How To Become A Collection Management Librarian: What It Is and Career Path

What is a collection management librarian and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Becoming a collection management librarian can be an exciting career choice. If you love to monitor library and publishing trends, and you'd love to get paid to do it, why not turn that enthusiasm into reality. But what do collection management librarians really do?

Collection management librarians are essentials in how libraries function. They are responsible for budgeting for the collection and developing policies for efficient collection. The design of a collection requires a process of selecting, storing, and improving the resources of the library. They also establish techniques for construction, weeding, and collection management. Aside from these, they do not just use suppliers and specialized instruments in different physical and digital environments to assess and pick products and services across age groups, but they also provide onboarding training for new members.

Most collection management librarians have master's degrees in library science. They take programs accredited by the American Library Association. There is no particular undergraduate degree to be admitted to this graduate program. In general, you should have knowledge of cataloging, library systems, and management to become a collection management librarian.

ScoreCollection Management LibrarianUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $56,311

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.33%

Asian 4.99%

Black or African American 6.60%

Hispanic or Latino 7.94%

Unknown 3.60%

White 76.53%

Gender

female 62.89%

male 37.11%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.6

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.5

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a collection management librarian

Explore collection management librarian education requirements

Most common collection management librarian degrees

Bachelor's

51.7 %

Associate

15.6 %

Master's

15.1 %

Start to develop specific collection management librarian skills

Skills	Percentages
Collection Management	16.14%
Library Services	10.97%
Collection Development	9.77%
Electronic Resources	8.89%
Library Materials	7.52%

Complete relevant collection management librarian training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New collection management librarians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a collection management librarian based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real collection management librarian resumes.

Research collection management librarian duties and responsibilities

Prepare appeals and refunds for incorrect paid claims, resolve patient account disputes, manage AR and aging reports
Open and close accounts (checking, savings, IRA), managing all death and disability claims and ACH transactions.
Manage document delivery via Docline and consortia memberships.
Provide reference and instruction for undergraduate, HTML & CSS graduate, and online courses.

Prepare your collection management librarian resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your collection management librarian resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a collection management librarian resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable collection management librarian resume templates

Build a professional collection management librarian resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your collection management librarian resume.

Apply for collection management librarian jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a collection management librarian job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do collection management librarians rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

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1 star

Collection management librarian reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

I'm an academic librarian, so helping students learn about information and research, teaching classes about same, and the intellectual aspect of working with information access around colleagues who are smart and kind. I've also been a teacher and a sales and marketing executive, but librarianship is by far my most rewarding career.