Why librarians join professional associations : an investigation into attitudes to library association membership among librarians employed in tertiary sector libraries

Abstract

Who joins professional library associations, and who does not? The objectives of this research were to answer three questions: (1) who joins library associations; who chooses not to join, and why; (2) which library associations do New Zealand librarians join, and (3) which products, services and benefits provided by library associations do librarians value? It would have been impracticable, given the limited timeframe and scope of this project to survey a representative sample of the entire New Zealand library profession. Instead 287 librarians working in Auckland's tertiary sector libraries were surveyed. A self-administered questionnaire was used to conduct this research. A response rate of 38.7% was achieved. 62.2% of the respondents were non-members, that is, they did not belong to any library association. Just 32.4% belonged to LIANZA and a further 5.4% belonged to a library association other than LIANZA. Experienced librarians and those in managerial positions were most likely to be members of a library association. Members valued association publications, listservs, networking and professional development most. A majority of non-members cited cost and/or a perceived lack of value for money as reasons for not joining. The findings cannot be claimed to be representative of the behaviour and attitudes of all New Zealand librarians however, they do provide an insight into how one sector of the library profession sees library associations in 2001. This research may assist New Zealand library associations to better promote the benefits of membership, already valued by members, to those who are yet to be convinced that library association membership is for them.