The Continuing Decline of Academic Law Library Director Status and Rank 

56 Pages Posted: 18 Mar 2024

See all articles by Victoria Szymczak

Victoria Szymczak

University of Hawaii at Manoa - William S. Richardson School of Law

Melanie Knapp

George Mason University Law Library

Date Written: August 23, 2024

Abstract

We revisit the perennial question of the status of law library directors at American law schools and ask, “Should law library directors be afforded the status of a tenured law faculty member with full voting rights?” The article is empiric, relying on data collected from 101 sitting library directors in 2023 using a survey to show the current statuses and demographics of directors. The survey measured age, union status, gender, appointment type, appointment status, voting rights, tenure and promotion requirements, and teaching loads. An open-ended qualitative question asked for directors’ thoughts on tenure for themselves and the profession. Historic data is newly presented to present trends over time. Comparative data for the national professoriate in legal and higher education is considered. We close with conjecture about why tenure is declining for directors and recommendations for supporting directors to earn tenure including support for scholarship, recognition of administration as service in the tenure and promotion process, and better uniformity and transparency in directors’ position descriptions. The lack of diversity among directors demonstrated here should motivate librarians and their partners to provide more and better opportunities for librarians of color to enter and succeed in the profession. The data and insights are timely while the ABA is focusing on the faculty status of clinical, writing, and library faculty through the accreditation process. The article is useful for directors, aspiring directors, and faculty, deans, and University leaders looking to hire, retain, or support a law library director. 

Keywords: law libraries directors law faculty status race gender law library governance tenure academic freedom job security, tenure, academic law libraries, status

JEL Classification: Y10

Suggested Citation

Szymczak, Victoria and Knapp, Melanie, The Continuing Decline of Academic Law Library Director Status and Rank  (August 23, 2024). University of Hawai’i Richardson School of Law Research Paper No. 4737104, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4737104 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4737104

Victoria Szymczak

University of Hawaii at Manoa - William S. Richardson School of Law ( email )

2515 Dole Street
Honolulu, HI 96822-2350
United States

Melanie Knapp (Contact Author)

George Mason University Law Library ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States
(703) 993-8103 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.law.gmu.edu/library/

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