University library directors in the Association of Research Libraries: the next generation, part one

摘要

At different points in time, various studies of university library directors within the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) have reported on gender, age, highest degree obtained, personality type, average salary, progression path to reachthe position, length of time in the position, and reasons for leaving the position.(FN1) For instance, studies have shown that: In 1994, more that 82 percent of the ARL directors were between the ages of 45 and 69. While the comparable figure from 1990 is almost identical, the age profiles for the 2 years are quite different. The aging trend that affected the ARL population between 1990 and 1994 apparently affected the director group as well, since the percentage of the population aged 55 and over rose from 25.5 to 43 percent. The percentage of the population in the 60-64 age group is twice that of the population as a whole, but this is not surprising given the experience generally required of directors. However, directors are not more inclined than other ARL librarians to remain in their positions after age 65.(FN2) Authors have characterized the directorship as a "position in transition"(FN3) because directors move from being internal managers to being institutional leaders who exhibit "creativity, risk taking, innovation, and intuition."(FN4) In their classic 1973 College & Research Libraries article, Arthur M. McAnally and Robert B. Downs reported that "all was not well in the library directors' world." The fact that seven positions opened in one year (1971-1972), they thought, reflected a "vague feeling of uneasiness" with academic librarianship and higher education. After all, "these are major universities on the national scene whose directorships had been stable in the past" (until the 1970s, university directors tended to stay in one position until they retired).(FN5) One way to update their finding is to look at current directors and the years they first became ARL directors.