What Is the “Value-Add” of the MLIS in Public Libraries? Perspectives from Today’s Library Leaders and Their Rank and File

Abstract

Given the historic forces bearing down on today’s public library and despite a rich literature concerned with its relevance, one topic conspicuously absent from the research agenda is the status of public librarianship as a bona fide professional practice and viable career option for the next generation of graduates with master of library and information science (MLIS) degrees. We visited urban public libraries across Canada and engaged with both rank and file and library leaders on questions relating to their library as a place of professional work. Our findings reveal a profession in a state of flux. And, although chief executive officers are quick to promote new roles for their professional librarians, the specifics of these jobs and the competencies required to perform them are either ambiguous or demand knowledge, skills, and abilities that are more generic than jurisdictional. In the end, we were left wondering: What is the “value-add” of the MLIS in today’s public libraries?

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