Connecticut Libraries - Employers Rate SCSU Training - A Special Report by CLA's Library Education Task Force - May 1985

Sep 29, 2026

Employers’ perceptions of Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) Library Science training are summarized from a December questionnaire sent to 450 Connecticut library-related hiring contacts. Ninety-three surveys (21%) were returned and tabulated in January 1985, with public, academic, and special library representatives forming most respondents. Findings include employee placement figures since 1980 and ratings of preparation quality on a 1–5 scale, along with open-ended suggestions emphasizing stronger practicum and internship experiences to improve real-world skills and problem solving.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Employers Rate SCSU Training

Survey purpose and distribution

Respondent breakdown and placement data

Overall ratings and interpretation

Skill ratings by area

Open-ended feedback and suggested training changes

Volume 27 Number 5 CLA's Library Education Task Force wascreated by action of the CLA ExecutiveBoard at its September 1984 meeting "toinvestigate the statusof library educationin Connecticut."Membership on the TaskForce included Betsy Wilkens(chair),Mary Dymek,BillJacob,Jean Mayhew,Betsy Kenneson and Sue Marsh.The TaskForce held an organizational meeting inOctober and reported to the ExecutiveBoard in November that it planned toconduct two attitudinal surveys,onedirected to employers of librarians,and asecond directed to students and alumni ofSouthern Connecticut State University'sSchool of Library Science and Instruc-tional Technology.This approach turnedout to be impractical when a mailing listof SCSU students and alumni proved tobe unobtainable from the University.From a variety of sources,the TaskForce was able to construct a mailing listof 450 people with hiring responsibilities,including individual librarians,SpecialLibraries Assoiation members,and direc-tors of public and academic libraries inthe State.School librarians were not in-cluded on the list.A questionnaire wassent to the 450 names on the list inDecember.Replies were received andtabulated in January 1985,and BetsyWilkens provided a summary report tothe CLA Executive Board in February.That report is printed below. Rocco Orlando,acting dean of SCSU'sSchool of Library Science and Instruc-tional Technology,has been offered theopportunity to address this issue in thepages of CL but he has declined to do so.He pointed out that the University andthe School have undergone majoradministrative changes recently,that hiscurrent responsibilities for the School aretemporary,and that a search for a newdean for the School is nearing completion.It is his opinion that these issues canbest be addressed by the new dean,thenew chair of the department,Dr.Gwen-dolyn Wright,and other faculty who haveofficial and permanent responsibility fordealing with them.The editor wishes toassure members of the SCSU communitythat the pages of CL are available for fu-ture commentary on this important issue. ■ David Kapp,editor # CONNECTICUTLIBRARIESA Publicatian ofThe Connecticut Library Association Employers Rate SCSU Training:A Special Report byCLA's Library Education Task Force Betsy Wilkens The purpose of this survey was todetermine perceptions of those whohire librarians aoout the quality oflibrary training offered at SouthernConnecticut State UniversitySchool of Library Science andInstructional Technology. Questionnaires were mailed to 450Connecticut librarians,public librarydirectors,Special Libraries Associationmembers,CLSU's and directors of aca-demic libraries.School librarians were notsurveyed.Of these,93_(21%)question-naires were returned.Forty-eight percentof these were from public library direc-tors.Although the return rate,based ontotal mailing seems low,it is because ofthe blanket mailing to Specia LibrariesAssociation members who may not be ina hiring capacity,and therefore did notreturn the survey.The percentage by typeof respondent follows:Public(48%),Academic(26%),Special (19%),Other(5%),and CLSU (1%). The number of professional positions re-ported to have been filled since 1980 was177.The largest number of librarianscame from five library schools:SouthernConnecticut State University(55),Sim-mons College(45),Columbia University(11),Rutgers(11),and University ofRhode Island(8). May 1985 From this we can conclude that SouthernConnecticut State University School ofLibrary Science and Instructional Tech-nology(SCSU)is a major supplier of em-ployees to Connecticut libraries.Percep-tions of how well these graduates wereprepared,based on a scale of1(low)to5(high),ranged from 3.9(SCSU)to 4.5(Rutgers). There is no objective measure in this sur-vey.It only indicates what some people,not necessarily a random sample,werewilling to say at a given time.But,sincethe respondents are in hiring positions,we need to be aware of their opinionsabout library school education

FAQs

What was the purpose of the CLA Library Education Task Force survey?

To determine perceptions of those who hire librarians about the quality of library training offered at SCSU’s School of Library Science and Instructional Technology.

How many questionnaires were sent and how many were returned?

Questionnaires were mailed to 450 contacts, and 93 (21%) were returned.

What changes did respondents most commonly suggest for training?

Respondents most often wanted improvements to the practicum/internship program, including greater exposure to real work situations through internships and related methods.

Sep 29, 2026

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