College and Research Libraries By ROSEANNE H. HARRINGTON and GUY R. LYLE Recruiting and ·Developing a Library Staff D URING the past two years the Louisiana State University Library has received many inquiries regarding its classification and pay plan for the library staff. The purpose of this article is to describe this plan and to show how it has been developed to create conditions which it is hoped will be favorable to attracting a staff member of high quality to the library's service. Administration All matters relating to personnel for the student, clerical, and professional staffs are centralized in the office of the assistant to the director. Prospective student assistants are interviewed in this office, referred to library supervisors, and, if satisfactory, as- signed to positions in the main and branch libraries. Members of the clerical staff are employed through civil service in accordance with regulations established by state law. The assistant to the director has also the primary responsibility for selecting and recommending professional staff appoint- ments and for administering the personnel policies. Selection When a vacancy occurs the assistant to the director and the head of the department concerned prepare a description of the gen- eral character of the position to be filled, the duties to be performed, and the qualifica- tions considered necessary in the person appointed. If the vacancy is in a branch library, the opinion of the dean or director OCTOBER, 19~7 of the college, school, or department con- cerned is usually requested. The descrip- tion of the position of librarian of the college of education library, reproduced in Form I, is an example. FORM I Librarian of the College of Education Library Louisiana State University The college of education library, contain- ing some six thousand volumes, serves the faculty, graduate students, and undergradu- ates in the college, which includes the depart- ment of health and physical education. One of eleven branch units on the campus, it is administered by the main library. The staff consists of a trained librarian and student assistants. Duties I. To assist students in the college to locate and select materials and to use indexes, bibli- ographies, etc. 2. To serve as a member of, arid secretary to, the library committee of the college, as- sisting in the selection of materials and the preparation of orders. 3. To prepare bibliographies of educational materials for various persons and agencies, particularly teachers and administrators in Louisiana schools. 4· To assemble and to supervise the use of materials for various graduate courses, particularly workshops and short courses during the summer term. 5. To advise with graduate students who are doing study and research in the fields of education and health and physical education. 6. To keep statistics and compile reports on library use. 7· To supervise student help. 427 Qualifications 1. Professional. a. Graduation from an approved college or university, with a major in the field of edu- cation; advanced work in education is desir- able, but not essential. 6. One year of training in an accredited library school. c. Experience in school, college library, or reference work is highly desirable. 2. Personal. a. Ability to secure the confidence of stu- dents and faculty members served by the li- brary. b. Initiative and dependability. Salary and Status 1. Salary range, $2400-$3400. 2. Automatic increases of $100 every other year; possible merit increases for work of outstanding quality. 3· Senior librarian status, with the equiva- lent academic rank of instructor. Date--------- The job description has a threefold func- tion: (I) it helps the officer in th~ library school or other placement agency from which recommendations are solicited to sug- gest suitable and qualified people for the position; (2) it tells the applicant frankly and fairly what is expected of the librarian and what he may expect in terms of salary, status, and promotion; ( 3) it helps the librarian to decide, when applications are re- ceived, whether or not a candidate is fitted for the particular position. One additional item which facilitates comparison of the qualifications of several candidates is the biographical data sheet which each candidate is requested to submit. This form includes the usual vital statistics, together with in- formation about experience and publi- cations. During the course of the normal corre- spondence between the assistant to the director and the candidate who is selected to fill a position, many of the applicant's questions regarding status, salary, and possi- bilities for promotion are answered ade- quately. But the total picture of his privileges and responsibilities as a member of the staff is presented only in the staff code, a copy of which he receives when he reports for work. The Staff Code The Revised Policies Governing the Classification~ Compensation~ Tenure~ and Leaves of Absence of the L.S.U. Library Staff as approved by the Board of Super- ~isors~ May 26~ 1947 (hereinafter referred to a! the staff code) classifies library posi- tions under five grades or ranks: assistant, junior librarian, senior librarian, assistant librarian, and associate director. Because of the difficulty of correlating exactly the requirements and responsibilities of the li- TABLE I Library Rank, Compensation, and Equivalent Academic Rank Library Rank Salary Equivalent Scale Academic Rank Assistant (subprofessional) $I600-I900 ' Junior Librarian 2000-2300 Assistant Senior Librarian 240Q-3400 Instructor Assistant Librarian 3100-4100 Assistant Professor Associate Director 4200-5200 Associate Professor 428 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LJBRARIES / brary staff with those of the teaching faculty, the relationship between library and teaching ranks is expressed in terms of "equivalent academic rank." The purpose underlying this arrangement is to identify the library staff with the teaching rather than with the administrative or clerical staff. The precise requirements, responsibilities, and remuneration for each position on the staff cannot, of course, be specified in the code. However, certain minimum require- ments for each grade are set forth, together with a general statement of the degree of responsibility to be assumed and the salary range. Positions requiring simil~r prepara- tion and imposing similar obligations are grouped in a given rank. Variations for individual positions within a rank are matched by corresponding salary gradations within the range fo that rank~ The first, a subprofessional rank, is designated library assistant. An assistant must be a college graduate who has had some previous library experience, special subject training, or some formal courses in library science, but who does not have a degree in library science. As a rule, an assistant is assigned duties of a routine character and is given considerable super- vision, although he may be given a more responsible position if he has had extensive library experience or advanced work in a subject field. The special privileges afforded assistants to pursue a course in library science are discussed later. Staff members in the first professional rank hold the title of junior librarian. For the most part, they come to their positions directly from library school and are as- signed where their first years of work can be carefully supervised. The senior librarians constitute the ma- jority of the staff. They are the experi- enced librarians who are responsible for OCTOBERJ 1947 performing most of the professional opera- tions which are referred to collectively as library service. They may have some supervisory responsibilities, particularly with regard to student help. For certain types of senior positions, subject specializa- tion to the level of the M.A. degree may be considered as important or more im- portant than library experience. On the administrative level are the heads of the various departments, with the rank of assistant librarians. They are required to hold at least the master's degree, either in library science or in a subject field, and to have had varied experience in college or university libraries. The responsibility for coordinating larger units of service (e.g., public service and technical processes) rests on the associate director and the chief of technical processes, both of whom hold the equivalent academic rank of associate professor. The minimum requirements for these positions include the master's degree and extensive experience in college and university libraries of recognized standing. An analysis of the salary ranges in Table I reveals something of the theory on which the personnel plan is based. It will be noted, for example, that the range for junior librarians is relatively short. Through biennial automatic increases of $100, which are specified for all librarians wit~ the rank of junior librarian or above, a junior li- brarian will reach the maximum for his grade at approximately the same time that his experience will justify promotion to the next rank. It is assumed that a staff mem- ber at the junior level who does not merit promotion after reaching the maximum for ' his grade is probably not worth retaining on the staff. The importance of a longer range for senior librarians is perhaps obvi- ous. The opportunity for promotion from this rank to upper levels is restricted by the 429 TABLE II Comparison of Faculty-Library Staff Tenure Provisions Equivalent Initial Rank Appointment Assistant I I year Junior Librarian I year Instructor I year Senior Librarian I year Assistant Professor Stipulated for no longer than 3 years Assistant Librarian Not to exceed 3 years Associate Professor May be for stipulated term Associate Director May be for stipulated term fact that there are at present only four major departments in the library which are headed by assistant librarians. In order to retain the services of the seniors, the library must offer other inducements. One of these is the prospect of continued salary advancement over a period of years. The inflexibility of salary schedules is one of the drawbacks of classification and pay plans. For staff members with 'the rank of assistant librarian or higher, this inflexibility is offset by special provisions which are discussed under : Promotion Tenure is provided in the code wherein provision is made for the appointment of senior librarians, assistant librarians, · and associate directors for indefinite terms. First appointments to each rank may be for limited terms, but reappointments fol- lowing are considered as for indefinite terms. More liberal provisions of tenure Renewal Tenure ---------- Annually None Annually None Annually None Annually for Of indeterminate dura- 3 years tion after 3 years None Of indeterminate dura- tion after term of initial appointment Of indeterminate dura- tion after term of initial appointment, if stipu- lated Of indeterminate dura- tion after term of initial appointment! if stipu- lated for librarians as compared with the teaching faculty (Table II) is justified on the ground that there is very limited oppor- tunity for appointees below the equivalent academic rank of associate professor attain- ing a rank where the provisions of teaching tenure apply. Members of the library staff, like mem- bers of the teaching faculty, have their choice between two retirement systems. The university retirement plan provides for automatic retirement and a pension at the age of seventy, the amount depending · on length of service and annual salary. The optional plan is membership in the Louisi- ana Teachers' Retirement System, which is based on contributions by the staff member matched by university funds. The code states that annual leave and sick leave benefits "shall be the same as for the teaching and research staffs." Staff mem- bers who have worked a full year are en- titled to thirty calendar days of annual 430 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES leave. Librarians who have been on the staff for less tha·n a year are granted annual leave on a pro rata basis. All staff members have, in addition, sixteen university-wide holidays. The amount of sick leave due staff mem- bers varies with the length of their service. The mini~um is thirty days with full pay during any fiscal year and not more than sixty days during the first five-year period of employment. Those who have served over fifteen years may be· granted as much as six months' sick leave with full pay during the fourth five-year period of employment, and during each succeeding five-year period. Any additional time required may be recom- mended as leave without pay. Special Study Provisions As indicated previously, the staff code provides for the appointment of subprofes- sional workers with the rank of library assistant. In most cases, the assistants are college graduates who plan to enter the library profession. The policies which have been set up, and which are reproduced m Form II, indicate the nature of the plan. . FORM. II Policies Concerning the Position Classification Library Assistant Recognizing that there are many· routine duties in a large university library which are neither strictly professional nor strictly cleri- cal in nature and which might be · performed by persons with a general rather than a specialized education, the L.S.U. Library has established the position . classification of "as- sistant." The minim~m qualifications for assistants as stated in the library code are: graduation from a recognized college or uni- versity; library experience or some formal courses in library science. Although assistants do not have professional status with equivalent faculty ranking, they are regular members of the library staff, en- titled to full sick leave. and annual leave privileges. In addition, assistants who wish OCTOBER~ 1947 . to take work in the library school leading to the B.S. in L.S. degree are permitted to enroll for a maximum of six credit hours during any regular semester and for a maxi- mum of four credit hours during any summer session. Assistants taking advantage of this opportunity for study will be allowed a maxi- mum of six hours off each week on library time and will be scheduled to work a mini- mum of thirty-three hours per week during the regular hours of the departments to which they are assigned. Assistants who do not enroll in the library school will be scheduled to work thirty-nine hours per week. Assistants carrying the maximum load in- dicated above could complete the work for the B.S. in L.S. degree in two years, includ- ing summer sessions. No assistant should attempt to complete the course in a shorter period of time. It should be clearly under- stood that anyone accepting an appointment as an assistant accepts the obligation to up- hold the standards of service maintained by the department to which he is assigned. The work of assistants will be rated regularly in the same manner as that of professional mem- bers of the staff, and these ratings will become part of the assistant's personnel record. Assistants will be used primarily in public service departments where they will serve as loan desk attendants. They may also be used in technical processes where the work requires a broader training than that of a clerical as- sistant and where the primary task is not typing. . The employment of library assistants has a threefold purpose. In the first place, it provides the library with intelligent, inter- . ested people who are able to perform many routine duties more satisfactorily and with less training than high-grade clerical help and thereby relieve the professional staff of some of its routine work. Second, it serves as a recruiting device by means of which college graduates may be introduced to the profession. Third, it encourages and aids students who might otherwise be unable to attend library school because of financial inability. Continued study by members of the pro- 431 • fessional staff is stimulated and encouraged by various means. The personnel policies which supplement the code state that a staff member may, with the approval of his de- partment head, enroll for one class related to his work, with the time for class meetings being deducted from his regular schedule of thirty-nine hours per week. The tendency has been for staff members to take courses in foreign languages which benefit both the library and the individual librarian. The university regulations governing sabbatical leave for the teaching staff apply to all members of the library staff of the rank of assistant librarian or higher. Such staff members may, upon the completion of six consecutive years of service, be granted twelve months' leave with one-half pay, or six months' leave with full pay, for "study, research, or other equally meritorious pursuit." The third type of study provision is the "shorter leave," mentioned in the staff code as follows "Shorter leaves with pay may be granted to any member of the library staff for the purpose of advanced study. The maximum period for such shorter terms shall be two- months, exclusive of the regu- lar annual vacation leave." The terms are more adequately defined in the following policy: The term "advanced study" shall be inter- preted to include individual research and travel for professional observations, as well as attendance at formal school sessions. Requests for leave, together with plans for study or research projects, shall be submitted to the library council before the university library budget is submitted to the university administration (February I). Provisions shall be made in the annual budget for substitutes, when necessary, for those granted leaves. · Staff members are encouraged, by being allowed time off and, when possible, by financial assistance, to attend meetings of the various professional associations. Staff Ratings Periodic objective .rating of staff mem- bers is as essential in university libraries em- ploying a considerable number of people as is the testing of the teaching ability of the faculty. To judge fairly when to promote staff members and to use their effort most effectively, that effort must be evaluated in . the work it is doing. The delegation of duties to department heads carries with it recognized responsibilities, and outstanding among these is a proper evaluation and use of the staff working under their supervision. The rating scale used at the Louisiana State University Library is an attempt to refine the subjective over-all judgments that every department head or supervising officer must and does make of those he supervises. The difficulty of applying any one scale to a variety of positions was recognized, but it was felt that a rating form adapted to each position would be too time-consuming to filJ out, interpret, and keep to date. The rating scale finally adopted included a graduated rating (poor to superior) of twelve factors: ability to follow instruc- tions, accuracy, cooperativeness, initiative, job knowledge, judgment, loyalty, organiza- tion of work, professional spirit, quantity of work done, reading habits, and relation- ships with people. Lack of uniformity of standards among raters is reduced by a care- ful observance of the instructions on the rating form, by the definition of factors, and by experience and practice in rating. The rating form provides for four con- secutive ratings on a single sheet as is evi- denced by the copy reproduced in Form III. The back of the rating form provides space for additional comment, the name and title of the rater and the date of the rating. All ratings are held confidential in the office of the director. They are used to disclose the need for change, which might take the form of promotion, transfer, or dismissal. 432 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES .... tla~ tolloriJic n.tlJ~Ct aro \uo4 oa & etp.~o4 rm• ot .Wt a..t~•o porto,..o durlDC thrpor1odu (A) Froa to (I) Pr• to (C) rr• to (D) Pr• to JUfttJCriod 1. Voo .taoet doll\orattoa U.S JOV - Jftpat. 6. Ao 7011 oouldor .. b tutor, oall to allld tutuooa that aro tJploal ot tho otatt ..allor'o z. Dlaropr4· JOV coa.liral lapro .. loa ot otatt a-.bor u4 •-••trato oa -rk u4 aotval perfonMMo. loop aotoo llotorooa ratlaco. oao taotor at a tlao • . 6, Iaoort aa •x• la oqvaroo A, B, C, U.S D for nob ratiac IUIIler tho -oral aorito4. 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I I I ta&lll) ~ Promotion The ranking of staff, the salary schedules·, and the automatic increases, as revealed to each staff member in the staff code, are satis- · factory in that they show each member how he stands and assure him of some additional remuneration for reasonably good work. However, the Policies Governing Merit In- creases (Form IV) make it clear that pro- motion from one rank to another or special merit increases are not determined on the basis of length of service. Special knowl- edge of a technical nature or of a subject, exceptional ability to correlate ideas with the library job at hand, or personality in phases of the work where personal contacts are of paramount importance-these are some of the qualities which a librarian must possess in greater degree than others to warrant a promotion or merit increase. From those members of the staff who have rated "excellent" or "superior" on the rating form are chosen the ones who have contrib- uted the most to the library; these few are recommended for merit increases in the library's budget request. FORM IV Policies Governing Merit Raises for the Louisiana State University Library Staff as Approved by the Board of Supervisors~ Dec. 19~ 1946 Merit raises in excess of automatic in- creases may be granted to individuals of out- standing ability or performance. Such raises shall not be in excess of $500 per indi~idual per year, shall not increase the libt:ary budget for professional services. by more than · I per cent for a given year and, except for the rank of assistant librarian and above, shall not increase an individual's salary above the maximum for his rank. ' It should be clearly understood that merit raises are to be granted only to those mem- bers of the library staff who have demon- strated by their work at this university that they are outstanding and superior. The staff members recommended for merit increases will be drawn from those who receive the highest ratings on the "Staff Member's Merit Rating" form. Ratings on this form will be made semiannually during the first year of employment and annual!j thereafter. No definite quota of meri~ increases will be :·given. Each case will be judged individually on the basis of the accepted criteria of ex- cellence. Recommendations for merit increases shall be submitted by the ·director of libraries to the dean of the university. The dean of the university shall present all recommenda- tions for merit raises to the university com- mittee on library promotions (dean of the un~versity, de·an of the graduate school, and chairman of the university committee on li- braries) before they are submitted to the president of the university. It should be noted that the policies pro- vide for merit increase for assistant li- brarians (department heads) or higher, in excess of the maximum salary for their rank. This provision is regarded as one of the · most important in the merit plan, since it compensates in part for the inflexibility of maximum salary scliedules. Merit recommendations are reviewed by a committee of three as stated above in the . policies. Staff members receiving promo- tions based on merit are inf6rmed of this spe- . cial honor by letter from the president's office. Conclusion The foregoing plan, developed over a period of time to meet the situation in a specific institution, is based on certain as- sumptions or principles. These principles could apply rather gener"ally to university libraries and are sufficiently important to merit special mention. The first of these principles is that if the library is _to . be an integral part . of , the -~ducational p~ogram, the library staff should be identified .~ith the teaching faculty rather than with the administrativ~ or clerical staff. It is not suggested, however, that 434 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES status and remuneration of the teaching faculty can be applied directly to the library staff. The conditions of work, the. scholarly qualifications required, the nature of the duties, and the responsibilities involved in the various ranks of the two professions are too different to allow of precise assimilation. · The second principle is that every li- brarian should know his status in relation to others on the staff and his chances for advancement in salary and promotion in rank. The third p~inciple is that the work of staff members should be evaluated objec- tively and that promotion should be based on superiority in terms of the specified criteria. The fourth and final principle is that the professional growth and development 9f an individual staff member through formal study and through participation in profes- sional activities has a direct and perceptible effect on the staff member's ability to con- ' tribute to good library service. The L.S.U. Library personnel plan as embodied in the staff code is by no means static. Since the code was first approved in 1944, supplementary policies such as those described 'herein have been developed to interpret and clarify its provisions. Last year when the high cost of living made salary adjustments necessary, every member · of the professional and subprofessional staff received a substa~tial cost-of-living increase. More recently, the salary ranges in all classification~ above the rank of junior li- brarian have been extended in order that thf library might attract and retain valuable staff members. There is every indication that the code will be subject to further re- vision and modification to meet the new problems which result from changing condi- tions in the library and in the profession as a whole. Changes in Format of Monthly Catalog During the month of July 1947 a survey of all indexing and cataloging procedures of the library of the Division of Public Documents was made by Jerome K. Wilcox, chairman, Committee of Public Documents, American Library Association. As a result, the format of the Monthly Catalog beginning with the September 1947 issue is considerably changed. Recognition will be given to the three major approaches in locating government publica- tions: agency, subject, and check list. The main body of the catalog will consist of a list of publications by issuing agency ignoring de- partment. The subject index will be con- siderably expanded ·and references will refer to entry or item number rather than page. Under each agency publications will be ar- ranged in check list order, monographs and series with contents, ~1ll in one alphabet. In lieu of the .Document Catalogue, now discon- tinued, tltree supplements to the 'Monthly Catalog, 19lp-42, 1943-44, 1945-47, will be OCTOBER, 1947 published and will include declassified publica- tions and noncurrent publications formerly held 'for listing in the document catalog. Fur- thermore, deClassified publications will hence- forth be listed as received each month in the Monthly Catalog, beginning with the May 1947 issue. The first supplement, 1941-42, is ready for publication and the other two should be ready by the first of the year. Thereafter all efforts will be concentrated on making the Monthly Catalog a complete comprehensive list of all government publications, printed and processed, whether reproduced at the Government Printing Office or elsewhere. The present plaris, for the first time, include listing pf field agency publications. The report made by Mr. Wilcox to the Public Printer concerning the survey is pub- lished in the September 1947 issue of the Monthly Catalog, which has been distributed. -Fred W. Cromwell, Superintendent of Documents. 435