Mind the Gap: Financial Management Education in LIS Curricula
Amy L. Atkinson, Robert H. Burger, and Paula T. Kaufman
University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
INTRODUCTION
FINDINGS
T
Financial management education within LIS
programs2 largely fails to equip graduates with
skills needed for responsible financial leadership:
“It appears to us that there is in fact an increasing
need for library managers at all levels to be
knowledgeable about financial management.”1
• LIS program graduates moving quickly into
management positions
Management Courses Across
Fifty-Six Programs
50
• Increased accountability to tax payers
40
As such, “graduate schools preparing people to
work in libraries have at least as much obligation
to teach financial management as they do to teach
the many other subjects that are commonly found
in LIS curricula. “1
To that end, how do LIS programs prepare their
graduates for financially savvy leadership?
Financial Management Courses
Only 18% of programs offered courses devoted to
financial management; 70% were semesterlength, 30% were truncated or otherwise irregular.
60
• Budget cuts and other financial constraints pose
continual challenges
General Management Courses
Over 40% had no identifiable finance training.
School Library Management Courses
100% devoted at least one class session and/or
course assignment.
30
20
Other, Non-Management courses
56% devoted all or part of one class session
and/or project; none spent more than one class
session.
10
0
Management Courses Offered
Management Courses Required
Financial Management
Courses - Offered
Financial Management
Courses - Required
METHODOLOGY
Survey the English-language websites of fifty-six
Library and Information Science programs,
locating and examining:
• Course catalogs and schedules
• Degree requirements
• Responses to email queries
• Sixty-two syllabi, gathered online and by
request
Analyze relevant textbooks – identified through the
surveyed courses, previous exposure, and a
literature search – for quality of content, including:
• Accuracy of information – reliable, current, and
conforms to national standards.
• Connection of budgeting to higher financial
management concepts.
• Discussion of meaning and importance of cost
control and managerial accounting.
• Linking of financial management concepts and
practices to related matters, e.g. contracts and
employment law.
1
Burger, R. et al. (2014) Disturbingly Weak: The Current State of Financial Management
Education in Library and Information Science Curricula, Library Continuing Education
Venues, and Library Literature. Manuscript submitted for publication.
2Based
3See
on available syllabi.
handout.
CONCLUSIONS
Textbooks
None met all of the established criteria.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Management and Other Courses with Attention to Finance:
Purported Content v. Actual Content
To meet increasing demand for sound financial
management within libraries, we recommend:
• That LIS schools revisit the composition and
length of their graduate programs.
60
• That LIS schools and professional organizations
bolster their menus of Continuing Education
courses.3
50
40
Attention to Finance Indicated by
Course Descriptions
30
Syllabi Reviewed
20
Attention to Finance - Actual
10
• That the professional literature surrounding LIS
both further investigate the issue and help close
the knowledge gap by providing accurate,
accessible guidance to practitioners.3
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
0
Financial
Management
General
Management
School
Other
Special thanks to Scott Bennett, Marsha Grove,
and Rachel Rubin for their review of the paper on
which this poster is based.
Thanks also to Dan Tracy for his assistance with
the printing of this poster.