Librarians wanted: a staff development program designed to solve recruiting woes

The University of Oklahoma Libraries (Norman, Oklahoma, USA) recently launched a staff development strategy to recruit new librarians by promoting staff currently enrolled in a graduate library science program. Paid at a rate higher than paraprofessionals, but lower than traditional faculty, these employees are given professional duties for no more than two years. Appointees are expected to continue steady progress toward completion of a Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) degree. This strategy targets the “best and brightest” students for recruitment into permanent positions after their graduation and encourages paraprofessionals to enter the profession. It also identifies one potential solution to recruitment problems in all types of libraries in the USA as the profession confronts serious shortages in trained librarians.