Investing in the Future of International Studies Librarianship: Building an Internship Program
Abstract
Academic libraries face a scarcity of qualified candidates necessary to enrich and
sustain the field of international studies librarianship. Factors contributing to the
problem include general limited awareness of this specialty as an occupation, and
a lack of professional training opportunities focused on cultivating and blending
technical skills with the linguistic and cultural knowledge essential for the job. This
case study describes the effort of the University of Michigan Library to boost interest,
competency, and ultimately recruitment, in this line of work through an internship
designed to introduce international studies librarianship as a compelling career path
for students with non-Western language expertise
sustain the field of international studies librarianship. Factors contributing to the
problem include general limited awareness of this specialty as an occupation, and
a lack of professional training opportunities focused on cultivating and blending
technical skills with the linguistic and cultural knowledge essential for the job. This
case study describes the effort of the University of Michigan Library to boost interest,
competency, and ultimately recruitment, in this line of work through an internship
designed to introduce international studies librarianship as a compelling career path
for students with non-Western language expertise
Copyright Barbara Alvarez, Leigh Billings, Fe Susan Go, Jeffrey Martin, Kamala Nautiyal, Sujira Prayoonhong, Beth E. Snyder
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Article Views (By Year/Month)
| 2026 |
| January: 0 |
| February: 0 |
| March: 0 |
| April: 0 |
| May: 0 |
| June: 0 |
| July: 0 |
| August: 0 |
| September: 5 |