The McLibrary, coming sooner than you think!

Librarians are "weeding" out tomes that are not widely circulated -- an appalling thought for traditionalists, who count on the library to carry the obscure volume, too.
Librarians themselves will morph:
• A clerical worker with a college degree will answer reference questions -- basically taking over the role for which a librarian went to college to get a master's degree.
• Librarians with expertise in a particular field no longer will order books for their area.
• Users will do more self-service.
Some call it McLibrary. Everything is about volume and quick turnover. And money.

source:
'New and improved' library...

Deprofessionalization, the figures!

Between 2002 and 2012, the number of librarians is expected to increase by 10.1%, while library technicians increase by 16.8% and library assistants by 21.5%. Total employment in the U.S is expected to increase by 14.8% over this period.[3]

These projections for library workers are consistent with those for 2000–2010, when the number of librarians was expected to increase by 7%, while the number of technicians increased by 19.5% and the number of library assistants by 19.7%.[4]

This trend points to a deprofessionalization: work once performed only by librarians is now performed by support staff. In a recent American Library Association Support Staff Interests Round Table (ALA SSIRT) Survey of 212 library support staff, 73% stated that they are now performing tasks previously performed by Masters of Library Science (MLS) librarians at their library, or have the same or similar duties as MLS librarians at other institutions.

Note: Similar Canadian figures were not located.

Source:Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, 2004

Q. Why do we need librarians anyway?

A.
In a world that’s information rich, librarians are
information smart. They save time and money by helping
to find the exact information needed. They teach
children the joy of reading, and seniors how to surf the
Internet. Helping and teaching others to find and
evaluate information is a unique skill that librarians bring.

source: Campaign for America's Librarians Advocating for Better Salaries and Pay Equity Toolkit

Note: If anyone can provide a Canadian equivalent, please email:
cclbc@shaw.ca