Mind the Generation Gap: Millennials & Boomers in the Library Workplace

Abstract

The Millennial Generation, also known as Generation Y, the Net Generation, and Echo Boomers and defined as those born between 1981 and 2000, is entering the library workforce in greater numbers every year. In recent years, business literature has started to focus on the impact that the Millennial Generation is having on the workplace. However, this literature often describes generational characteristics and differences between generations with sweeping brushes. In this article, two colleagues look at some of these broad generalizations, how they have or have not played out in the library, and provide reactions to them from the perspective of a Baby Boomer (Jill, MA Interim Head of Reference and Instruction, McIntyre Library) and a Millennial (Eric).