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Why Let Them Go? Retaining Experienced Librarians By Creating Challenging Internal Career Paths: Introducing The `Executive Librarian'?, Jonathan A. Franklin

Librarians' Articles

In a traditional hierarchical library, librarians often must leave the institution to move up the career ladder The library loses an experienced librarian and must also invest a substantial amount of time and money to train a new employee.

The author argues that libraries should attempt to retain experienced librarians by creating continuously challenging career paths with equivalent rewards. He proposes a new type of position—that of executive librarian—that would include increasingly individualized job content, a voice in institutional decision making, and optional administrative responsibilities.