Quick & Curious Observation
I've noticed, here at RBMS, that heads of Special Collections tend to
be rather advanced in years or quite young (with many exceptions). I am
curious, however, if there might not be a soft trend where Boards/
Selection Comm. actively seeking 'the next generation' and effectively
skipping a generation of librarians from these roles... Thoughts??? [edited to correct iphone typos...]
Labels: bookish, random bits
posted by LuxMentis @ 6:47 AM
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3 Comments:
When I think of the heads of the larger special collections, most of them have been in the profession a long time. I can think of a couple of exceptions, but they are people in their 40s but have had at least a decade of experience in special collections.
What I have seen happening is that the positions that are posted are usually entry level, which are posted less frequently and more likely to be bombarded with applicants, and department head, which are open longer and probably more difficult to fill. There don't seem to be as many "middle management" positions for the mid-career folks in the field.
I'm also thinking that the younger department heads that you met might have been at smaller institutions with smaller staffs and fewer collections to manage.
Travel budgets within libraries are often slanted toward the newest staff (so they get acclimated more quickly and can network) and the higher levels of management (because their presence is required for committee business).
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