ALIA warns of ‘potentially critical’ shortage of health librarians

A new report from ALIA Group Health Libraries Australia (HLA) has found a potentially critical shortage of health librarians.

The census report found that for every seven health librarian retirees there were only four new entrants, with job vacancies in health libraries running at close to 10% compared with a 1.2% national job vacancy rate.

ALIA HLA chair Ann Ritchie said while it had been aware of the issue it hadn’t ‘appreciated the scale of the problem’. ‘The shortage is particularly troubling given the results of an earlier survey which found that 76% of health practitioners had changed their thinking or improved their diagnosis and treatment plan after using the library service,’ said Ritchie. ‘It is not overstating the case to say that health librarians help save lives—and if we can’t fill these vacancies in future, patients will suffer.’

The census report can be read here.

Category: Library news