G., F. F. (2002). Staffing Shifts Roil Orlando Public Library.
This article dealt with the upset librarians in Florida who thought professional librarians were being replaced with Clerks. Although this article is old, it is still a pressing issue today, and I think the problem is becoming more blatant. Not only are professional staff being replaced with clerks, but clerks are being replaced with volunteers. We read about this change in our articles earlier in the semester and I also experienced the demand for volunteers to take over paid positions in my home town.
This is only a symptom of a greater issue, however, which is budget cuts. As we discussed earlier, the budget situation will not change until we find ways of making the public more aware of our plight, make clear our relevance to the community.
One thing I found interesting was that many of the “professionals” at this library didn’t have masters degrees. What is the difference between a professional librarian without higher education and a clerk? Experience? At one point, those same librarians were probably working with comparable qualifications, and perhaps still are.
While I obviously don’t like the idea of professional librarian jobs decreasing, especially as I enter the job market, I can easily see how the director may have arrived at the decision. I’m not really sure this issue can be solved without addressing the budget cuts and changing demands on library resources.
Houghton-Jan, S. (2007). Assessing Staff on the Competencies.
This article discussed different methods of assessing competency in staff without ruffling too many feathers. My library dealt with this by quizzing new staff as part of the hiring and giving them training in deficient areas over a period of two weeks. It was more helpful than I can say. They also had yearly training session that were mandatory.
I agree with the article, in that straight out tests is not the best method for judging staff. I would feel exactly as perturbed as Houghton-Jan described. I would much rather have a supervisor observe me or straight out ask me what I needed more training in. Otherwise it could become just like standardized testing in school, where there are so many important factors left out.
Fama, J., & Martin, E. (2009). One Model for Creating a Career Ladder for
Library Support Staff.
This article showed a model for advancing support staff/paraprofessionals through the library ranks. It stated that the increased reliance of technology decreased specialization and made it difficult to objectively judge when support staff should be given raises or advancement. Some of the proposed methods of fixing this were personal portfolios, peer reviews, and seniority.
I never really thought about support staff advancement. I always assumed that there was one level and seniority determined who got raises. Obviously that is not an entirely fair way of advancing people, so I’m glad there is another proposed method, though it has only been practiced in Academic libraries so far.
This article also touched on the issue from the first article, of support staff being given more responsibility and fewer professionals being hired. Although this article smooths over the issue by claiming the professionals are simply doing more out-of-the-library work. Certainly one way to deal with the growing use of lower level positions in libraries affecting quality of service is to provide those positions more training and expertise.
Pergander, M. (2006). Working Knowledge.
I found this article very interesting because it addressed the issue of trying to prove your interest and capabilities and outright telling managers or bosses about them. I admit that I am exactly the type who assumes that by proving my capability, my manager will notice and advance me or give me more duties to match. This has actually always worked for me so far. I have a tendency to advance quickly through my jobs without asking for promotions, so it can’t be an entirely misguided work-style. But I certainly would not expect a paid position to be handed to me without at least expressing interest.
As a manager,however, of course we would want our librarians to tell us what they can do and what they want to do. Even if we eventually come to another decision, it makes our jobs easier. I think it is still somewhat a manager’s responsibility to see who does what well and judge who is best fitted for a task, though. Perhaps a blend of these two attitudes works best.
This article dealt with the upset librarians in Florida who thought professional librarians were being replaced with Clerks. Although this article is old, it is still a pressing issue today, and I think the problem is becoming more blatant. Not only are professional staff being replaced with clerks, but clerks are being replaced with volunteers. We read about this change in our articles earlier in the semester and I also experienced the demand for volunteers to take over paid positions in my home town.
This is only a symptom of a greater issue, however, which is budget cuts. As we discussed earlier, the budget situation will not change until we find ways of making the public more aware of our plight, make clear our relevance to the community.
One thing I found interesting was that many of the “professionals” at this library didn’t have masters degrees. What is the difference between a professional librarian without higher education and a clerk? Experience? At one point, those same librarians were probably working with comparable qualifications, and perhaps still are.
While I obviously don’t like the idea of professional librarian jobs decreasing, especially as I enter the job market, I can easily see how the director may have arrived at the decision. I’m not really sure this issue can be solved without addressing the budget cuts and changing demands on library resources.
Houghton-Jan, S. (2007). Assessing Staff on the Competencies.
This article discussed different methods of assessing competency in staff without ruffling too many feathers. My library dealt with this by quizzing new staff as part of the hiring and giving them training in deficient areas over a period of two weeks. It was more helpful than I can say. They also had yearly training session that were mandatory.
I agree with the article, in that straight out tests is not the best method for judging staff. I would feel exactly as perturbed as Houghton-Jan described. I would much rather have a supervisor observe me or straight out ask me what I needed more training in. Otherwise it could become just like standardized testing in school, where there are so many important factors left out.
Fama, J., & Martin, E. (2009). One Model for Creating a Career Ladder for
Library Support Staff.
This article showed a model for advancing support staff/paraprofessionals through the library ranks. It stated that the increased reliance of technology decreased specialization and made it difficult to objectively judge when support staff should be given raises or advancement. Some of the proposed methods of fixing this were personal portfolios, peer reviews, and seniority.
I never really thought about support staff advancement. I always assumed that there was one level and seniority determined who got raises. Obviously that is not an entirely fair way of advancing people, so I’m glad there is another proposed method, though it has only been practiced in Academic libraries so far.
This article also touched on the issue from the first article, of support staff being given more responsibility and fewer professionals being hired. Although this article smooths over the issue by claiming the professionals are simply doing more out-of-the-library work. Certainly one way to deal with the growing use of lower level positions in libraries affecting quality of service is to provide those positions more training and expertise.
Pergander, M. (2006). Working Knowledge.
I found this article very interesting because it addressed the issue of trying to prove your interest and capabilities and outright telling managers or bosses about them. I admit that I am exactly the type who assumes that by proving my capability, my manager will notice and advance me or give me more duties to match. This has actually always worked for me so far. I have a tendency to advance quickly through my jobs without asking for promotions, so it can’t be an entirely misguided work-style. But I certainly would not expect a paid position to be handed to me without at least expressing interest.
As a manager,however, of course we would want our librarians to tell us what they can do and what they want to do. Even if we eventually come to another decision, it makes our jobs easier. I think it is still somewhat a manager’s responsibility to see who does what well and judge who is best fitted for a task, though. Perhaps a blend of these two attitudes works best.
"What is the difference between a professional librarian without higher education and a clerk?"
ReplyDeleteI got too wordy in my post to get this in, but I couldn't agree more. It sounds so harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts, I guess. It reminded me of what Dana said about her assistant in Cincinnati. I came away feeling more like the new director simply rocked a long-docked boat and they didn't like it.