Abstract

The ACRL Standards for Faculty Status for College and University Librarians state that library faculty should have the same privileges and responsibilities as other faculty on campus. However, some conditions, such as tenure and equitable salaries, are often withheld from library faculty. When faculty status is implemented by ACRL standards, it is associated with better job satisfaction, improved status, higher salaries, and more opportunities for professional development. However, faculty status librarians face pressure to do research, publish, and attend meetings. These responsibilities detract from time spent on traditional librarianship duties and often from personal time as well. In addition, economists believe that faculty status will eventually lead to a decreased demand for librarians because of the diversion of energy away from librarianship. Faculty status for librarians is positively correlated with indicators of student achievement, such as graduation rates and pursuit of graduate-level education. However, it is interesting to note that librarian faculty status is also associated with decreased research output of the institution as a whole.

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