A 1978 survey of full-time faculty in 7 Canadian graduate library schools (population: 81 faculty; survey size: 71 faculty; responding: 59 or 83%) showed that, of the 7 library school deans and directors, 5 were male and 2 were female.                    (Source)

 A study reported in 1983 investigating the educational and professional qualifications of the 162 individuals holding deanships (excluding acting or interim deans) of ALA-accredited library school programs in North America during the period 1960-81 showed thatfor the whole period women accounted for 39 (24.1%) of the deanships and men for 123 (75.9%) of the deanships. Further, of the 62 library school deans holding office in 1981, 13 (21%) were women and 49 (79%) were men.        (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe 29 library education programs in the U.S. that had maintained ALA accreditation throughout the period 1960-81 had 77 deans during this period, including 14 (18.2%) women and 63 (81.8%)  men. The 2 Canadian library education programs that had likewise maintained ALA accreditation throughout the 1960-81 period had 9 deans, including 8 (88.9%) women and 1 (11.1%) men.                     (Source)

         Ibid…. showed thatthe average age at which the 39 women were first appointed dean was 49.7 years, while the average age at which the 123 men were first appointed dean was 44.8 years.                (Source)

         Ibid…. showed that144 (88.9%) of the deans had a fifth-year (master’s level) library degree, including 37 (94.9%) of the women and 107 (87%) of the men. Further, 3 library schools together accounted for 40.3% of the 144 fifth-year degrees awarded deans. These were: Columbia (32 or 22.2% of the fifth-year degrees), University of Illinois (14 or 9.7% of the fifth-year degrees), and University of Michigan (12 or 8.3% or the fifth-year degrees).              (Source)

         Ibid…. showed that67 (41.4%) of the deans held subject master’s degrees, including 9 (23.1%) women and 58 (47.2%) men.                 (Source)

        Ibid…. showed that124 (76.5%) of the deans held doctorates, including 24 (61.5%) women and 100 (81.3%) men. The types of doctorates held were as follows:

                 Ph.D.                15 (38.4%) women;             88 (71.5%) men

                D.L.S.                 6 (15.4%) women;                 7 (5.7%) men

                Ed.D.                    3 (7.7%) women;                 4 (3.3%) men

                Des. L.                  0 (0.0%) women;                 1 (0.8%) men

 Further, 78 of the doctorates were in library science, while the remainder were in other subject areas.                (Source)

         Ibid…. showed that, of the 12 ALA-accredited library schools awarding a total of 77 Ph.D.’s or D.L.S.’s to the deans, the 3 schools awarding the most library science doctorates to this group of deans were: University of Chicago (15 or 19.5% of the library science doctorates), University of Michigan (14 or 18.2% of the library science doctorates), and Columbia (12 or 15.6% of the library science doctorates).                                  (Source)

         Ibid…. showed thatthe average total years of professional experience per library school dean was 17.5 years, including an average of 21.7 years of professional experience per female dean and 16.2 years of professional experience per male dean.       (Source)

         Ibid…. showed thatthe average total years of library experience per library school dean was 10.5 years, including an average of 11.3 years per female dean and an average of 10.3 years per male dean.                  (Source)

         Ibid…. showed that62 (38.3%) library school deans had previously served as faculty members of the same library school to which they were appointed dean, including 24 (61.5%) of the female deans and 38 (30.9%) of the male deans.                      (Source)

         Ibid…. showed that33 (20.4%) library school deans had had previous library school administrative experience, including 7 (17.9%) women deans and 26 (21.1%) male deans.                 (Source)

         Ibid…. showed that147 (90.7%) deans had had library experience. A higher proportion of women than men had received most of their library experience in school libraries (12 or 30.8% women; 10 or 8.1% men), while a larger proportion of men than women had received most of their library experience in govermental libraries (2 or 5.1% women; 14 or 11.4% men) and special libraries (no women; 7 or 5.7% men). There was little difference between the proportions of men and women who had received most of their library experience in public libraries (5 or 12.8% women; 17 or 13.8% men) or academic libraries (19 or 48.7% women; 57 or 46.3% men).                    ((Source)

 

Dr. David Kohl

 "Libraries in the digital age are experiencing the most profound transformation since ancient Mesopotamian scribes first began gathering and organizing cuneiform tablets."

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