Succession: The Next Ones at Bat

2003/03/01 by William M. Curran
Business, Management and Accounting · #Human Resource and Talent Management

paper · pdf · doi:10.5860/crl.64.2.134

crossref issued 2003/03/01 · crossref published 2003/03/01 · crossref published-online 2003/03/01 · openalex publication_date 2003/03/01 · crossref created 2014/06/04 · crossref deposited 2017/06/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

Throughout North America, more than 83,866 librarians will soon reach the age of 65 and will be taking, or plan to take, retirement. The exodus of practicing librarians will result in a severe shortage. With the departure of the older baby boomers, a serious collective loss is imminent in terms of experience and expertise because there are few experienced, trained, middle-level managers, supervisors, and administrators within the “middle” age group of librarians who could ensure appropriate succession in the libraries following such a massive retirement exodus.

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