The Best Job in Higher Education

But not because it's the easiest or best paid

1 April 2025.

What is the best job in higher education? I’m going to give an idealistic answer. (Non, ce n'est pas forcément un poisson d'avril.)

Before answering the question, though, ponder for a moment what a college or university is. It is a place that provides a means of educating, of passing knowledge to learners, of producing new knowledge through research and creativity, of fostering critical thinking in evaluating the integrity of information and knowledge, and of contributing to the the dissemination and preservation of knowledge and cultural heritage. Universities might do more, but arguably these are the essentials.

Graz University Library (Austria), Reading Room

If one accepts these activities as core to higher education, even if in some ways the list is incomplete (or might not apply to all HEIs), then the most critical role in an institution of higher education must be the one that directly supports all these key functions of a college or university. A provost or academic vice president, a dean? These roles are unlikely to have practical responsibilities in all these areas. The incumbents typically give up teaching and research activities to accept a circumscribed administrative role, and few engage directly with issues involving culture and cultural heritage. A college or university president? They might nominally hold such broad responsibility, but will, in reality, be focused on fund-raising, on the promotion and monetisation of research activities, and public relations … or finding their next job.¹

There is, however, one job that holds direct practical responsibility for assuring the success of all the core functions of higher education: the College or University Librarian.

The Librarian is responsible for assuring that the knowledge resources required to support the education of students and the research of faculty are available. This has traditionally meant books and journals, whether printed or digital. Increasingly this also includes data resources; indeed a mission of fostering and enabling curation and preservation of data is now an integral part of the mission of many libraries in higher education. Libraries are also centres of expertise where data, information and knowledge is concerned—where highly educated staff support students and faculty alike in achieving their educational and research objectives. Indeed, as research funders increasingly mandate transparency in access to and preservation of research data to validate research outcomes, libraries are indispensable to academics in complying with such mandates.

The College or University Librarian, as much as any other role in higher ed, requires an understanding of university curriculum, of its educational and research goals and strategies; of its centres of excellence as well as the areas in greatest need of support. It is their role to plan library information resources, services, facilities and strategy according to the needs and ambitions of the academic community at large. And the Librarian must also appreciate and understand contemporary challenges of critical thinking and information literacy—an ascendent issue for learners, researchers and society at large with the historic explosion of propagandistic media outlets and the rise of artificial intelligence.

A College or University Librarian also typically has responsibility for what, in library parlance, are called “special collections.” These might be referred to as rare book libraries, heritage centres, etc. The items in such collections are acquired for their value in transmitting cultural heritage broadly defined—historically significant texts, unique audio-visual resources, etc., or items whose importance lies in the meaning, beauty or savoir faire of their materiality. Their function and value extends beyond campus boundaries and a responsible Librarian will assure that these rare and unique resources are shared with the broader community through an outreach, exhibition and virtualisation programme.

In a job interview for the role of University Librarian some years ago, an insightful university Provost offered to me his opinion that no part of the university had undergone as much recent technological change as the library. However, an important and perhaps more consequential part of the change that libraries navigate is social and political.

Over the past thirty years the place of libraries and archives has shifted in the consciousness of many academics. As the availability of digital manifestations of knowledge and information resources have become ubiquitous— losing the context of and physical connection to library facilities—the value assigned to libraries by many academics has eroded. For many, too, their field of study is sufficiently narrow or proscribed that they do not require access to information beyond their immediate disciplinary interests. Many in the professorate admit they haven’t visited a library for years.

Ironically the recession of libraries in the imagination of faculty and university leaders has happened at a time when the demands on libraries have diversified and intensified, requiring an ever greater range of expertise, and the costs of library materials have skyrocketed due to monopolistic and exploitative business practices in the publishing industry. Students populate library facilities as much as ever—perhaps even more so—as a safe, supportive place that fosters community among learners and that gives access to technological tools that may be unavailable otherwise.² Importantly, librarians are also more accessible, in-person or remotely, for one-on-one contact with students than faculty: academic libraries often operate between 80 and 120 hours weekly; some also offer 24x7 service, either throughout the academic year or during peak study periods.

Given that many academics, especially those in the sciences (yes, it’s true), feel that libraries have lost pertinence or have become primarily a place for undergraduate students, the Librarian is often challenged where fiscal planning is concerned. They are caught between a blindered view of libraries as an irrelevant institution of the past and tangible contemporary and forward-looking demands. They must interact with and win over university administrators who may be unwilling or unable to recognise the need for new facilities, diverse types of professional expertise, or the financial challenges of managing complex relationships with intensely profit-driven publishers. For the Librarian, it’s not always a comfortable position to be in. In making the case for library funding, the Librarian becomes the key college or university advocate for the true common good of the academic community.

It is often a hard sell. Especially when higher education administrators are beset with financial woes and a need to trim budgets. The Library budget can look like one big fungible pot of money at such times, and it is tempting to disproportionately diminish it relative to other smaller units. I’ve worked at two universities where such budget cuts have resulted in cancellation of thousands of journals and suspension of book buying altogether for significant periods of time. At one of these universities certain administrators actually applauded the latter development and seemed enraptured thereafter by the concept of the “bookless library.” At least one American university—Western Illinois University—has actually implemented the concept of the “librarian-less library.”³ If you might imagine this to be a death-knell for a university, I’m right there alongside of you.

In spite of the challenges I’ve identified, my opinion of the best job in higher education remains the same: the one that holds the broadest set of responsibilities that are core to higher education’s mission, and potentially the one that offers the greatest (personal) rewards. The Librarian. And if you are one or become one, just be ready to work like mad: the hardest job in higher education is often educating the deans, the financial officers, the vice presidents and the university president about what really matters in an organisation whose core business is knowledge.

1. David Jesse, “Portrait of the Presidency They are less experienced than ever — and eyeing the exits” (14 April 2023) Chronicle of Higher Education https://www.chronicle.com/article/college-presidents-are-less-experienced-than-ever-and-eyeing-the-exit#:~:text=The%20average%20tenure%20of%20the,and%208.5%20years%20in%202006. (consulted 8 December 2024).

2. Libraries are typically available to students more than any other university resources. For an indication of average availability in the US see: Statista Research Department, “Average weekly open hours of academic libraries in the United States in 2015, by type of degree granted,” Statista (1 January 2016) (consulted 8 December 2024)

3. Rich Egger, “WIU [Western Illinois University] librarians won’t keep quiet about layoffs,” Tristates Public Radio (17 October 2024) https://www.nprillinois.org/2024-10-17/wiu-librarians-wont-keep-quiet-about-layoffs (consulted 13 December 2024)