Librarians and Library Paraprofessionals

Library services, like many other professions and industries described in this publication, have been gravely affected by new technologies and changing job content. The prospect of a "virtual library," for example, has generated fears of job displacement for many library professionals. A library system based on new information technology will undoubtably reallocate tasks between professionals and paraprofessionals, and this generates new uncertainties. This chapter outlines trends affecting both library professionals and paraprofessionals.

Employment, Education and Earnings

The majority of library workers are employed in two industries: education and local government. Within education in 1998, 97,988 professional librarians, 42,704 library technicians and 55,374 library assistants were employed. In the same year, local governments employed 34,899 librarians, 21,299 library technicians and 65,708 library assistants. A small number found employment in other areas such as legal services, hospitals and newspapers.

Professional librarians administer libraries and perform services, such as selecting, acquiring, cataloging, classifying, circulating and maintaining library materials. Professional librarians also may furnish reference, bibliographical and advisory services to patrons. Library technicians, on the other hand, assist librarians by furnishing the public with information on library services, facilities and rules; by assisting readers in the use of card catalogs, indexes and computers, and by answering questions that require brief consultations on standard references. Additionally, they may help catalog books and train and supervise clerical staff. Library assistants sort and shelve books, issue and receive library materials, locate library material for loan and replace materials in shelving areas or files (Career Guide to Industries, 2000-01 Edition).

While these job descriptions may seem relatively straightforward, they mask a significant job overlap that has occurred in the library service occupations over the past several years. As technology changes library operations, library support staff — or "paraprofessionals" — have taken on a growing number of tasks that once were the domain of librarians, and the job responsibilities and content for professional librarians has been dramatically altered (Kutzik, 1997).

Currently support staff are involved at all levels of library operations and hold a variety of job titles, such as library aide, library clerk, library assistant, library information specialist, audio visual technician and library service assistant (Library Support Staff Resource Center, http://www.lib.rochester.edu/ssp/overview/overview.htm). The Library Support Staff Resource Center asserts that support staff today are such a varied group that generalizations regarding their work are nearly impossible to make, especially when one considers that "the range and complexity of their duties varies with each position, the size and type of the library in which they work, and each library’s specific needs, goals or mission" (Ibid.).

A common distinction between library professionals and paraprofessionals is attainment of the Master of Library Science (MLS) degree. Although a few library assistants and library technicians hold a MLS degree, they certainly are not typical. A 1997 survey by the Support Staff Interest Round Table of the American Library Association confirms this by noting that of 1,810 respondents (all library support staff), only 64 held an MLS degree. Of the rest, 625 held a high school diploma, 279 earned an associate’s degree, 727 earned a bachelor’s degree, 116 earned a master’s degree other than the MLS and 10 held a Ph.D.

On the other hand, library professionals universally hold the MLS degrees. The popularity of the MLS degree can be attributed to a concerted effort to "professionalize" the librarian’s role that began in the 1960s.

The MLS degree, and the "professional" status it bestows, may partially account for the income of librarians, which compares very favorably with other educational service workers. Indeed, in 1999, the median weekly wage of librarians (more than $700 per week) was higher than the average for many other education services workers, including teachers (other than college and university teachers), which was $688 per week. The pay difference between professional librarians and library support staff is quite substantial.

Although most occupations in library services are projected to grow between 1998 and 2008, demand for paraprofessional or support positions is expected to grow much more quickly than for professional librarians. Employment among professional librarians in education, for example, will grow by only .3%, while the ranks of those employed by local government will increase by 12% over the decade. Jobs for library technicians, on the other hand, will grow more rapidly in all areas of education (22.6%) while keeping pace in local government (12%). Library assistants will experience a 20.4% growth in local government jobs and 11.5% in educational institutions (National Industry-Occupation Employment Matrix).

Trends in the Industry

Many changes in library services jobs that are occurring now, and predicted for the future, are attributable to the advent of electronic technology and the so-called "virtual library."

Beginning with the introduction of computerized card catalogs in the 1980s, computer technology has dramatically changed the work done by both library professionals and paraprofessionals. The most obvious example is the availability of books and journals on-line, which raises questions about the role of librarians as researchers, scholars and facilitators for traditional library users, as well as challenges to the traditional library itself.

Less obvious is the increasing burden being placed on professional librarians as guardians and preservers of the intellectual property that is in their care. Because electronic information is easily transferable, the integrity of digitally stored library documents is less secure than printed text. At the same time, the preservation of such material is made more difficult by constantly changing technology that can make methods and formats for storing information obsolete — and the information stored by such methods and in such formats irretrievable.

Librarians also worry that the growing use of computer technology will lead to job losses. Such worries are not unfounded. Library functions are changing and the outsourcing of technical services, cataloging and acquisitions is increasing (Pratt, 1998). Such changes have made the acquisition of computer skills essential for every professional librarian. A recent examination of job announcements indicates that a large number of library positions include "Internet responsibilities," such as maintaining remote databases and web servers (Foote, 1997).

Finally, the increase in computer use and the advent of new library technologies are at least partly responsible for the shifting tasks and responsibilities between professionals and paraprofessionals in the library occupations. As professional librarians come under increasing pressure to become knowledgeable in new information storage, retrieval and distribution technologies, new methods for preservation, and the intricacies of copyright law, tasks they traditionally performed have shifted to support staff (Kutzik, 1997). Some industry analysts believe that in the future, professional librarians will be found mostly in administrative positions, while paraprofessionals will perform tasks now associated with professional librarians (Buller, 1995). This change in roles has caused some tension — as can be expected — between professional librarians and support staff (Malia, 1997).

Under such circumstances, it is perhaps not surprising that union membership among library staff at times is split into different organizations along professional and paraprofessional lines. This is particularly true in academic libraries. Kusack (1986), for example, estimates that approximately 71% of all academic librarians covered by bargaining contracts are grouped with teaching faculty. Support staff in such libraries, on the other hand, often are organized as part of the clerical or service staff. This is in sharp contrast to public libraries, where librarians and support staff typically are organized into a single union and covered under the same contract.

Estimates regarding the percentage of unionized librarians are imprecise. Library Personnel News put it at approximately 33% in 1995. This is comparable to estimates of union membership among support staff. In part, the difficulty in determining union membership results from the diversity of organizations in which librarians and support staff find representation. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Teamsters, the United Auto Workers (UAW), the teacher unions (both the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA)) and the Office and Professional Employees Union (OPEIU) are some that claim members in the library services occupations.

It is clear that both support staff and professionals in libraries are being buffeted by strong winds of change and the need for a collective voice is obvious. This suggests that unions will continue to grow from an already strong base among library professionals, technicians and assistants.

Sources Cited

American Library Association. "Union Facts at a Glance." Library Personnel News. Vol. 9, No. 3, March 1995, p. 3.

Buller, Katie. "‘Us versus Them’: An Unscientific Assessment of Union and Nonunion Educational Benefits in Libraries." Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, Vol. 36, No. 1, January 1995, pp. 42-45.

American Federation of Teachers. Contact AFT, Washington, DC, available on the Web at: http://www.aft.org/contact.html.

Foote, Margaret. "The systems librarians in U.S. academic libraries: A survey of announcements from College & Research Libraries News, 1990-1994," College & Research Libraries, Vol. 58, No. 6, June 1997, pp. 517-526.

Gillen, Ed. "To Live and Die an LA," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, Vol. 36, No. 1, January 1995, pp. 5-11.

Gillen, Ed. "The ALA SSIRT Library Support Staff Issues Survey Results," The Electronic Library Support Staff Journal, Vol. 4, No. 3, March 1998.

Goodwin, Timothy. 1994. "A Content Analysis of MLS Holders from The Directory of Library & Information Professionals." (Master’s Research Paper, Kent State University.)

Hawley, Lorin M. "Why You Do Not Need an MLS to Work in ILL," Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply, Vol. 6, No. 1, January 1995, pp. 89-94.

Kusack, James. Library Support Staff: Impact on Workers and the Workplace, New York, Greenwood Press, 1986.

Kutzik, Jennifer S. "Bridging the Gap," Library Mosaics, July/August 1997, pp.11.

Malia, Elizabeth. "Professional Is An Attitude," Library Mosaics, January/February 1997, pp. 12-13.

Massey-Burzio, Virginia. "Education and Experience: Or, the MLS is Not Enough," Reference Services Review, Vol.19, No. 1, 1991, pp.72-74.

Pratt, Allan D. Information of the Image, Greenwich, CT, Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1998.

Rodgers, Terry. The Library Paraprofessional: Notes from the Underground, Jefferson, NC, McFarland & Company, Inc., 1997.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2000. Career Guide to Industries, 2000-01 Edition. Bulletin 2523. Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Industry-Occupation Employment Matrix, available on the Web at http://www.bls.gov/asp/oep/nioem/ empiohm.asp.