# Library Science Teachers, Postsecondary

US SOC code 25-1082. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/25-1082

Also called: Library science professor, LIS professor, Information science professor, Library science faculty, iSchool professor.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **3,630** US postsecondary library science teachers, with median pay of **$80,340** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the highest was **5,010**, in May 2017. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/richardson/chronology.htm) of **120** from 1900, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for postsecondary library science teachers: AI discovery and AI-assisted cataloging, 2015 to 2022.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 2.7% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=25-1082&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **42.6%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Library Science Teachers, Postsecondary employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1887
- Latest US employment: 3,630 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $80,340 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [7]
- Outlook: +2.7% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [21]

### All 31 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1900 | 120 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Richardson, J.V [1] |
| 1930 | 350 (estimate) | n/a | Est., UCLA Department of Information Studies [1] |
| 1955 | 650 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Richardson chronology [1] |
| 1965 | n/a | $9,800 (estimate) | Est., AAUP Faculty Compensation Survey… [5] |
| 1975 | 1,400 (estimate) | n/a | Est., American Library Association [2] |
| 1980 | n/a | $24,500 (estimate) | Est., AAUP Faculty Compensation Survey 1979-80 [5] |
| 1990 | 1,100 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Richardson chronology [1] |
| 2000 | 1,100 (estimate) | $52,000 (estimate) | Est., ALISE Statistical Report 2000 [3] |
| 2003 | 4,110 | $50,940 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [4] |
| 2004 | 3,740 | $51,600 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [4] |
| 2005 | 3,960 | $53,810 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [4] |
| 2006 | 3,830 | $54,570 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [4] |
| 2007 | 4,080 | $56,810 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [4] |
| 2008 | 3,960 | $58,570 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [4] |
| 2009 | 3,940 | $60,650 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [4] |
| 2010 | 4,370 | $62,720 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [4] |
| 2011 | 4,410 | $65,110 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [4] |
| 2012 | 4,510 | $65,780 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [4] |
| 2013 | 4,670 | $67,740 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [4] |
| 2014 | 4,540 | $66,580 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [4] |
| 2015 | 4,910 | $67,660 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [4] |
| 2016 | 4,870 | $68,410 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [4] |
| 2017 | 5,010 | $70,940 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [4] |
| 2018 | 4,650 | $71,560 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [4] |
| 2019 | 4,390 | $71,410 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [4] |
| 2020 | 4,230 | $71,580 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [4] |
| 2021 | 4,330 | $77,100 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 4,330 | $76,370 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 4,220 | $80,310 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 4,100 | $78,630 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [4] |
| 2025 | 3,630 | $80,340 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (88)

### Employment series

1. [Richardson, J.V. — "History of American Library Science: Its Origins and Early Development" (UCLA GSEIS, chronology)](https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/richardson/chronology.htm), UCLA Department of Information Studies
2. [ALISE chronology and ALA Historical List of Accredited Programs (91 total institutions since 1925; peak accreditation era the 1970s)](https://www.ala.org/educationcareers/accreditedprograms/directory/historicallist), American Library Association
3. [ALISE Statistical Report 2000 — Faculty: 658.6 FTE (662 headcount) across 56 ALA-accredited schools; 520 part-time instructors in fall 1998](https://ils.unc.edu/ALISE/2000/Faculty00.htm), Association for Library and Information Science Education
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

5. [AAUP Faculty Compensation Survey historical data — average faculty salaries by rank, mid-1960s doctoral institutions](https://www.aaup.org/issues-higher-education/faculty-employment/faculty-compensation-survey), American Association of University Professors
6. [ALISE Statistical Report 2000 — faculty salary ranges across ranks at ALA-accredited programs (approximate median estimate)](https://ils.unc.edu/ALISE/2000/Faculty00.htm), Association for Library and Information Science Education
7. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
8. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

9. [History of Information — Melvil Dewey establishes the School of Library Economy at Columbia, 1887](https://historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=3270), History of Information
10. [Wikipedia — Columbia University School of Library Service (history of library education 1887-1889)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University_School_of_Library_Service), Wikipedia
11. [University of Chicago Graduate Library School — Wikipedia (Carnegie funding 1926, Library Quarterly 1931, first PhD 1930)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Chicago_Graduate_Library_School), Wikipedia
12. [Wikipedia — MARC standards (Machine-Readable Cataloging, Library of Congress 1966)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARC_standards), Wikipedia
13. [Wikipedia — OCLC (Ohio College Library Center founded 1967, first online cataloging at Ohio University 1971)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC), Wikipedia
14. [Richardson chronology — Graduate Library School Chicago closes 1989; web era begins 1993](https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/richardson/chronology.htm), UCLA Department of Information Studies
15. [ACM Interactions — "The Information School Phenomenon" (iSchool movement history, Gang of Three 1988, Gang of Ten 2003)](https://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/march-april-2009/timelinesthe-information-school-phenomenon1), ACM / iSchools Caucus
16. [Shu, F. and Mongeon, P. (2016) — "The evolution of iSchool movement (1988-2013): A bibliometric view" (Education for Information)](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3233/EFI-160982), Education for Information / IOS Press
17. [Wikipedia: Ex Libris (company) (Alma and Primo library platforms and their AI-assisted discovery and cataloging features)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_Libris_%28company%29), Wikipedia
18. [ACRL — AI Competencies for Academic Library Workers (approved October 2025): comprehensive library-specific AI literacy competency framework for academic library workers](https://acrl.ala.org/acrlinsider/ai-competencies-for-academic-library-workers/), Association of College and Research Libraries
19. [Federal Reserve FEDS Notes — "Educational Exposure to Generative AI" (Timmerman, February 2025): Education field z-score 0.68 (above-average AI exposure)](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/educational-exposure-to-generative-artificial-intelligence-20250226.html), Federal Reserve
20. [College and Research Libraries — "Navigating AI in Academic Libraries: Faculty Perspectives on Pedagogical Challenges" (Vol. 86, 2025): 78% of LIS faculty revising curriculum; 61% identify AI literacy as top new competency](https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl), Association of College and Research Libraries

### Forecasts and exposure studies

21. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 25-1082 Library science teachers, postsecondary (2025: 4.5 thousand; 2035: 4.6 thousand; +2.7%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=25-1082&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
22. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 25-1082.00, human-rated β 0.426)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

23. [DPLA — "A Profession for Women" (library schools and women's employment in librarianship from 1887)](https://dp.la/exhibitions/history-us-public-libraries/profession-women/library-schools), Digital Public Library of America
24. [Internet Archive — "The Williamson reports of 1921 and 1923: Training for library work (1921) and Training for library service (1923)"](https://archive.org/details/williamsonreport0000will), Internet Archive / Carnegie Corporation
25. [Richardson chronology of library science education — MLS as entry-level degree adopted 1951; 27 of 32 schools adopt new standard 1948](https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/richardson/chronology.htm), UCLA Department of Information Studies
26. [ACM Interactions — "The Information School Phenomenon" (Syracuse 1974 first iSchool, Gang of Three 1988, iSchools Caucus 2003)](https://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/march-april-2009/timelinesthe-information-school-phenomenon1), ACM
27. [Wikipedia — University of Chicago Graduate Library School (closure 1989, history 1926-1989)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Chicago_Graduate_Library_School), Wikipedia

### Predecessors & successors

28. [ALISE Statistical Report 2000 — faculty background note: most LIS faculty held a combination of MLS and PhD, many with prior practitioner experience](https://ils.unc.edu/ALISE/2000/Faculty00.htm), Association for Library and Information Science Education
29. [University of Chicago GLS — Wikipedia: first PhD in library science awarded 1930; Chicago GLS established doctoral pipeline for LIS faculty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Chicago_Graduate_Library_School), Wikipedia
30. [Shu and Mongeon (2016) — iSchool movement bibliometric study: shift in doctoral dissertations from library science to information science topics 1978-2013](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3233/EFI-160982), Education for Information / IOS Press

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Library Science Teachers, Postsecondary (25-1082.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/25-1082.00), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science): 25-1082.00 gamma=0.81 (high language-model exposure)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BLS OES May 2024 — Library Science Teachers, Postsecondary (25-1082): median annual wage $75,430](https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes251082.htm), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Postsecondary Teachers (2024–2034): +7% projected growth overall](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/postsecondary-teachers.htm), accessed 2026-05-24
- [ALISE — Artificial Intelligence in LIS Education Working Group 2025: recommendations for integrating AI literacy, ethics, and AI-era information retrieval into MLIS and PhD curricula](https://www.alise.org/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [ALA Center for the Future of Libraries — Artificial Intelligence: trends and guidance on AI in library services, positioning librarians as information professionals for responsible AI navigation](https://www.ala.org/future/trends/artificialintelligence), accessed 2026-06-21
- [ACRL — AI Competencies for Academic Library Workers (approved October 2025): comprehensive framework defining AI knowledge, evaluation, and ethical competencies for academic library workers, including LIS faculty role in training future librarians](https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ai), accessed 2026-06-21
- [OCLC — Leading the way on AI for libraries: OCLC's AI, machine learning, and LLM solutions for libraries including AI-assisted cataloging and WorldCat metadata workflows](https://www.oclc.org/en/artificial-intelligence.html), accessed 2026-06-21
- [College & Research Libraries — Navigating AI in Academic Libraries: Faculty Perspectives on Pedagogical Challenges (Vol. 86, 2025): 78% of LIS faculty revising curriculum; 61% identify AI literacy as top new competency for MLIS graduates](https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Library Journal — The AI-Powered Library School (December 2025): iSchool programs integrating AI-era cataloging, retrieval, and ethics into core MLIS curriculum](https://www.libraryjournal.com/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Federal Reserve FEDS Notes — Educational Exposure to Generative AI (Timmerman, Feb 2025): Education field language-model z-score 0.68 (above-average); text-heavy LIS instruction meaningfully AI-augmentable](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/educational-exposure-to-generative-artificial-intelligence-20250226.html), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Gradescope — AI-assisted grading: 3,000+ institutions, 140,000+ instructors; answer grouping for efficient rubric application on written assignments (2025)](https://www.gradescope.com/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Turnitin — AI detection for academic integrity review of graduate program written assignments (2025)](https://www.turnitin.com/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Elicit — AI research literature review: semantic search across 200M+ papers; structured data extraction from PDFs; widely adopted in information science research and LIS research methods courses (2025)](https://elicit.com/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Scite — Smart citations: analyzes 1.2B+ citation statements (supporting, contrasting, mentioning); flags retractions; taught in LIS research methods and scholarly communication courses (2025)](https://scite.ai/), accessed 2026-05-24

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.