Choosing Librarianship As Career: A Study Of Selected Senior High School (Shs) Students In Akropong- Akuapem Municipality

ABSTRACT This study was undertaken to investigate whether selected SHS Students in the AkropongAkuapem Municipality are willing to choose a career in librarianship instead of other professions. The stratified sampling method was used to select 353 SHS Form Three Students’ in five selected Schools from a population of 3533 Students’. Using the survey descriptive method, structured questionnaires were randomly administered. 326 representing 93% questionnaires were retrieved and found usable. Data collected were analysed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. It was found that the Students’ had low level of awareness of librarianship as a career and lacked understanding of role Librarians play in their environment. They also did not have appreciable understanding of what their job entailed, resulting in their lack of interest in becoming Librarians. None of the 326 students’ considered librarianship as their preferred career choice. They did not desire librarianship because they perceived it to be boring, not respected by society, not popular, had low earning capacity and also that they had already decided on what they wanted to do in future. Only 14% of respondents will give becoming a Librarian a thought as second career because of the love they have for books, research and helping others. Majority wanted to become Lawyers, Doctors, Nurses and Accountants because they perceived these professions were respected by society, offered much help to people and earned more money. Again, they heard people always speak about them at Home, School, Community and in the Media. The study includes a comparison of a Librarian with 9 other professional groups based on five criteria considered to be essential determining factors when making career choice decisions. Marketing and promotion of libraries, equipping school libraries, making the school library visible, engaging in campaigns/ drives as well as granting scholarships to SHS students to pursue librarianship are recommended in order to ensure the success of the profession and also make it attractive and appealing to the youth.