CCollegeMatcher

Librarians and Media Collections Specialists

US occupation · SOC 25-4022

Job titles people report: Catalog Librarian, Cataloger, Librarian, Library Media Specialist, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Reference Librarian, Research Librarian, School Librarian, Technical Services Librarian, University Librarian

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$68,270
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$56,310 – $84,480
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
133,790
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+2.6%
Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)
Openings a year (projected)
12,600
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
Master's degree
BLS
  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Administer and maintain libraries or collections of information, for public or private access through reference or borrowing. Work in a variety of settings, such as educational institutions, museums, and corporations, and with various types of informational materials, such as books, periodicals, recordings, films, and databases. Tasks may include acquiring, cataloging, and circulating library materials, and user services such as locating and organizing information, providing instruction on how to access information, and setting up and operating a library's media equipment.

Main tasks

  • Search standard reference materials, including online sources and the Internet, to answer patrons' reference questions.
  • Analyze patrons' requests to determine needed information and assist in furnishing or locating that information.
  • Supervise daily library operations, budgeting, planning, and personnel activities, such as hiring, training, scheduling, and performance evaluations.
  • Plan and teach classes on topics such as information literacy, library instruction, and technology use.
  • Code, classify, and catalog books, publications, films, audio-visual aids, and other library materials, based on subject matter or standard library classification systems.
  • Confer with colleagues, faculty, and community members and organizations to conduct informational programs, make collection decisions, and determine library services to offer.
  • Review and evaluate materials, using book reviews, catalogs, faculty recommendations, and current holdings to select and order print, audio-visual, and electronic resources.
  • Evaluate vendor products and performance, negotiate contracts, and place orders.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
Master's degree
O*NET Job Zone 5
Extensive preparation
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
  • Social: helping, teaching and caring for people
  • Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 5 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Education

  • Educational/Instructional Technology
  • School Librarian/School Library Media Specialist

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Education at the Major step.

Where many students take education

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Other fields

Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.

Library Science

  • Library and Information Science
  • Children and Youth Library Services
  • Library Science and Administration, Other

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk