ERIC EJ1074671: Disturbingly Weak: The Current State of Financial Management Education in Library and Information Science Curricula

2015·0.86 MB·English

by  ERIC

Disturbingly Weak: The Current State of Financial
Management Education in Library and Information
Science Curricula
Robert H. Burger
University Library and Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, Email: [email protected]
Paula T. Kaufman
University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Email: [email protected]
Amy L. Atkinson
University Laboratoy High School, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
Email: [email protected]
Financial management skills are necessary for responsible library management. In light
of the profession’s current emphasis on financial literacy, the authors posed four ques-
tions: (1) to what extent are library and information science schools providing courses
in financial management for their graduates; (2) what is the quality and quantity of
library financial management textbooks available for current librarians and librarians
in training; (3) to what extent are there sufficient library continuing education venues
available in North America to provide this training; and (4) does any evidence exist to
show that librarians with library financial management responsibilities are well-trained
enough to manage library finances competently and effectively?
This study attempts to answer the first question. The authors examined the curricula
of all American Library Association (ALA) English-language accredited library schools in
North America to determine the extent to which financial management skills are taught.
The results are worrying. Although many accredited Library and Information Science
(LIS) programs require a general library management course for program completion,
only a small percentage of these courses offered even a brief focus on financial manage-
ment. The authors conclude by encouraging professional organizations and graduate
library schools to enhance their menus of educational programs. The profession must
provide the skills and support necessary to ensure the profession’s future.
Introduction and Problem vided governmental financial literacy links
Statement to both librarians and to their users (PLA,
n.d.). This emphasis is well placed, consid-
Financial literacy is currently a “hot” ering the apparently low level of personal
topic both in academic libraries and in financial literacy in the United States (Lu-
public libraries. The 2014 Association of sardi, 2009; Lusardi & Mitchell, 2011).1
College and Research Libraries President, All this attention raised several questions
Trevor A. Dawes, claimed financial liter- for the authors. First, to what extent are
acy as his presidential initiative (Dawes,
2013). Both the American Library Asso- 1Several recent studies about financial literacy in the United States
paint a disturbing picture of the state of financial literacy among
ciation (ALA) Midwinter and ALA An- the population, which, of course, includes librarians. See An-
nual meetings had programs devoted to it namaria Lusardi, “The Importance of Financial Literacy” NBER
(National Bureau of Economic Research) Reporter, 2009, Num-
(ACRL, n.d.). The Public Library Associ- ber 2, pp. 13–16 and Annamaria Lusardi and Olivia S. Mitchell,
ation has also embraced the importance of “Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning in the United States”
NBER Working Paper No. 17108, Issued in June 2001. Also avail-
financial literacy insofar as they have pro- able at http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/17108.html
J. of Education for Library and Information Science, Vol. 56, No. 3—(Summer) July 2015
190 ISSN: 0748-5786 © 2015 Association for Library and Information Science Education
doi:10.12783/issn.2328-2967/56/3/2
Disturbingly Weak: The Current State of Financial Management Education 191
library and information science schools libraries must prove their worth to fund-
providing courses in financial manage- ing authorities. Financially knowledgeable
ment for their graduates? Second, what is leaders are in a stronger position to work
the quality and quantity of library financial with their supervisors and boards, to make
management textbooks available for cur- stronger cases for increased or steady fi-
rent librarians and librarians in training? nancing, to develop strategic approaches
Third, to what extent are there sufficient to financial matters, and to lead and edu-
library continuing education venues avail- cate their employees than are unknowl-
able in North America to provide this train- edgeable leaders. Library managers need
ing? Fourth and finally, does any evidence to be well grounded in a comprehensive
exist to show that librarians with library array of financial management principles.
financial management responsibilities are In addition, embezzlement in libraries
well-trained enough to manage library fi- no longer seems to be an isolated phenom-
nances competently and effectively? After enon. Reports of embezzlement and other
all, if North American library profession- financial malfeasance undermine public
als are intent on ensuring that their patrons trust in the institution and the acts them-
are financially literate, they themselves selves threaten its future. Although such
certainly should be so, too. criminal acts do not occur often and the
All of these are legitimate research amounts stolen are modest compared to
questions that deserve investigation. This other white-collar crimes, Snyder (2006,
paper will focus on the first question, relat- p. vi) notes that “fraud and embezzle-
ing to the library and information science ment have a long history in the profes-
(LIS) curricula in English-speaking ALA sion of librarianship.” He goes on to cite
accredited LIS schools in North America. occurrences in the past including that of
We chose to investigate this first question Klas Linderfelt, who was director of the
for several reasons. First of all, no one has Milwaukee Public Library and president
yet carried out a comprehensive survey of of the American Library Association
this part of the LIS curricula. Second, giv- from 1891 to 1892. Linderfelt embezzled
en current pressures on financial resources $9,000 (over $100,000 in today’s dollars)
for libraries in all sectors, it appears to us from his library. Snyder’s book, while
that there is in fact an increasing need for focused on how to prevent fraud and em-
library managers at all levels to be knowl- bezzlement in libraries, offers many ex-
edgeable about financial management. amples to illustrate the ways in which a
Frequent articles in the library press reveal determined thief can thwart trusting and fi-
that more accountability for the financial nancial management-challenged librarians
condition of libraries is being demanded, Managers and others who are not knowl-
especially for public libraries. That is, edgeable about financial management do
taxpayers and other stakeholders seem no not have the skills necessary to determine
longer content to fund libraries as a public if adequate internal controls have been
good without question. Libraries are being implemented or if the financial statements
asked to prove their economic value to the fairly and accurately represent the finan-
community served and to demonstrate that cial status of the library.
the financial resources available to them Existing library literature (discussed
are being managed responsibly and in ac- below) supports this need in the profession
cordance with the appropriate standards and the current inadequacy of financial
and best practices. Such views may reflect management training. It also offers insight
the monetization of former cultural goods, into skills that are both inarguably valu-
leading to the notion that everything has a able and increasingly necessary to the field
dollar value (Sandel, 2012) and that in or- of librarianship. However, for present or
der to receive tax funds or tuition money, future library managers, the financial train-
192 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
ing needed to keep their institutions afloat fore positing that libraries and librarians
so as to continue serving the greater good will play a central role in helping avoid the
is difficult to acquire through LIS profes- next financial meltdown, mentioned there
sional education programs. Compounding in the form of “visual analytics for finan-
the issue is a misapprehension (frequently cial systemic risk analysis” (p. 26)
encountered anecdotally by the authors) The literature is not entirely bereft of
that LIS grads don’t have budget responsi- insight and prescience into the need for
bilities in their first jobs. This misconcep- financial management training. As Purtell
tion not only potentially lowers motiva- and Fossett (2010) note in the thorough
tion to incorporate such training into LIS and invigorating Beyond Budgeting: Pub-
curricula, it also overlooks the fact that lic-Service Financial Education in the 21st
among recent graduates, many are thrown Century, “adequate financial resources
into responsibilities that may require basic are essential to accomplishing almost any
financial/budget knowledge (e.g., collec- public-service mission, and even general-
tion development), some will immediately ist managers need to have skills for mak-
assume leadership of small libraries, and ing sensible decisions about where and
still others may have many years of non- how to spend money” (p. 97). Another
professional library experience and be ex- such exception appears in a January 2002
cellent candidates for directorships or as- conversation between Kent Boese of The
sistant directorships, both of which require Bottom Line and Ken Haycock, then-di-
financial management skills. rector of the Graduate School of Library,
Archival, and Information Science at the
Literature Review University of British Columbia, discuss-
ing the key financial issues facings librar-
A survey of the literature failed to find ies and librarians:

discourse or references to financial man-
agement instruction throughout LIS curri- TBL: Are library schools doing enough
cula. More frequently found are calls for to prepare librarians to be sound financial
libraries to offer personal financial aware- managers?
ness and training to their patrons, particu-
Haycock: No. Financial management is
larly in light of the recent recession. This
typically one class in a required manage-
patron or public-centered perspective ex-
ment course, and some programs do not
tends to attitudes toward LIS coursework,
even have a required general course in
as recent articles in American Libraries
management. At the same time, graduates
demonstrate. A. Wise’s 2013 article, “LIS
are moving more quickly into management
on the Job,” aptly begins, “As states con-
positions. You tell me: is three hours of
tinue to report decreases in library fund-
instruction sufficient to manage hundred of
ing, budget cuts remain a persistent issue
thousands of dollars of resources and per-
for libraries. The situation demands that
sonnel? Of course, one could say the same
library schools produce well-educated stu-
thing of many other areas too. In defense
dents with real-world experience who can
of the schools, employers are reluctant to
work within today’s constraints” (p. 38).
pay higher salaries for a longer education.
Wise then promptly calls for increased at-
(p. 47)
tention to data curation skills and practical
training (e.g., practica) within degree pro- MacKenzie and Smith make similar
grams (Wise, 2013). Similarly, in “What’s observations in “Management Education
New in LIS Schools,” Beverly Goldberg for Library Directors: Are Graduate Li-
(2012) stresses collaboration, navigation, brary Programs Providing Future Library
and data curation skills as necessary com- Directors With the Skills and Knowledge
ponents of LIS professionals’ toolkits be- They Will Need?” (2009). Though their
Disturbingly Weak: The Current State of Financial Management Education 193
survey of forty-eight ALA-accredited LIS specialists, and informed consumers of fi-
programs considered management course nancial-advisory services. In essence, they
content more generally, their results are need to be able to ask the right questions,
telling: a list of 30 topics addressed with- interpret the results, know when to ask for
in these courses did not contain financial assistance and, on occasion, complete a
management as an area of study. As the simple analysis for their own use. (p. 102)
authors remark, “the results of this ex-
ploratory study reveal a limited focus on With increased demands of account-
management education within the gradu- ability, crippling budget cuts, and calls to
ate library degree” (p. 141)—a conclusion run libraries like businesses (and counter
mirrored and compounded in our finance- arguments such as Will Manley’s 2002
focused findings. “Run Business Like a Library”), it stands
If the literature rarely speaks to this to reason that library professionals, par-
lack, it fares little better with filling the ticularly managers, should understand
void. Library-centered tutorial type ar- the language and issues at hand. Libraries
ticles with practical instruction for pro- may opt to do as Terrance Cottrell advises
fessionals seldom appear in database and in “Retreat. Reveal. Retain.” (2012) and
journal searches. Those now-and-future maximize staff retreats by using them as
managers seeking clear advice have more financial training (namely budget-centric)
to gain from articles directed toward li- workshops—a viable if superficial op-
brary trustees, such as Glen Holt’s nine- tion when both professional development
item list, “Financial Responsibilities of funds and relevant opportunities are in
Library Boards” (2005). While brief, the short supply. More challenging to imple-
roster of trustee responsibilities provides ment but more durable and rewarding:
current and potential managers with a altering curricula, as suggested by Purtell
basic vocabulary and set of concepts for and Fossett (2010), to create not only flex-
more in-depth exploration; indeed, even ible, financially savvy managers, but also
those practitioners whose management “scholars who can generate the research
education included an entire session on necessary for developing a public-service
budgeting might benefit from investigat- managerial-finance literature that is as ro-
ing Holt’s principles of appropriateness bust and as practical as the work our col-
of expenditures, satisfactory reserves, and leagues in business schools produce for
risk management. their stakeholders” (p. 108).
This situation hearkens back to Beyond To determine to what extent education
Budgeting (2010), Purtell and Fossett’s call that provides knowledge of budgets and
for more sophisticated financial manage- financial management is available to LIS
ment training for public service personnel. students and practicing librarians, we ex-
Spurred by a seeming disconnect between amined the 2014 academic year LIS curri-
management training and the realities of cula of all English based ALA-accredited
the financial world, they advocate for core library schools in North America.
financial courses that serve both general-
ists and those who will continue with stud- Methodology and Findings
ies focused on finance, arguing:
To analyze the extent of financial man-
the core course must go beyond the agement training across LIS curricula, we
budgeting aspects of managerial finance surveyed the English-language websites
and include a broader array of planning of fifty-six library and information sci-
and analytical tools. We need to prepare ence programs, fifty of which have full
students to be informed users of financial ALA accreditation and six which have
information, prudent managers of financial conditional accreditation. Our findings
194 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
drew from course catalogs and schedules, of the doctoral course, which was required
degree requirements, the contents of sixty- of PhD students enrolled in the Leadership
two syllabi both found online and obtained and Management track at Simmons.
from relevant faculty and adjunct instruc- Investigation of the respective program
tors, as well as email requests to LIS fac- websites and emails to pertinent facul-
ulty members seeking more information or ty for these ten courses resulted in eight
clarification about their specific financial syllabi made available for examination.
management courses. To get the broadest These documents, combined with reason-
sense of the financial management educa- able inferences from course titles and de-
tion offered to students, we considered not scriptions, revealed that eight of the ten
only those classes devoted solely to such were broader scope finance courses and
material or to general administration and two restricted their scope to budgetary
management, but also those courses that topics alone.
included some element of financial liter-
acy instruction, such as school library or General and School Library
collection development. While we focused Management Courses
on master’s level programs, we also sur-
veyed doctoral and continuing education While the percentage of courses de-
courses to ascertain the level of financial voted solely to financial management was
training offered to all students in the field. small, we also acknowledged that gen-
eral library management courses might
Financial Management Courses also contain sessions devoted to financial
management. Therefore, we also investi-
Of the fifty-six programs surveyed, only gated library general management courses
ten (18%) offered courses devoted to finan- at these schools in order to ascertain the
cial management, nine at the master’s level amount of time devoted to financial man-
and one as a doctoral level course. While agement topics.
seven of these were offered as semester- Across the fifty-six LIS programs sur-
long courses for standard levels of credit, veyed, 96% (n = 54) offered general man-
three had some form of truncation or irreg- agement courses, and, in turn, 74% (n =
ularity, for example as a three-week, one- 41) of those schools required a manage-
credit course or as one of several rotating ment course component for degree com-
topics assigned to a particular course num- pletion (See Figure 1).
ber. None of these courses was required Analysis of thirty-three available syl-
for degree completion, with the exception labi for these forty-one general library
Figure 1. Management Courses Across Fifty-Six Programs.
Disturbingly Weak: The Current State of Financial Management Education 195
Figure 2. Management and Other Courses with attention to Finance.
management courses showed that the able syllabi focusing on administration of
nineteen of them offered at least one rel- school library media courses surveyed in
evant class session and one course offered this study, one-hundred percent devoted at
as many as four relevant sessions. To be least one week and/or a course assignment
more specific: twelve courses had one to financial considerations in the form of
session focused or partially focused on fi- budgets and, to a lesser extent, fundrais-
nance, one had two sessions, five had three ing. Though we could not obtain syllabi
sessions, and one devoted four sessions to for the remaining eighteen school library
the topic. The remaining fourteen courses media courses we identified, the consistent
with available syllabi had unclear or non- evidence from the other twelve strongly
existent attention to finance; that is, over implies that their counterparts would pay
forty percent of management courses had similar attention to the financial aspects
no identifiable finance training for LIS of school library management. This focus
master’s students and, presumably, future on money matters reflects the particular
library managers. responsibilities of school librarians, who
Factored into this data are courses of- routinely find themselves managing the li-
fered as part of a menu of choices within brary unit in the K–12 environment.
a mandated management or specialization
module, regardless of whether their title Other, Non-Management Courses
and content explicitly reflected a manage-
ment focus, such as “Public Libraries.” In Further exploration of the surveyed pro-
three such cases, students were required to grams’ course catalogs revealed that forty-
choose three of six courses—thus provid- five courses (such as “Academic Libraries”
ing no guarantee that they would receive or “Special Libraries”) across twenty-one
focused management training, let alone of the fifty-six schools (38%) offered
exposure to financial management best some aspect of financial management
practices. training, or at least provided an awareness.
In programs offering K–12 certifica- Examination of sixteen syllabi available
tion, some form of management educa- for such courses revealed that nine spent
tion is almost always required, most often one class session and/or project focused or
under the rubric of “Administration of partially focused on finances; however no
School Library Media Programs” or simi- course exceeded one class session’s worth
lar titles. Of the twelve courses with avail- of study (See Figure 2). Similar to courses
196 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
in school library tracks, these specialized programs require some sort of general li-
courses generally focused on unit budgets brary management course for program
rather than overall library financial man- completion, only a small percentage of
agement. An exception was found in mar- these courses offered even a brief focus
keting classes, which also covered finance on financial management. Most K-12 cer-
cursorily and only from the perspective of tification programs require management
public relations. training; although such courses consistent-
LIS curricula, then, is ripe for growth ly devote time to financial considerations,
in financial management training. The cur- students preparing for careers in other LIS
rent general lack of such focus in accred- professional sectors do not have general
ited LIS programs may have been one im- access to opportunities to learn about fi-
petus behind an emerging online program nancial management applicable to their
through the Marshall School of Business professional setting.
at the University of Southern California This investigation has revealed the
(USC). The Master of Management in Li- apparent inadequacy of financial man-
brary and Information Science, offered in agement training in accredited ALA LIS
collaboration with the University Librar- schools. But this is only one part of a
ies, is currently in the process of seeking potentially larger problem in our profes-
ALA accreditation; disappointingly, its sion. The other questions that we posed
brochure, (http://librarysciencedegree.usc. at the beginning of this article also need
edu/?Access_Code=USC-MMLIS- to be addressed, viz.: (1) is there a solid
SEO2&utm_source=kp_traffic&utm_ corpus of library financial management
medium=referral&utm_campaign=s_ textbooks available for current librarians
searche) lists no specific financial and librarians in training; (2) are there suf-
management courses at the time of this ficient library continuing education ven-
writing. ues available in North America to provide
this training; and (3) are librarians with
Conclusion library financial management responsibili-
ties well-trained enough to manage library
Sound financial management is a criti- finances competently and effectively? An-
cally important key to the success of any swering these questions requires differ-
library. As financial resources become ent approaches and research designs and
scarcer in most settings, and as expecta- therefore have not been addressed here.
tions of accountability for managers’ per- The LIS professions are changing rap-
formance continue to rise, the requirement idly. Today’s—and tomorrow’s—envi-
for the library director and middle level ronments feature changes brought about
managers to possess a sound knowledge of by new technologies, compel new types
financial management becomes essential, of collaborations, and require of success-
regardless of the size of the library. ful managers and leaders a long list of
We began our examination of the extent skills and expertise, not the least of which
to which financial management knowl- is competence in financial management.
edge and skills are available to students In light of these demands, we must once
and practitioners in our profession with again revisit the composition and length of
considerable skepticism about finding a our educational programs so as to accom-
rich array of available for-credit courses. modate the fundamental, traditional, and
Our study of current (2014) LIS programs’ emerging needs of professionals. Simi-
curricula uncovered but a few relevant of- larly, we must encourage our professional
ferings, none of which were required for organizations’ careful consideration and
completion of a general master’s level enhancement of their own menu of edu-
program. Although many accredited LIS cational programs available to members.
Disturbingly Weak: The Current State of Financial Management Education 197
Whether at the master’s or continuing A snapshot of librarianship’s never-ending meta-
education level—and ideally in both—the morphosis. American Libraries, 43(7/8), 24–26.
message is the same: we must provide the Holt, G. E. (2005). Financial responsibilities of library
boards. The Bottom Line, 18(3), 133–137. doi:
skills and support necessary to ensure the
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/08880450510613605
profession’s future, especially if we are
Lusardi, A. (2009). The importance of financial lit-
touting ourselves as competent teachers of
eracy. NBER Reporter, 2, 13–16.
financial literacy to our patrons.
Lusardi, A., & Mitchell, O. S. (2011). Financial
literacy and retirement planning in the United
Acknowledgements States. Journal of Pension Economics & Finance,
10(4), 509–525. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/
S147474721100045X
The authors would like to acknowledge
Mackenzie, M. L., & Smith, J. P. (2009). Manage-
Scott Bennett, Marsha Grove and Rachel
ment education for library directors: are graduate
Rubin for their careful and helpful reading
library programs providing future library direc-
of and comments on earlier drafts of this tors with the skills and knowledge they will need?
paper. Journal of Education For Library and Informa-
tion Science, 50(3), 129–142.
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