- 256 College & Research Libraries May 1996 FIGURE3 How important is bibliographic instruction in your library? 25 25~--------------------------------~--------- 20 +---------------------------------------------- ~ Q) 15 >. 0 c.. E Q) -0 '- Q) .0 E 10 :::J z 5 +----------------------------------- ing of 4 or 5. The most frequent response was to assign a ranking of 5 (very impor- tant). (See figure 3.) When subcommittee members asked employers about the types of activities the librarian just hired was or would be in- volved in, all indicated that he or she would be delivering one-time courses and workshops. Almost all said that the librar- ian would be developing instruction and courses, and about ten employers indi- cated that he or she would be coordinat- ing a library instruction program. Rela- tively few (eight) said that the newly hired librarian would be delivering an extended course and even fewer (five) said that he or she would be supervising other instructors. The employers also were asked if they have an in-house training program for Do Instruction Skills Impress Employers 257 FIGURE4 (/) (i) >- 0 a. E Q) -0 (i) .0 E :::J z 8 6 4 No importance 2 librarians involved in library instruction. About a third indicated they did and about two-thirds said they did not. When subcommittee members asked employ- ers how a new librarian learns to do in- struction, a variety of answers was given, including on-the-job training, observa- tion of others followed by assisting more experienced colleagues, teamwork, workshops, and trial and error. When asked what they thought was the best way to prepare someone to do instruc- tion, about half the employers men- tioned observation and working with others and almost half mentioned using workshops. Fifteen employers (about a third) thought that library instruction 3 4 5 A great deal of importance skills should be taught in library schools, and six thought their library should de- velop a formal training program. In about 75 percent of the positions the subcommittee inquired about, library in- struction skills were a preferred qualifica- tion in the job posting and not a require- ment. Most of the employers (86 %) indi- cated that they asked candidates if they had previous teaching experience, but only a third said they asked candidates if they had taken any courses in library instruc- tion or education. When employers were questioned about the actual interview pro- cess, well over half said that candidates were required to make some sort of pre- sentation on a topic. 258 College & Research Libraries The supervisors who were interviewed were asked to rank (on the same scale of 1 to 5 used earlier) the role that skills and experience related to library instruction and teaching played in the hiring deci- sion. More than half of the respondents indicated that bibliographic instruction skills played a fairly important role in the hiring decision (53% assigned a 4 or a 5). About 26 percent assigned a ranking of 3, 9 percent gave a ranking of 2, and 12 perce!lt indicated that bibliographic in- struction skills were of no importance in the hiring decision (see figure 4). As a final question, the subcommittee asked supervisors to think back over the entire interviewing process and say what the most important factor was for them in hiring the candidate. Although some employers said that the candidate had made an excellent presentation or had excellent communication skills, most couldn't pinpoint a single factor. Answers such as "reference skills and personality," "attitude and qualifications," or "back- ground and subject expertise" were given. Summary The general sense of the EBI subcommit- tee involved in this project is that employ- May 1996 ers showed a higher degree of interest in bibliographic instruction than was ex- pected at the outset. At the beginning of the project, while job postings were being examined, the subcommittee did notice that every announcement for a reference librarian position also mentioned instruc- tion. However, the degree of interest in this project, the willingness of supervisors to participate, and the uniformly strong in- dication of the importance of library in- struction within libraries were surprising. Although this study has more of the attributes of a pilot project than a defini- tive survey, the interviews with employ- ers left subcommittee members with the impression that instruction experience is recognized and valued by employers and probably does figure to some extent in the hiring decision. There was not a strong consensus among employers regarding the best way for librarians to learn instruc- tion skills, but the number of employers who actually mentioned library school courses was significant. The results of this fairly informal survey indicate that a dia- logue between library schools and em- ployers on this topic holds some possibili- ties and that further research in this area is clearly needed. Notes 1. Shirley Cody, Esther Grassian, and Trudi Jacobson, "Sample BI Course Syllabus," available from Project LOEX at Eastern Michigan University Library, Learning Resources and Technology, 48197. In the process of creating a sample course syllabus in 1993, ten library schools in the United States and Canada with full courses in library instruction were identified. 2. Charles Curran, "Teaching about Reference Work," Reference Librarian 25-26 (1989): 465-81. 3. Lizabeth A. Wilson, "Education for Bibliographic Instruction: Combining Practice and Theory," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 28 (summer 1987): 17-25. 4. Diana Shonrock and Craig Mulder, "Instruction Librarians: Acquiring the Proficiencies Criti- cal to Their Work," College & Research Libraries 54 (Mar. 1993): 137-49. 5. Herbert S. White, "Bibliographic Instruction and the Library School Curriculum," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 32 (fall/winter 1991): 194-202. 6. Ibid., 195. 7. Ibid., 202. 8. Scott B. Mandernack, "An Assessment of Education and Training Needs for Bibliographic Instruction Librarians," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 30 (winter 1990): 193-205. 9. Robert E. Brundin, "Education for Instructional Librarians: Development and Overview," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 25 (winter 1985): 177-89. lb. Mary Ellen Larson and Ellen Meltzer, "Education for Bibliographic Instruction," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 28 (summer 1987): 9-16.