Staffing of Libraries and Library Departments
An Annotated Bibliography
Jason Parker

Contents

Introduction

Given the percentage of libraries budgets that are spent on staff it would be understandable if a great number of statistical studies were published concerning it so that directors and managers could best utilize their budgets in this regard. However this is not the case. In fact it seems that the staffing of libraries and their departments are not of scientific interest to the library community. A great amount of print each year is spend anecdotally on staffing, but hard data or means of analyzing the data are few and far between.

The examples found for this bibliography are the best that were released from 1995 to 2005. Perhaps the current series of budget cresses in libraries throughout the nation will spark greater interest in this important topic.

Thornton, Linda. (1995). “Using Interlibrary Loan Statistics to Establish ILL Staffing Patterns.” College and Undergraduate Libraries, 2(1), 127-138.

Author provides a model to calculate the needs for staffing adjustments in Interlibrary Loan departments based on output and efficiency. A survey of the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries was analyzed using the technique proposed. The results of the study itself are of little use. The data presented to the reader only contains the high and low responses and the size of the ranges that library types are divided into brings the NAAL study into doubt.

Dennison, Russell F. (1999.) “Usage-Based Staffing of the Reference Desk: A Statistical Approach.” Reference and Library Services Quarterly, 39(2), 158-165.

Authors analyzed existing data from Winona State University where number and type of questions directed to the reference staff broken down by day and hour. The study demonstrates a good technique for managers to analyze information and adjust staffing. However the findings themselves are of limited use sense the data was only gathered from one source. In this case it was found that most literature about reference desk staffing was incorrect in regards to which hours of the week required multiple staff.

Usherwood, Bob; Proctor, Richard; Bower, Gordon; Stevens, Tony; & Coe, Carol. (2000), “Recruitment and Retention in the Public Library – a Baseline Study.” Library Management, 21(2), 62-80.

Authors analyzed the results from the first stage of a mail survey of United Kingdom Library Authorities. Information about factors and perceived factors that cause staff to enter, remain, and leave the profession is well represented. The results for recruiting information is more useful in seeing how other manages recruit instead of being solid enough to form policies off of. Overall a very solid study with a high response rate to increase the validity of the findings.

Wilder, Stanley. (2002). “New Hires in Research Libraries: Demographic Trends and Hiring Priorities.” Association of Research Libraries, 221 Apr., 5-8.

Author reviews data collected in Association of Research Libraries surveys from 1980 to 2000 relating to new hires. Trends examined include ethnicity, category of position, possession of MLS, and hiring priorities of the institutions. Unfortunately the data used in the comparisons seemed to relate random years from this twenty year period. The conclusions are useful in seeing how the profession has shifted, but the value of the numbers used can be questioned since it was not gathered for this specific study.

Duranceau, Ellen & Hepfer, Cindy. (2002). “Staffing for Electronic Resource Management: The Results of a Survey.” Serials Review, 28(4), 316-320.

Authors analyzed data gathered in 1997 and 2002 in order to observe trends in electronic collection growth and staff in academic libraries. The study admits to not having gathered a large enough sample for a complete analysis. However only having fifteen respondents raises doubts about its usefulness for finding trends. Findings do indicate a large growth in the number of employees working with electronic resources over the five years, but not enough information was collected to draw any conclusions.

Cullen, John. (2004). “LIS Labour Market Research: Implications for Management Development.” Library Management, 25(3), 138-145.

This is a study of library and information management recruitment in Ireland. Identified the management skills that were noted in job ads at vary levels of library organizations. All information derived from the study other then incidences of request for identified management skills or roles are qualitative. While the study clearly shows what type of management skills are highly sought it provides little data that is useful in staff development. The empirical study seems to have mainly been a way for Cullen to find case studies.

Summary

These six papers demonstrate that shifts are taking place in staffing patterns. Four of the studies demonstrate this in the macro by reviewing an increased focus on technology, specializations, and management skills in the overall library job market. Two examine the means of measuring the need for staffing shifts in individual library departments. All of these studies show a definite break from traditional library staffing patterns either in the matter of important times (Dennison) or that the library staff composition is changing (Usherwood, Wilder). All point to a need to break with traditional thinking regarding staffing and adapt to new models for greater efficiency and better handling of patron demands.