Tackling Recruitment.

As the field of librarians ages and shrinks, librarians increasingly find themselves at a loss to attract new talent. Hope lies in the innovative programs created at individual libraries across the country, as illustrated by the three highlighted here. In Southern California, Cindy Mediavilla shows that a funded commitment to fostering internships brings new librarians in the door. In New Jersey, Connie Paul has developed a four-pronged approach that successfully looks outside of librarianship for talent. However, paraprofessionals have traditionally been and remain the best source for librarians, a truism proven by the professional development program in Miami, Florida. Librarianship is so unattractive to graduates because of low salaries, but numerous other factors come into play. Money clearly is the greatest factor, but it is not the only one. It is more than a little ironic that in the so-called information age, librarians, who historically have played the role of purveyors and paladins of information, find themselves facing an uncertain future. An informal poll on a library chat group identified some of the reasons why, including that librarians have an image problem. Some libraries, like Miami-Dade Public Library System, have programs to advance its paraprofessionals, but most libraries don't, much to the consternation of support staff. To develop new librarians, the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System, a Southern California consortium, initiated a project dubbed "From Interns to Library Leaders" (FILL). Students say that if there is money attached, the library provides a better internship experience, and the librarians feel that because the money makes it competitive, they are getting the cream of the intern crop. For some, the program led directly to jobs: six FILL students were hired at the libraries where they interned. INSET: THREE PROGRAMS THAT WORK.