Library school faculty member perceptions regarding faculty status for academic librarians

Although many studies have been done related to faculty status for academic librarians, no research has been done to examine the perspectives of ALA-accredited library school faculty members on this issue. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of library school faculty members on the issues surrounding faculty status for academic librarians. A researcher-developed survey instrument with five-point Likert scale questions was used to collect data from the 906 tenure-track or tenured faculty members of the 57 ALA-accredited library schools. The survey was sent electronically to all faculty members. A total of 187 faculty members completed the survey.;ALA-accredited library school faculty members had no consensus of opinion regarding academic librarians having faculty status equivalent to that of the teaching faculty. They neither agreed nor disagreed on the M.L.S. Degree being recognized as the terminal degree for all academic librarians with faculty status. Library school faculty members disagreed that the M.L.S. Degree was sufficient to prepare academic librarians for faculty status.;ALA-accredited library school faculty members agreed that courses in the essential elements of experimental and non-experimental research and statistics be required of all doctoral and master's level Library Science students. They agreed that additional graduate degrees improved performance of faculty status academic librarians in discipline specific positions while they neither agreed nor disagreed that additional graduate degrees improved performance in all library faculty positions. In addition, they were undecided whether M.L.S. Degree should be supplemented with an additional master's or doctoral degree.;Library school faculty members were in agreement that academic librarians with faculty status are at a disadvantage in producing research because of the daily responsibilities of their positions and agreed that sabbatical and research leaves facilitate research and improve publication rates among academic librarians with faculty status. They also agreed that faculty status academic librarians should be eligible for the same sabbatical and research leaves as teaching faculty.;Library school faculty members agreed that academic librarians with faculty status should be involved in library governance. They also agreed that involvement in university governance improves the perception among the teaching faculty of academic librarians.