Librarianship as a profession in Italy

Abstract

Reports results of a study to determine whether librarianship is considered a profession in Italy and if it can really be said that the role of Italian librarians is a professional one. Concludes that, in a as far as the job requires specialization and a high level of training, the Italian government has yet to acknowledge the skill and learning necessary to become a librarian and continues not to recognize the diplomas awarded by universities. The lack of stimulus thus provided for the study of librarianship means that students who do enrol for courses generally choose to study few topics and have no intention of taking diplomas since the incentive is absent. The situation may change only when pressure from the European community forces the Italian library system to align itself with those of the rest of Europe and it becomes necessary to ensure that the same standards are attained by all.