Commonalities across first-year academic librarians (FYALs) may or may not include imposter syndrome, teaching jitters, too much coffee, and navigating the life of an academic. A large part of what an academic is stems from their identity as a researcher, but as new librarians entering the university system for the first time, it is something to be reckoned with. Scholarly responsibilities, academic service, professional development, and others are all expected, but how do fresh library school graduates tackle these aspects while linearly following an interest that just makes sense?
Now more than halfway through our first year as early-career librarians, the FYALs, Eleanor, Lisa, and M, wanted to share a peek into the thought processes in tackling the giant monster that consists of finding a research interest.
Lisa: A Sea of Information, Even Within Myself
On Academic CV templates, the two sections that I always struggled with the most to fill were teaching philosophies and research philosophies. One of the first goals that I put for myself in the beginning of the school year was actually to find my identity as an instructor-researcher. Immediately, something my supervisor commented on was how it would be a long journey, often taking several years to really refine and clearly develop.
Acknowledging that it would be a multi-year process, I started reading about different ways scholars describe their methods of conducting research and presenting their work, and an idea that I appreciated was the notion of a praxis. Borrowing ideas from critical race theory, the intersecting effects of identity, race, emotions, and critically examining how these elements coexist in research was a perspective that I didn’t think to bring into my daily work. Even though I am a research librarian by job title and supporting specific departments in Health Sciences and STEM, elements of myself bleed into the work that I do, whether subconsciously or consciously. Consequently, my thought process was that once my identity as a researcher was settled, I would be able to examine the big picture and see new perspectives that I contribute to.
Although this is most definitely still a work in progress, I notice myself slowly finding projects that I continue to gravitate towards, words that I enjoy writing or reading more about, or research that makes me realize how fast time flies by. I am still very much tying up the shoelaces of my student projects and have been learning how to balance my work between teaching, consults, outreach, and my own research. Although I definitely do not feel like I have things under control right now, I hope to have some sort of routine where I will be able to balance the percentages of responsibilities and find myself with a clear identity as a librarian-instructor-researcher.
M: Is It All Just Research?
When I decided to go into academic libraries, I started hearing right away about how research was a key component of those jobs, so I would need to have a good answer for questions like “tell me about your research interests.” Initially, I used my master’s paper topic to answer that question, which was convenient – but it was really a cover up for the fact that I had no idea what “conducting research” actually meant.
Until very recently, when I’ve thought about “conducting research,” I’ve pictured a long process that involves choosing a topic, developing a research question, getting IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval, designing and conducting a study/survey/interviews/focus groups, writing a paper about the findings, and getting it published in a peer-reviewed journal. The concept of trying to take that on, by myself or with a peer, and fit it in around other work has been overwhelming, but I thought I would have to make it happen somehow, because what else could research mean?
There’s a group of new and new-ish librarians at my institution who have formed a group to read and discuss journal articles, share about projects we’ve been working on, and discuss things we’ve learned. At our most recent meeting, the topics of “finding a research interest” and “conducting research” came up. I was relieved to learn that I wasn’t the only one who was confused about what those phrases meant – in fact, most of us had the same questions. One colleague who has been an academic librarian for several years shared how she thinks about research, and her views were incredibly helpful. She said that from her perspective, almost all of the work we do every day is research. Learning about a new topic to help a student in a reference interview? That’s research. Developing a new workshop on an unfamiliar topic? That’s research. Coming up with a new process or procedure to make your workflow more efficient? That’s research, too – because in all of these cases, we’re investigating key questions, learning new things, and teaching them to others – and our findings from all of those instances are worthy of presentations and publications. It’s really just research all the way down.
Eleanor: Creativity is Research, Too
In addition to being a librarian, I’m also a writer. A year ago, I thought these two parts of myself were totally unrelated. But as I’ve begun thinking about myself as a librarian researcher, I’m drawn to the possibilities of a creative-critical practice.
Creative-critical research blends traditional scholarship with some kind of artistic expression, such as creative nonfiction, digital media, or performance art. While some may dismiss creative-critical research as “just” creative writing (and I would challenge that use of “just”!), creative-critical research is in fact powered by deep engagement with data, history, case studies, and critical theory.
One of my favorite examples of creative-critical library research is “Invisible Stitches: A Semester at the Reference Desk, Quilted” (Weidner, 2025), a quilting project that foregrounds the “process” in “research process” and challenges the depersonalization of library labor. In her article, Weidner discusses the “Is it research?” question, noting how some viewers rejected the idea of quilting as creative-critical research. I see a connection between this dismissal and how other feminized labor, such as librarianship and teaching, is often devalued in the academy’s traditionally masculine culture.
At a time when libraries are under persistent attack, a creative-critical approach helps us translate our work and research into impactful stories that excite our patrons. It can help challenge artificial hierarchies within the culture of research and welcome valuable, “non-traditional” ways of developing and deepening our collective knowledge into the academy.
The Bigger Picture: The Value of Librarians as Researchers
As the three of us discussed our personal experiences with research, we noticed several discrepancies. M is expected to do research in order to succeed in their role, but they are ineligible for faculty status and the benefits that come with it, such as tenure, increased academic freedom protections, and participation in university governance. On the other hand, Eleanor is a term faculty member, but she is not expected to do research (instead, her portfolio focuses on teaching and service). Lisa’s institution offers a mix of these two models. Librarians and faculty are in the same union, but librarians are reviewed for “continuing appointment” after a “preliminary appointment.” When we were applying for jobs last year, we all found it difficult to identify where our prospective employers fell on this spectrum.
Much of this varies from institution to institution, but we think our experiences represent several troubling trends across higher education. Fewer and fewer institutions of higher education grant faculty status to librarians, but they may still expect their staff librarians to take on faculty-type duties (such as research and teaching) without the support that would be provided to faculty. At a time when both higher education and libraries are facing widespread attacks, it’s more critical than ever for our institutions to provide librarians with substantial academic freedom protections as we engage in the teaching and research they ask of us. When librarians still have faculty status, we also suffer from the “adjunctification” of higher education. Tenure-track positions are dwindling in favor of adjunct and term positions, which may not provide research support and certainly offer less stability. What do these trends indicate about how higher education values (or doesn’t value) librarians as researchers?
Our expertise is information seeking and evaluation, which is important to disciplines across campus. At a time when the information world is transforming at a dizzying pace, we think it’s essential that higher education recalls the value of librarians as researchers–not just rhetorically, but through concrete, worker-friendly and intellectual freedom-first policies that make it easier for librarians to do meaningful research.
