The 50-page report presents data from 84 academic library directors, university librarians, library deans and other high level library executives about their experiences with and plans for student workers in the library. The study gives detailed data on the total number of students workers per library, and their full time equivalent count. It also gives librarian satisfaction data with the overall performance of their student workers, and their level of satisfaction with the training regime in place. In addition, the librarians sampled give their opinion on whether they plan to use more, less, or about the same amount of student labor in the library in the near future. They also give their advice on how to select, train, motivate and deploy student workers.
The data in the report is broken out by a broad range of variables including but not limited to the gender and salary level of the survey respondent, and the general Carnegie class, enrollment size, annual tuition, public/private status and regional location of the survey respondent’s college or university.
Just a few of the report’s many findings are that:
- Respondents reported a wide range of number of students employed; the maximum was 224, the minimum was 0, the median was 15, and the mean was approximately 30.
- Many respondents stressed the importance of good training for student laborers; many suggested having a checklist, handbook, and/or rubric to ensure that all students receive the right training. Many also suggested, “Planned instruction and orientation, frequent reviews, frequent meetings to reinforce expectations, regular performance reviews.”
- Junior colleges in the sample maintained a mean of 1.85 full time equivalent positions for student workers.
Methodology
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