career patterns of librarians in government libraries

Librarian Career DevelopmentCareer patterns of librarians in government librariesCatriona Hunter

Article information:To cite this document:Catriona Hunter, (1996),"Career patterns of librarians in government libraries", Librarian Career Development, Vol. 4 Iss 1pp. 5 - 12Permanent link to this document:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09680819610108175

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09680819610108175

A career is usually characterised as developingover a period of years and involving progres-sively more responsible roles within an organisa-tion or profession-at-large[1].

The career patterns of librarians in centralgovernment libraries in the UK were studiedin 1992[2] by conducting a survey of librari-ans in one specific government department:the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Whether theMoD is typical of all government departmentlibrary services is arguable but it is certainlythe largest, and at the time employed morethan twice as many librarians as any othergovernment department. No study of thiskind had been carried out previously.

The confines of length in this article meanthat the results of the survey cannot be givenin great detail. It is also important that thereader appreciates the use of the upper andlower case “L” in “librarian”: “Librarian”,the upper case, refers to the civil servicegrade, while “librarian”, lower case, refers tothe librarian class or the profession in general.

The grading structure of the government librarian

The librarian class in the civil service has thefollowing grades: Assistant Librarian, Librari-an, Senior Librarian, grade 7 and grade 6.

Assistant LibrarianThis is the basic recruitment grade andalthough it is seen by the Library Associationto be a basic training grade which shouldautomatically progress to Librarian grade onchartership, this does not happen in practiceand there are many very responsible singletonposts in government libraries, particularlyMoD, graded at Assistant Librarian. Someposts may consist almost entirely of clericalwork while others have a heavy responsibilityfor staff and other duties; some AssistantLibrarian posts have been found to have moreresponsibility than other Librarian gradeposts[3]. In the MoD in 1992 there were 47Assistant Librarian posts, three of which werepart time.

LibrarianThis grade is considered by the Library Asso-ciation to be the minimum suitable for char-tered members, and the Library Associationrecommends that all singleton post holdersshould be graded at a minimum of Librarian

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The authorCatriona Hunter is Senior Librarian in the Ministry ofDefence. She is currently on secondment to LongmanGroup Ltd as part of her career development.

AbstractA survey of the career patterns of librarians in the Ministryof Defence was carried out in 1992. At the time it was themost comprehensive survey on the topic carried out in anygovernment department in the UK. Provides data onchoice of career, professional qualifications, career historyin librarianship, singleton posts, mobility, career breaks,Civil Service careers, alternative working patterns, presentjobs, job satisfaction, future career plans, backgroundinformation and attitudes. Finds that the career patterns ofstaff in government libraries do not differ greatly fromthose in other types of library, but there is much frustrationand uncertainty about the future. Suggests that the CivilService system does not always work as it is intended to.

Librarian Career DevelopmentVolume 4 · Number 1 · 1996 · pp. 5–12© MCB University Press · ISSN 0968-0810

Career patterns oflibrarians ingovernment libraries

Catriona Hunter

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grade[4]; this does not happen in reality. In1992 there were 43 Librarian grade posts inthe MoD.

Senior LibrarianA Senior Librarian has considerable manager-ial responsibility including resource deploy-ment and policy recommendations[4]. In1992 a number of Chief Librarian posts insmaller government departments were gradedSenior Librarian, e.g. Welsh Office, ScottishOffice, Home Office, but these have subse-quently been upgraded to grade 7. In theMoD, at the time of the survey, there were 13Senior Librarian posts.

Grades 7 and 6Grades 7 and 6 were formerly known as Prin-cipal and Senior Principal Librarian respec-tively and involve significant managerialduties as well as a knowledge of library andinformation work. Responsibility for staffother than librarians may also be included[4].In 1992 the MoD libraries had one grade 7post and one grade 6, Chief Librarian.

The composition of the workplace

MoD is the largest employer of librariansthroughout the civil service and in 1990employed 28 per cent of civil service librari-ans. In March 1992 the librarian class in theMoD totalled 105 staff in 50 libraries; therewere seven vacant posts: six at AssistantLibrarian grade and the Chief Librarian postat grade 6.

At Assistant Librarian and Librariangrades the male:female ratio reflected that oflibrarianship in general[5], i.e. 1:2, but therewas a complete reversal at Senior Librariangrade where the ratio became 2:1,male:female. This supports a common criti-cism of the profession that men get the topjobs.

The MoD librarian class showed a higherpercentage of men at Assistant Librarian andSenior Librarian grade than elsewhere in thecivil service; this may be a reflection of thesubject area, defence, which could beassumed to be of more interest to men, butthere is no evidence for this assumption. AtSenior Librarian grade the male:female ratiowas disproportionate compared with librari-anship as a whole.

Aims of the survey

The survey was carried out to find specificinformation on the career patterns of librari-ans in the Ministry of Defence, as this datahad not previously been collected. Detailedinformation on career patterns was requiredincluding: choice of career, professionalqualifications, career history in librarianshipand the civil service, present job, future careerplans and background information of a morepersonal nature to put the data into context.As the potential survey population was com-paratively small (98 librarians) it was decidedto survey the entire population and, thus,make the data fully representative of MoDlibrarians.

Methodology

The 52 questions were divided into eightsubject areas and some questions used in thequestionnaire were based closely on those insurveys carried out by Burrington[6] andWhite[7]. A total of 73 forms were returnedfor analysis, giving a 74 per cent response.Burton[8] states that a response rate above 60per cent is very acceptable and it was knownthat some people had no intention of complet-ing the questionnaire. Confidentiality wastaken very seriously from the beginning of thestudy and the survey forms were made totallyanonymous.

The sample

The survey population consisted of all 98professional library staff in post in the MoD inMarch 1992. A 74 per cent response rate wasachieved, as shown in Table I.

The response by males was higher thanthat by females and increased by grade. Thereasons for this are not known but it may bethat Senior Librarians felt they had less to losethan the lower grades. Whatever the reasonsfor non-response, the rate was sufficientlyhigh for all grades and sexes to make theresults representative of the librarian class inthe MoD.

Results and analysis

Choice of careerThree-quarters of respondents were glad theyhad chosen a career in librarianship, withfemales being slightly more positive than

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Career patterns of librarians in government libraries

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males. Only four respondents were not gladabout their career choice, and none of thesewere Assistant Librarians, i.e. those in theearlier stages of their careers. Respondentswere far less sure about whether they hadmade the right decision in choosing a civilservice career, and this was particularly obvi-ous at Assistant Librarian grade.

A wide range of careers had been followedprior to librarianship by those who stated thatlibrarianship was not their first career. Threerespondents had worked in accountancy orbanking, two in the book trade and three ininformation/research related spheres; therewas also an engineer, an industrial chemist,a nurse, a building contractor and a scrapmetal merchant.

Professional qualificationsAn equal number of respondents had a firstdegree in librarianship/information science ashad postgraduate diplomas. Senior Librariansappeared to be less well qualified with onlytwo having a first degree in librarianship andone having a postgraduate diploma; this isprobably due to the age group and the com-paratively recent introduction of these qualifi-cations. Seven respondents had obtainedmasters degrees in librarianship/informationscience (including one Senior Librarian) butthe balance was heavily weighted towardsmales. Three-quarters had achieved Associateof the Librarian Association (ALA) status butthere were only three Fellows of the LibrarianAssociation (FLAs). Nine respondents werecurrently studying for professional examina-tions; these were divided fairly evenly over thegrades but in favour of females. The desire toseek further professional qualifications wasfelt most strongly by the Librarian grade, and

least by Senior Librarians. Of those wishing togain further qualifications, females were moreinterested in obtaining librarianship/informa-tion science qualifications than males, whowished to gain a professional qualification toenable them to work in another field.

Career history in librarianshipRespondents had worked in a wide range oflibraries, but one-third had only worked ingovernment libraries. Within the MoD, Assis-tant Librarians had held an average of 1.5posts, Librarians 3.8 posts, and Senior Librar-ians 4.4 posts; males had a slightly higheraverage than females. The average number ofposts held outside the civil service was higherfor those at Assistant Librarian and Librariangrade than for Senior Librarians.

One female Librarian had had seven non-professional posts since obtaining her profes-sional qualifications, but this figure wasunusually high. The maximum number ofnon-professional posts held before qualifyingwas three, although most respondents hadonly held one such post.

A number of comments were providedrelating to career progression and some examples follow:

Though I am not ambitious, progression whereit has been important in the past has mostlybeen blocked due to lack of suitable posts formy particular expertise (male, AssistantLibrarian).

My career progression has come to a completehalt…the civil service does not recognize pastcareer abilities and appoints only at the lowestlevel (female, Assistant Librarian).

Singleton postsSingleton professional posts are common-place in the MoD and some Assistant

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Table I Survey response

Percentage of potential

Grade Male Female Total Male Female Total

Assistant Librarian 12 (14) 17 (27) 29 (41) 86 63 71

Librarian 14 (16) 18 (27) 32 (43) 87 67 74

Senior Librarian 7 (9) 4 (4) 11 (13) 78 100 85

Grade 7a 1 (1) – – 1 (1) 100 – 100

Total 34 (40) 39 (58) 73 (98) 85 67 74

Notes: Figures in parentheses indicate the potential responsea For reasons of confidentiality it had been decided not to survey the single grade 7 post holder (the grade 6was vacant at the time) but he specifically requested a questionnaire; these results were merged with thoseof the Senior Librarian grade to ensure confidentiality

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Librarians had worked in as many as six sin-gleton posts where there may or may not havebeen clerical help. Sixteen respondents hadworked in civil service libraries where theywere the sole member of staff; 12 had onlydone so once, but four had worked completelyalone in two libraries.

MobilityIn the previous year respondents had appliedfor an average of two posts within the civilservice. Applications for posts outside the civilservice averaged 3.2, excluding the AssistantLibrarian who had applied for a staggering 60-100 posts (he was unsure of the exactfigure). Of those applications within the civilservice an average of 1.8 were for promotion,with the number for Assistant Librariansbeing the highest.

Some respondents showed themselves tobe quite selective about accepting posts whichthey were offered following an application and22 respondents had turned down posts at onetime or another. More posts were rejectedoutside the civil service than within, and morefemales than males had rejected posts theywere offered. The reasons given for rejectingcivil service posts included: the prospects notbeing as attractive as had originally beenthought and the transfer conditions beingdisadvantageous; being offered promotion ormore than one post at the same time; domes-tic reasons; and a feeling that the securityrestrictions of the post would be difficult tocope with, personally and professionally.Posts outside the civil service were rejected forsimilar reasons: post being mainly non-profes-sional work; “bad vibes” at the interview;financial reasons; being offered more than onepost at the same time, or an alternative post tothat which had been applied for; and prob-lems with child care.

Thirty-nine respondents had moved housebecause of their own (not their partner’s)jobchanges, and ten respondents had changedtheir job at least once because their partnerhad got a job necessitating a move for both.

Career breaksTwenty-two respondents had had at least onecareer break; six of these had had two. Careerbreaks were not solely confined to women forthe traditional reasons of raising a family; sixmen had had career breaks and one had hadtwo. Career breaks had been taken by allgrades but were heavily weighted towards

Assistant Librarians. The length of the first oronly career break varied between four monthsand 17.5 years. Second career breaks were onthe whole much shorter. Following the careerbreaks all the men and two-thirds of thewomen returned to a full-time professionalpost. Four of the women returned to a part-time professional post and two to non-professional posts: one full time, one parttime.

Civil service careersThe major reasons why respondents haddecided to become librarians in the civilservice were because it was perceived to be agood job, or they had seen the civil service asproviding a safe job or career at the time ofjoining; for a third of respondents the civilservice post was the first job offered. Thechance to work anywhere in the world hadappealed to six respondents, all female, whichis interesting as the overseas posts are alleged-ly quite difficult to fill.

One fifth had had a temporary post in thecivil service before becoming established andthis was spread fairly evenly throughout thegrades.

The length of time spent at AssistantLibrarian grade varied from those who hadonly just joined the civil service to a maximumof 20 years. The average length of time formale Assistant Librarians was 4.5 years and5.5 years for females. At Librarian grade, themaximum time spent in the grade was 18years. The averages were 8.2 years (male), 7.4years (female). The alarming factor shown upby the Senior Librarian figures was that theminimum time spent in the grade was 3.5years, meaning that there had been no promo-tions to Senior Librarian for that period oftime. It is no wonder that Librarians werefound to be more dissatisfied than any othergrade at the speed at which their career wasprogressing. The maximum time spent atSenior Librarian grade was 21 years, with anaverage of 10.9 years for men, and 8.4 yearsfor women.

Assistant Librarians and Librarians hadheld an average of two posts in the grade, witha maximum of 15 for Assistant Librarians anda maximum of six for Librarians. At SeniorLibrarian grade the average number of posts held was 1.6 with a maximum of three.Previous periods of temporary promotion had been experienced by one-third of respondents.

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The minimum age at which AssistantLibrarian grade had been achieved was 20,with a maximum of 52 years. The average was28.7 years for males and 27.3 years forfemales. Librarian grade had been achieved atage 24 by both sexes, with an average age of30.6 years for men and 32.6 for women; themaximum age of achievement was 50. Age 31was the youngest age at which Senior Librari-an had been achieved and the maximum was49 years; the average age of achievement was35.7 for males and 39.8 for females.

A third of respondents were satisfied withthe rate at which their career was progressing,another third neither satisfied nor dissatisfied,but six Assistant Librarians, nine Librariansand three Senior Librarians were dissatisfiedwith their career progression. Many respondents gave detailed reasons explainingtheir feelings and some of these are includedbelow:

Absolutely no chance, it seems to me, of promo-tion to Senior Librarian. They all seem to beinternal appointments, even though the postsare trawled [i.e. advertised throughout the CivilService] (extremely dissatisfied, Librarian).

The fact that every time a senior post becomesvacant at the moment, it is cut, emphasizes thelow regard in which we are held…if you getstuck in the singleton post rut, you forfeit theopportunities to break into the promotionstakes (extremely dissatisfied, Librarian).

I am worried about the breadth of experience Iam getting. There is a lack of job rotation atLibrarian grade and a great danger of becomingstereotyped (fairly dissatisfied, Librarian).

I am not conscious of any progress in my career(fairly dissatisfied, Assistant Librarian).

The criticisms which came up repeatedly werethe lack of availability of Senior Librarianposts and the fact that previous library experi-ence “outside” “does not count for much inthe eyes of the civil service”.

Alternative working patternsAlthough only four respondents had ever triedto obtain jobs within the MoD using an alter-native work pattern (e.g. part-time, job shareor home working), the potential interest wasfairly high. Of those who had already tried toobtain such work three were female and onemale. One female Librarian who hadenquired informally about part-time work hadbeen told it would be rejected because therewas too much work (for who?), and a maleAssistant Librarian had successfully negotiat-ed temporary part-time work during exams,

but this was agreed with his local line management: “I got no help from personnel”.Not all staff are in favour of alternative work-ing patterns however, and one male Librariancommented that “it could result in a reduc-tion of full time posts – either to move to or bepromoted to”.

Present jobsThe maximum number of professional postsin any MoD library was 24, at the headquar-ters library. At the time of the survey, one-third of respondents currently worked insingleton professional posts, an equal number of Assistant Librarians and Librari-ans. A further third worked in libraries wherethere were between two and four professionalposts; most professional staff in the MoDwere therefore working in very small librariesand likely to suffer from all the well docu-mented problems such posts, particularlysingleton posts, involve.

Two-thirds of respondents had beenappointed to their present post from else-where in the MoD; this included all theSenior Librarian posts and over four-fifthsof Librarian posts, which rather supports thegeneral feeling throughout the civil servicethat internal appointments are preferredand promotion is easier to obtain within the parent department. The MoD certainlyappeared to be rather a closed shop. Less than half had started their present jobs onpromotion.

Overall, respondents had been at theircurrent substantive grade for an average of 6.7 years, with a maximum of 20-21 years atall grades. The average for Assistant Librari-ans was 4.9 years (mode = 5 years), Librari-ans 7.4 years (mode = 2.5 years) and SeniorLibrarians 9.2 years (mode = 7 years). Menhad held their present grades for an average of7.7 years and women 5.8 years, but the modeswere 2.5 and 5.0 respectively.

Respondents had held their present postfor an overall average of five years, but theaverage time increased by grade. At AssistantLibrarian grade the average was 3.5 years; themaximum period was ten years. For Librari-ans the maximum was 20 years with an aver-age of 4.6 years. Yet again the promotionblock is shown up by the Senior Librarianswho had been in post for an average of 9.9years; the maximum period was 21 years.The figures did not differ very greatly by sex.

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Job satisfactionThe majority of respondents expressed satis-faction with their present job, although almosta fifth were dissatisfied. All those who wereextremely dissatisfied were male (twoAssistant Librarians, two Librarians and one Senior Librarian); half of the femalerespondents expressed themselves as extremely satisfied.

Some of the comments gave insight intowhat constitutes job satisfaction and dissatis-faction:

My present post gives me almost unimaginableautonomy and freedom to make importantdecisions (male, Assistant Librarian, extremelysatisfied).

Non-professional tasks are a frustrating chore(male, Assistant Librarian, moderately satisfied)(this was commented on by a number of respon-dents).

The post is under-graded in comparison toothers; there is a lack of resources to realize thefull potential of the service (male, Librarian,moderately dissatisfied).

I am dissatisfied not because of the job itself,but the pressure plus uncertainty (male, SeniorLibrarian, moderately dissatisfied).

The job could be extremely interesting but I amstifled by the hierarchical structure in theworkplace which prevents individual initia-tive…complicated by high ranking militaryofficers breathing down one’s neck (male,Assistant Librarian, extremely dissatisfied).

Job satisfaction was found to exist even whererespondents were dissatisfied with their speedof career progression. Two-thirds of thosewho were extremely dissatisfied at their careerprogression were satisfied with their currentjobs. Respondents working outside Londonexpressed greater job satisfaction than thoseworking within the London weighting bound-ary, although the specific reasons for this werenot explored.

Future career plansOver half of the respondents intended toapply for another library post within the nexttwo years; this was equally divided betweenthe sexes and included a decreasing propor-tion by grade. Of those who intended to applyfor another library post, two-thirds would beaiming for promotion and a fifth-level trans-fer; the remainder were unsure. Interestingly,no Senior Librarians intended to apply for alevel transfer. The women showed themselvesto be more ambitious than their male col-leagues; almost three-quarters of female

respondents intended to apply for promotioncompared with half the males. Thirty-threerespondents stated that they would prefer toapply within the MoD and 32 elsewhere in thecivil service; 22 planned to apply outside thecivil service. All of those who were extremelydissatisfied with their current job intended toapply for another post within the next twoyears, and even one-third of those who wereextremely satisfied with their current postwould be applying for another post within twoyears, most for promotion.

Respondents were asked whether theyintended to retire before age 60. A fewrespondents commented that they wonderedwhether they would have such a choice andothers that they would like to work for longer.Overall only eight definitely intended to retirebefore 60 and 31 were unsure. Most respon-dents intended to remain in librarianship untilretirement.

One Senior Librarian commented: “I would hope to stay in librarianship, but thereduction in career prospects makes this lesslikely”.

Of those who intended to remain in thecivil service until retirement most planned tostay in the librarian class and only three totransfer to another class, although many wereunsure. Of those who wished to transfer, allspecified the administration class – althoughrealistically there is little other choice.

Background informationThe majority of Assistant Librarians were inthe 21-30 age group, which itself consistedentirely of Assistant Librarians. Most Librari-ans were aged 31-50. The majority of SeniorLibrarians were aged 41-50. Almost two-thirds of respondents stated that they weremarried or in an equivalent relationship andthis was fairly evenly balanced by grade andsex. Twenty-four respondents had children,however none of the responses seemed to beparticularly affected by the presence orabsence of children. No respondents werefully responsible for the care of a dependentadult relative, although a few were partlyresponsible and this was almost equally bal-anced by sex; responsibilities of this naturedid not appear to have affected any of thevariables.

AttitudesRespondents were asked about the relativeimportance of their career compared with

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their partner’s career. Two-fifths saw theirown career as equally important to theirpartner’s, seven as less important and nine asmore important. Even in these days of equalopportunities six men saw their careers asbeing more important than their partner’scompared with three women.

Some interesting comments were provided:My wife is not ambitious.Aspects of this change with time and age(female).My wife sees me as the main breadwinner,unfortunately!

The majority of respondents described themselves as quite ambitious, eight were very ambitious and 18 not at all ambitious.Perhaps predictably, Assistant Librarians werethe most ambitious grade. Females were moreambitious than males, although a cynic wouldsay that this was because women have furtherstill to go. The most ambitious age groupwas the 21-30s (all Assistant Librarians).Those who were least satisfied at their careerprogression rate were the most ambitious.

The majority of respondents felt that theirwork was equally as important as their fami-ly/social life, and to four respondents workwas the most important aspect of their lives.

Further commentsThe final part of the questionnaire gaverespondents the opportunity to add furthercomments and some of the comments aregiven below:

The most important consideration is not rankbut job satisfaction…I would not apply for aSenior Librarian job simply to gain promotion(male, Librarian).

I do not aspire to the highest levels of manage-ment (and salary) at the cost of giving upinvolvement in the technical aspects of libraryand information work…[although] I wouldprefer not to remain at the bottom of the ladderuntil I retire (male, Assistant Librarian).

I used to be very ambitious, but ambition andfamily commitments, don’t go together (female,Assistant Librarian).

I am a former head of library and informationservices, and I can only afford to be in mypresent job because I have a pension and othersources of income (male, Assistant Librarian).

The civil service needs business drive, and lesshierarchy and bureaucracy (male, AssistantLibrarian).

That your career development will be managedfor you has always been an illusion (male,Senior Librarian).

I accept that I am in a dead end with the civilservice as far as my career goes. I was told atmy career appraisal interview that to have anychance of promotion I would need experienceof at least two other Assistant Librarian posts.If the civil service wants to treat good andexperienced librarians like this, then otherswill be feeling as I do. I am left with absolutelyno loyalty or respect for the civil service, onlypride and high standards in my job (male,Assistant Librarian).

My enthusiasm for librarianship has deteriorat-ed over the years…this[questionnaire ] has beenthe only chance to discuss feelings. I need to“unburden” problems which have been felt for a long time (male, Assistant Librarian).

Conclusions

The survey was judged to be a success. It hada good response rate and most of those whoanswered were happy to provide detailedinformation about their career patterns andoften personal feelings as well. AlthoughAssistant Librarians had the lowest responserate, those who did reply were particularlyforthcoming. There were also some unexpect-ed spin offs: one or two librarians approachedthe writer for career advice, and at least oneAssistant Librarian had a career interview andarranged a level transfer as a result.

The responses to the questionnaire showedmuch frustration and uncertainty, and thecivil service system was clearly not alwaysworking as intended; for example, careermoves and alternative patterns of work werenot as easy to obtain as the civil serviceallegedly wants them to be. There was somemistrust of the personnel division, particularlyin this period of retrenchment in the civilservice, but also concern as to whether non-librarians were capable of knowing what isbest for librarians’ careers.

Some respondents were dissatisfied withmany areas of their work and clearly hadproblems, but some of these difficulties maybe of their own making and not the fault of the civil service, the MoD, personnel or linemanagement. There are two sides to everystory and the questionnaire only covered oneof them. Some positive comments werereceived, but it is human nature to complainand criticisms come easier than compliments;furthermore the questionnaire invited com-plaints and examples of dissatisfaction.

Promotion prospects were understandablya source of dissatisfaction as there had beennext to no promotion within the MoD over

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the three years prior to the survey, and someof those posts which had become vacant hadpromptly been cut. Another great source ofdissatisfaction, which cropped up again andagain, was the total disregard which the civilservice seems to have for professional experi-ence “outside”, as most recruitment takesplace at Assistant Librarian grade. Thoserespondents who commented on this clearlyfelt very bitter about the matter.

Except in predictable areas, e.g. more menstill have the top jobs and more women havehad career breaks, the responses between thesexes did not vary widely. However, uncer-tainty about the future of the MoD and thecivil service was evident in many of the replies.There have been many changes in the civilservice in recent years and it was clear thatmany librarians did not know quite wherethey stood.

The survey of career patterns of librariansin the MoD was, at the time, the most com-prehensive survey which had been carried outon this topic in any government department.It was recommended that a further surveyshould be carried out using the MoD surveyas a pilot study for a civil service-wide study, and this was carried out by Burge in1993[9].

Note and references

1 Heim, K.M. and Estabrook, L.S., “Career patterns oflibrarians”, Drexel Library Quarterly, Vol. 17, Summer1981, pp. 35-51.

2 Goddard, C., “Career patterns of librarians in govern-ment libraries in the United Kingdom: with an empha-sis on the Ministry of Defence”, MLib dissertation,University of Wales, 1992.

3 Wishart, L., “Assistant Librarians’ comments”(unpublished), Committee of DepartmentalLibrarians, October 1991.

4 Library Association, National Salary Scales andRecommendations for Civil Service Librarians:1988-89, Library Association, London, 1988.

5 Library Association membership figures for 1988 showa 27 per cent:73 per cent male:female split. Figuresobtained from the Library Association.

6 Burrington, G., Equal Opportunities in Librarianship?:Gender and Career Aspirations, Library Association,London, 1987.

7 White, B., Apologia Pro Vita Sua: Career Profiles ofSenior Library/Information People, British Library,London, 1988.

8 Burton, P., “Asking questions: questionnaire designand question planning”, in Slater, M., ResearchMethods in Library and Information Studies, LibraryAssociation, London, 1990, p. 62.

9 Burge, S., Broken Down by Grade and Sex: The CareerDevelopment of Government Librarians, LibraryAssociation Government Libraries Group, London,1995.

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