This study presents data from 62 high officials of American and Canadian academic libraries, predominantly library directors, about their plans to utilize student workers in the library, currently and post pandemic. The report gives detailed data on the number of student workers, and overall spending on student workers pre-COVID, at various points during the pandemic, and planned levels of use of student workers and spending on them post pandemic. The study also looks at how academic libraries used student workers during the pandemic and how they use them currently and plan to use them in the near future, focusing on changes induced by the pandemic. The study also looks at Federal aid to help pay for student workers in the library, as well as library plans for unspent funds that had been intended for compensation for student workers in the library. In an open ended response, library directors and deans discuss their future plans for student workers in the library.
Just a few of this 51-page report’s many findings are that:
- Use of student workers in the library declined by 48% during the pandemic
- About 11% of libraries sampled are still unsure if unspent funds for student works will be returned to general college/university funds
- Pre-COVID the typical academic library in the sample employed a mean of about 22 student workers.
Data in the report is broken out by size and type of institution, by tuition level, for public and private institutions and enrolment level as well as by some personal characteristics of survey respondents.
Table of Contents
1. THE QUESTIONNAIRE
2. PARTICIPANT LIST
- Characteristics of the Sample
3. SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDING
- Pre-COVID Level of Use of Student Workers
- Level of Use of Student Workers During the Pandemic
- Level of Use of Online Student Workers for the Library During the Pandemic
- What Types of Jobs Online Student Library Workers Performed
- Library Spending for Student Workers, 2019-20 Academic Year
- Academic Library Spending on Student Workers for the 2020-21 Academic Year
- Expected Academic Library Spending on Student Workers for 2021-22
- Unspent Library Reserve Funds for Student Workers
- End Use for Library Reserve of Funds Originally Intended for Student Workers
- Library Capacity to Access Federal COVID Relief Funds for Paying Academic Library Workers
- Impact of the Pandemic on Future Use of Student Workers in the Library
List of Tables
Table 1 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods?
Table 1.1.1 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? February 2020 (pre-pandemic)
Table 1.1.2 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? February 2020 (pre-pandemic) Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 1.1.3 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? February 2020 (pre-pandemic) Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 1.1.4 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? February 2020 (pre-pandemic) Broken out by Tuition
Table 1.1.5 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? February 2020 (pre-pandemic) Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 1.1.6 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? February 2020 (pre-pandemic) Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 1.1.7 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? February 2020 (pre-pandemic) Broken out by Gender of respondent
Table 1.2.1 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2020 (during pandemic)
Table 1.2.2 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2020 (during pandemic) Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 1.2.3 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2020 (during pandemic) Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 1.2.4 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2020 (during pandemic) Broken out by Tuition
Table 1.2.5 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2020 (during pandemic) Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 1.2.6 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2020 (during pandemic) Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 1.2.7 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2020 (during pandemic) Broken out by Gender of respondent
Table 1.3.1 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? March 2021 (during pandemic)
Table 1.3.2 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? March 2021 (during pandemic) Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 1.3.3 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? March 2021 (during pandemic) Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 1.3.4 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? March 2021 (during pandemic) Broken out by Tuition
Table 1.3.5 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? March 2021 (during pandemic) Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 1.3.6 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? March 2021 (during pandemic) Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 1.3.7 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? March 2021 (during pandemic) Broken out by Gender of respondent
Table 1.4.1 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2021 (likely mostly post-pandemic)
Table 1.4.2 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2021 (likely mostly post-pandemic) Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 1.4.3 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2021 (likely mostly post-pandemic) Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 1.4.4 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2021 (likely mostly post-pandemic) Broken out by Tuition
Table 1.4.5 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2021 (likely mostly post-pandemic) Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 1.4.6 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2021 (likely mostly post-pandemic) Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 1.4.7 How many student workers did or will the library employ in each of the following periods? September 2021 (likely mostly post-pandemic) Broken out by Gender of respondent
Table 2.1 How many student library workers worked online for the library in a typical month during the pandemic?
Table 2.2 How many student library workers worked online for the library in a typical month during the pandemic? Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 2.3 How many student library workers worked online for the library in a typical month during the pandemic? Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 2.4 How many student library workers worked online for the library in a typical month during the pandemic? Broken out by Tuition
Table 2.5 How many student library workers worked online for the library in a typical month during the pandemic? Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 2.6 How many student library workers worked online for the library in a typical month during the pandemic? Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 2.7 How many student library workers worked online for the library in a typical month during the pandemic? Broken out by Gender of respondent
What jobs did they perform?
Table 3 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years?
Table 3.1.1 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2019-20
Table 3.1.2 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2019-20 Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 3.1.3 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2019-20 Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 3.1.4 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2019-20 Broken out by Tuition
Table 3.1.5 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2019-20 Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 3.1.6 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2019-20 Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 3.1.7 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2019-20 Broken out by Gender of respondent
Table 3.2.1 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2020-21
Table 3.2.2 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2020-21 Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 3.2.3 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2020-21 Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 3.2.4 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2020-21 Broken out by Tuition
Table 3.2.5 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2020-21 Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 3.2.6 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2020-21 Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 3.2.7 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2020-21 Broken out by Gender of respondent
Table 3.3.1 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2021-22
Table 3.3.2 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2021-22 Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 3.3.3 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2021-22 Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 3.3.4 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2021-22 Broken out by Tuition
Table 3.3.5 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2021-22 Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 3.3.6 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2021-22 Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 3.3.7 Approximately how much did or will the library spend for student workers in each of the following academic years? 2021-22 Broken out by Gender of respondent
Table 4.1 Does the library have a surplus or reserve of unspent funds for student workers who did not work during the pandemic?
Table 4.2 Does the library have a surplus or reserve of unspent funds for student workers who did not work during the pandemic? Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 4.3 Does the library have a surplus or reserve of unspent funds for student workers who did not work during the pandemic? Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 4.4 Does the library have a surplus or reserve of unspent funds for student workers who did not work during the pandemic? Broken out by Tuition
Table 4.5 Does the library have a surplus or reserve of unspent funds for student workers who did not work during the pandemic? Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 4.6 Does the library have a surplus or reserve of unspent funds for student workers who did not work during the pandemic? Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 4.7 Does the library have a surplus or reserve of unspent funds for student workers who did not work during the pandemic? Broken out by Gender of respondent
Table 5.1 If the library had such a reserve, what has or will happen to it?
Table 5.2 If the library had such a reserve, what has or will happen to it? Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 5.3 If the library had such a reserve, what has or will happen to it? Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 5.4 If the library had such a reserve, what has or will happen to it? Broken out by Tuition
Table 5.5 If the library had such a reserve, what has or will happen to it? Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 5.6 If the library had such a reserve, what has or will happen to it? Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 5.7 If the library had such a reserve, what has or will happen to it? Broken out by Gender of respondent
Table 6.1 Will the library be able to access funds derived from the various Federal rescue plans for paying student worker salaries or training costs?
Table 6.2 Will the library be able to access funds derived from the various Federal rescue plans for paying student worker salaries or training costs? Broken out by Public or private colleges
Table 6.3 Will the library be able to access funds derived from the various Federal rescue plans for paying student worker salaries or training costs? Broken out by Carnegie class or type
Table 6.4 Will the library be able to access funds derived from the various Federal rescue plans for paying student worker salaries or training costs? Broken out by Tuition
Table 6.5 Will the library be able to access funds derived from the various Federal rescue plans for paying student worker salaries or training costs? Broken out by Number of FTE student enrollment
Table 6.6 Will the library be able to access funds derived from the various Federal rescue plans for paying student worker salaries or training costs? Broken out by Age of respondent
Table 6.7 Will the library be able to access funds derived from the various Federal rescue plans for paying student worker salaries or training costs? Broken out by Gender of respondent
How has the pandemic affected how you are likely to train and use student workers in the post pandemic future?
Sources / Contributors
- Andrews University
- Austin College
- Avila University
- Azusa Pacific University
- Biola University
- Bishop's University
- Brooklyn College/CUNY
- Bryan College
- Campbell University
- Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary & College
- Capilano University
- Calvin University, Hekman Library
- Cazenovia College
- CCC
- Charleston School of Law
- Christopher Newport University
- Clarks Summit University
- Clayton State University
- Coahoma Community College
- Dominican University of California
- East Carolina University
- East Central University
- Edgewood College
- Elmira College/Gannett-Tripp Library
- Florida National University
- Florida State College at Jacksonville
- Frederick Community College
- Harding University, Brackett Library
- Hamline University
- Harbor Branch Oceanographic institute
- Jackson State Community College
- Kansas Wesleyan Univ. - Memorial Library
- Lake Superior College
- Lawrence Technological University
- Lee College
- Lee University
- Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law
- Livingstone College
- Monash University Malaysia
- Northwestern State University of Louisiana
- Ohio Christian University
- Ouachita Baptist University
- Ozarka College
- Pfeiffer University
- Prairie View A&M University
- Rhodes College - Barret Library
- Samford University
- Shippensburg University
- Southwestern Adventist University
- St. Joseph's College
- St. Thomas Aquinas College
- SUNY ESF
- Swansea University
- Thomas More University
- University Canada West
- University of Detroit Mercy
- University of Louisiana at Monroe
- University of North Dakota
- Utica College
- West Coast University
- Wilkes University
- Yeshiva University
Methodology
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