According to 2003 ALA statistics, Library Support Staff actually makes up 75%* of the total library workforce. To those of us in the trenches, that number doesn’t surprise us, and if admitted, makes us feel a bit prouder of our station. We have always known the important nature of our profession, but it is vindicating to realize we outnumber the Librarian population by a large margin. Haven’t we all had the thought at one time or another that the Library couldn’t function without us? Based on those numbers, it is a statement very close to the truth.
Our need for vindication lies in the years of compounded lack of respect from the Librarian population. Oh they value us greatly, but the status division is sometimes extremely hard to swallow, especially after years of hard work, experience and knowledge accumulation. For those of us who have been at this level of work for many years, we can point to several instances where we have had to take on the mantle of Librarian without receiving sufficient pay compensation or minimal acknowledgement. Is this what makes some of us a bit bitter after so many years? Not exactly.
Over the years, Support Staff positions have sometimes been looked upon as simply secretarial/clerical in nature with no specialized skills necessary to warrant distinction. But in reality, our purpose is much more complicated than that. In 2009 we are an extremely diverse and valuable lot. Yes, sometimes we are the new high school or college graduate who wants to enter the profession to have a stable and clerical related job. We are also the retiree or stay-at-home Mom looking for low impact, interesting work to fill some extra hours in our day. We are also the career Paraprofessional who has dedicated their life to serving the patrons with priceless enthusiasm and wisdom. More recently, we are the new MLS graduates simply trying to gain practical experience by joining the service trenches. When taking all of these diverse backgrounds into consideration, they usually have one commonality: all were drawn to the job based on a fondness for books, reading or libraries in general. This just happens to be the same common impetus behind the career path of the Librarian.
With this understanding, why does our experience/knowledge base and common interest/dedication not qualify us for greater respect among our superiors? The issue is not any different from the doctor/nurse relationship. All would agree that the doctor is educated to the professional level that allows him or her to make life and death decisions. While the nurse is also highly respected and educated to a high level for patient care, there still exists a professional division that is appropriate. Based on educational levels alone, the Librarian/Paraprofessional divide is not unusual within the professional landscape. However, one of the biggest stumbling blocks for the Library Support Staff is our own level of apathy when it comes to making our issues known within the profession, but apathy earned from years of failed attempts.
Many of us have tried to be a voice in wilderness, championing the cause of the Paraprofessional, yet those of us who have made the effort to make our voices heard have only been slapped down by insensitive superiors, or if supported by our superiors, were effectively harnessed by our own salary limitations. When it comes to representation, the ALA and KLA are there for all library workers, regardless of educational level. Yet despite the Library Support Staff’s overwhelmingly superior numbers, both organizations are geared toward the Librarian. One main reason for this is the low number of Paraprofessionals involved in these organizations. Even as a minority, the Librarian is better situated for involvement based on job description and salary levels. Let’s face it; we Support Staff have two major obstacles to involvement: money and time.
The Librarian is automatically expected to participate in professional organizations for collaboration and professional development. This participation is made easier by the allowance of activity during the work day and the salary levels that allow for painless membership. In contrast, the Library Paraprofessional has no time allowance for unscheduled professional organization activity, and their salary level almost prohibits a consistent level of membership or participation. As just one example of this prohibitive structure, I have been Library Support Staff for over 15 years and with my present employer for the past eight years. Upon agreeing to become the next Chair of the KLA Library Support Staff Round Table, I travelled with the previous Chair to attend the board meeting for introduction. This was one day of the Fall conference and since my employer was not covering the trip, I elected to arrive and pay for one day’s attendance even though it was after lunch and only included a couple of afternoon sessions plus the board meeting. The cost for a few hours at this conference (too early to even enjoy the vendors as they were not open until the following day) was $95.00. I have always considered my salary to be comfortable, and I was allowed to attend during work-time, but even this cost for a few hours was hard to take. I attempted to declare student status as I was working on my MSLS, but even this was not accepted as a valid discount because I was “part-time”. Of course, the Librarians that chose to attend were either completely covered by their institution or covered by their salaries that were in a much better position to absorb the cost.
This entire structure of disparity levels for professional development and professional organization participation is just one issue that hinders the progress of Support Staff. When other issues are taken into consideration such as little to no career advancement, certification and low salaries, the need for involvement climbs high very quickly.
I view the first steps needed to change the overall landscape of Support Staff respect/involvement to be opinion/acceptance based and not financial right away. Budgets are the worst hindrance to any salary increase for Library Support Staff. Not only are general library budgets strapped as it is, but simply asking for more money out of the blue will never work. Reaching this goal would take time and cultivation of relational changes within the profession.
So where do we begin? We begin with us. Support Staff needs to be more vocal and more willing to take advantage of participation opportunities. This forum and other opportunities from the KLA Round Table represent one such area to get started. By becoming observant and educated about the issues that affect us all, we can begin to voice concerns when in conversation with supervisors or administrators. We cannot be afraid to speak up about our concerns in a professional, flexible and consistent manner. However, repeating the same complaints without any helpful suggestions for a solution simply becomes background noise. One area that I would like to bring up further in another post is the concept of “Reverse Mentoring” and how this concept if embraced by administration could not only improve the respect levels within the library, but has also proven to greatly improve service to patrons.
Along with helping to improve attitude within the library caste system, we next need to be willing to lobby the professional organizations to drastically lower their membership and conference fees for this type of worker. With the lower fees and hopefully some added support from the administration, perhaps more involvement might be possible. With lower fees and increased participation, perhaps more of the presentations can apply to Support Staff issues or be inclusive issue based to better involve all levels of library workers, not just the Librarian by degree. After all, despite our differing levels of education and pay, we are all still professionals and deserve to be treated as such. If this doesn’t work, perhaps we should think about adopting a professional organization structure more like the nurses/physicians structure…..still medical based but each belonging to their own professional organization to serve the contrasting needs.
For further reading:
“Empowering Library Support Staff for the 21st Century”; Library Mosaics; Sept./Oct. 2005; p.14
Fox, Charlie, “Call Me What You Will”; Library Mosaics, Jul./Aug. 2005, p.5
Hartsell, Lynaire, “Definition of a Library Paraprofessional”; Arkansas Libraries, Winter 2007, p.12-13
Kutzik, Jennifer, “Are You the Librarian? The Face of Quality Library Service Depends on Drawing a Wider Circle in our Profession”; American Libraries, Mar. 2005, p.32-34
*Morrison, Douglas; “In the Name of Service”; American Libraries, June/July 2008; p.51
Neslund, Joan, “Caught in the Middle”; Public Libraries, Mar./Apr. 2008, p.20-21
Reynolds, Marianne; “Only Princess are Allowed at the Ball!”; Library Mosaics, Nov./Dec. 2003; p.18-19
Straatmann, Michael; “Addressing Perceived Inequalities Between Academic Library Faculty and Paraprofessionals Through Staff Development Programs”; Nebraska Library Association Quarterly, Spring 2008
Until next time,
Cheri
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