Retirement, Retention, and Recruitment in Colorado Libraries: The 3Rs Study Revisited

Prompted by more than a decade of discussion about the "graying" of the library profession, the Library Research Service (LRS) undertook the study: Retirement, Retention, and Recruitment: The Future of Librarianship in Colorado (3Rs). During the last quarter of 2003, 1,241 librarians, paraprofessionals, library and information science (LIS) students, and independent information professionals from all over the state responded to a voluntary online survey asking them about their careers, their workplaces, and their attitudes about librarianship. Respondents included both library workers who planned to retire within the next five years and those who did not. The study showed that more than 20 percent of responding librarians expected to retire within the next five years, and of all responding school librarians almost half indicated plans to retire by the end of 2008. When asked about the effect of the 2001–2 downturn in the economy on their retirement plans, nearly half of all respondents (48 percent) indicated it had no effect. However, more than one in ten (11 percent) said they planned to retire later because of economic conditions. In 2009, with the country in the worst recession in generations, retirement plans continue to be affected. This article will discuss the 2003 study, as well as current findings from reader polls conducted by LRS.