Career Trends: Librarians and Library Media Specialists

Librarians help people find information and conduct research for personal and professional use. Their job duties may change based on the type of library they work in, such as public, school, and medical libraries.

Librarians work for local government, colleges and universities, companies, and elementary and secondary schools. Most work full time, but opportunities for part-time work exist.

Most librarians need a master’s degree in library science. Some positions have additional requirements, such as a teaching certificate or a degree in another field.

Employment of librarians is projected to grow 2 percent from 2014 to 2024, slower than the average for all occupations. Librarians are needed to assist library patrons in locating information and resources, but growth will be limited by budget constraints in local government and educational services.

This occupation supported 148,400 jobs in 2012 and 143,100 jobs in 2014, reflecting a decline of 3.6%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 7.4% in 2022 to 159,400 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 150,600, compared with an observed value of 143,100, 5.0% lower than expected. This indicates current employment trends are worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 1.8% in 2024 to 145,700 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 161,600 jobs for 2024, 10.9% higher than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are much worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation.