August 20, 2015

Question

Joy Garretson (MS)

Hey all! I just had a lively debate (translation: uncontrolled!) about who counts as librarians and who counts as "others" when looking at staff members. Our main contention was with paraprofessional circulation staff. How do you classify them? In a state with very high numbers of paraprofessional staff, I want to be careful how I tread here.

I also have a question about Freading: my librarians are telling me that downloads have a 2-week circulation period. Previously, I'd been counting this as a database, but now I feel like the patron-driven acquisitions could be reported under E-Books (though the cost difference between an e-book from overdrive and an ebook from Freading is a problem). I had been reporting patron-driven acquisitions in a special category under databases, but I'm not sure that this works anymore. I know we've been discussing this for ages, but I could really use a super laserbeam definition now. Help!

SDC Comments

Michael Golrick (LA)

Here is how I ask the questions:

All ALA/MLS degreed staff: Librarians with master's degrees from programs of library and information studies accredited by the American Library Association.

Other professional level staff: Staff who perform work that requires professional training and skill in the theoretical or scientific aspects of library work, as distinct from its mechanical or clerical aspects. Include the director without the MLS and others who hold the title of librarian, such as library associates.

All other paid staff: All other staff paid from the library budget including plant operations, security, and maintenance staff.

That is also how they are reported in the report I do for the state data. For each of those categories, I ask for the number of staff, and for the total number of hours worked by all staff in that category in a given week. (I then do the FTE calculations for submission.)

I can’t think about #2 right now…I am about to try to shove stuff back into a can of worms opened by a clarification about e-book circulation. (Some libraries in a consortium reporting use very high, others low….)

Cathy Van Hoy (OK)

Hi All,

In Oklahoma I use the same definition but not everyone interprets the same way. So in small libraries I say, if the person helps the public in any way or copy catalogs, count them as a librarian. In larger libraries where staff have "distinct" titles, I let them decide but if pressed I say if they spend over 50% of their time helping the public, etc. they are librarian - if it only happens when short staffed or filling in, no. Normally shelvers & circ staff are not librarians (though they help people all the time - ha!)

Cecilie Maynor

Hi Joy

This is how we count them:

Librarians with Master's Degree (MLS/MLIS)

Librarians with Master’s Degree (ALA accredited MLS or MLIS) from ALA accredited program of library and information studies.

Other employees holding the title of Librarian

Other employees holding the title of Librarian who do work that required professional training and skill in the theoretical or scientific aspects of library work, or both, as distinct from its mechanical or clerical aspect. This would include, but is not limited to, graduates of the state sponsored Public Library Management Institute and any others who hold the title of Librarian, Manager, Director, Administrator, Head Librarian.

Other paid library staff (except plant operations, security, custodial, and maintenance)

Other paid library staff (except plant operations, security, custodial, and maintenance). This could include circulation clerks, library assistants, etc.

Not sure about your Freading question. I am holding our annual Survey Review Webinar tomorrow and I am hoping to  avoid  intricate questions like that...

Good luck!

Sam Shaw (NE)

Hi Joy:

I think Cecilie’s definition below is word for word the federal definition (251), so if the person doesn’t have “librarian” in their title, it might depend on whether or not they are required to have “professional training and skill in the theoretical or scientific aspects of library work”. Now you can debate that word salad.

As for number 2, it seems like under the new definition of eBooks, since these have a circulation period they get counted as eBook holdings and eBook circulations. If you count one, you count the other under the new definition. See Laura Stone’s (attached) cheat sheet. A number of posters have previously pointed out the difficulty in calculating these numbers for holdings, since the library doesn’t specifically select them like other eBook vendors. The method I know of is to count each downloaded eBook both as circulation and as a holding, when selected by the patron. (e.g. patrons select 1,000 eBooks to checkout---count 1,000 for holdings (element #451) and 1,000 for circulation (element #552). Or, to put it another way, 1 download=1 use and 1 holding.

FYI the old definition included “Report only items the library has selected as part of the collection.”

Terry Blauvelt (MO)

Missouri is counting Freading the way Sam outlines it below (1 circ. Equals 1 holding).

As far as the librarians, we count librarians, ALA-MLS Librarians, and Total Librarians.

Joy Garretson (MS)

Thanks for all of the help, guys (and gals)! As far as the circulation staff issue goes, so many of our paraprofessional staff members have titles like “library assistant,” “circulation assistant,” etc., but these people are not only doing basic level search/retrieval of materials and checking in and out of materials, they’re also giving customer service, answering ready reference questions, etc. I like Cathy’s suggestion that if over 50% of their time involves helping the public, they’re a librarian. I’m going to ruminate on it a little more. I gave my library directors the definitions you all listed that you use (we use them too), but the contention came from a contentious contentor (ha) whose goal yesterday *might* have been to stump the presenter.

I’m not debating any word salads, but I am definitely stealing that phrase for my lexicon!

As for the E-book thing, for now, I am going to leave my state’s question about number of items accessed under databases, even though those items now technically circulate. Here’s my reasoning: They pay maybe $.50 per item (as opposed to much higher prices for other e-books), they don’t have much to do with the collection of the items, and the items—though accessible to all of them by searching on Freading—aren’t to me directly comparable to a book collected by a collection developer. However, instead of wording these as “E-Book Downloads,” I’m going to call them  patron-driven acquisitions and let that be the category they live in (somewhere between a permanent part of the collection and a database item). 

Most days, I love technology, but yesterday and today, I kindof hate it.

I am happy to report, though, that after yesterday’s workshop, there was a literary pub crawl in honor of the upcoming Mississippi Book Festival (First annual! Speakers include MS authors John Grisham and Ellen Gilchrist among others!), and I was able to wash all of my statistical woes away while sipping on bourbon and playing trivia games that involved guessing what famous authors liked to drink. Who knew that Larry Brown was so into peppermint schnapps??

~fin.