Access Services as Librarian Launching Pad

Transcription

1 Access Services as Librarian Launching Pad William Gee, Head of Circulation & Interlibrary Loan Pam Evans, Assistant Head of Circulation & Interlibrary Loan Joyner Library East Carolina University 1

2 Overview About Joyner Library & the department Why pursue the librarian degree? Benefits & Drawbacks to the department Tasks that are learned through working in Circulation & ILL How we structure and advertise positions How we interview, train, and support our staff 2

3 Access Services? Circulation (Print, Media, & Equipment) Holds, Recalls, & Campus Delivery Course Reserves (Physical & Online) Fine/Fee Collections & Billing Stacks Maintenance & Cleaning Tasks Study Carrels Interlibrary Loan Document Delivery 3

4 About Joyner Library, ECU Enrollment of nearly 27,000 students in 100 bachelor's, 77 master's, 21 doctoral, and 77 professional certifications Joyner Library, ECU s academic main library 2 million volumes & 475 online databases nearly 950,000 e-books & over 98,000 e-journals numerous primary source collections $1m operating budget; $1.7m acquisitions budget Circulation & Interlibrary Loan 10 Staff, 1 Faculty, 31 Student Employees Nearly 55,000 Circulations of Books/Media and 26,000 renewals Nearly 38,000 Circulations of Equipment (laptops, cameras, etc.) Nearly 700 Physical Course Reserves & 600 E-Course Reserves Nearly 38,000 ILL/DocDel requests Circulation Desk staffed 21 hours/day Sun-Thurs, plus Fri & Sat 4

5 Department History Combined Circulation and Interlibrary Loan Departments for a few decades Then separate departments for a couple of decades Combined into a single department again in 2013 Remodel to move coffee shop & combine work spaces Decided against Access Services as too vague to patrons Went with Circulation & Interlibrary Loan because these are the traditional labels for our main services 5

6 Employment: History & Today History: of 17 who have left within the past 8 years, 6 have gone on to librarian jobs 2 have gotten higher level jobs in other library departments 3 have moved-up to higher level positions or to daytime hours within the Circulation/ILL Department 6 have taken jobs unrelated to libraries, 2 have retired, and 1 passed away Current: 5 of 10 employees are currently enrolled in library school 1 other already has the degree 3 others are enrolled in other degree programs (accounting & nutrition) 6

7 Why do staff go for a degree? Like library work and the idea of working in libraries Career Advancement Circulation staff positions are relatively low ranked and low paid. Most librarian jobs require the master s degree Why go while working full-time at ECU? Free UNC system tuition for 3 classes/year Free textbook borrowing program for employees from bookstore Four MLS options in UNC system three online UNC Greensboro, UNC Central, & now ECU also Chapel Hill Availability of a flexible schedule 7

8 Benefits to Department Fresh perspectives on services and processes Desire to cross-train and learn new tasks to bolster CVs New skills from their studies, projects, and internships Fuller understanding of interactions between library services Better understanding of why decisions are made by other departments Several have gone on to positions in other ECU library departments, taking their knowledge of the needs of Circulation/ILL with them 8

9 Drawbacks to Department Continuous hiring and training of employees Takes months to fill a vacancy Stress and added tasks to remaining employees during vacancy Delayed projects Takes weeks to months to fully train a new employee Some have wanted to work on school work rather than on job tasks first Some have used new knowledge to overstep their jobs Schedule adjustments for classes and internships It is hard to supervise staff who work different hours than the supervisor (e.g. Overnight Manager, works 7:00pm to 4:00am) 9

10 What do employees learn by working in Circ/ILL? Transferable skills to most any library position Customer Service Basic Reference Basic Cataloging (reading and doing some) IT Troubleshooting Facilities Maintenance & Security Knowledge of print and media (and online) collections Working within procedures and rules Detail orientation Publicity Keeping statistics Time and project management Supervision 10

11 Job Descriptions Each position has a single core function Each also has multiple other roles Roles are listed by an estimated % of time based on actual tracked averages 5 examples provided; also Head M-F 9-6, Assnt Head M-F 8-5, two ILL Managers M-F 8-5, Billing Manager M-F 8-5, Holds Manager Tues-Sat Reserves Manager, M-F 8am-5pm 40 Course Reserve Processing 30 Public Circulation Service 20 Equipment Coordinator 5 Supervise Student Workers 5 Committee Service and Other Duties as Assigned Day Supervisor, S-Th 12pm-9pm 60 Public Circulation Service 30 Supervising and Training of Desk Students 5 Process Student Payroll for Department 5 Committee Service, Maintain Department Supplies, and Other Duties as Assigned Overnight Supervisor, S-Th 7pm-4am Stacks Manager, M-F 10am-7pm Evening Supervisor, S-Th 3pm-12am 50 Overnight Supervisor and Public Circulation Service 15 Assist Circulation Billing Manager 10 Process Interlibrary Loan Requests 5 Equipment Coordinator Backup 5 Marketing and Outreach 5 Patron Database Maintenance 5 Supervise Student Workers 5 Committee Service and Other Duties as Assigned 40 Maintenance of General Circulating, New Books, Media, and Popular Reading Collections 25 Public Circulation Service 25 Supervising and Training of Stacks Students 5 Back up Holds/Recalls Manager 5 Committee Service and Other Duties as Assigned 50 Evening Supervisor and Public Circulation Service 10 Compile and Monitor Departmental Statistics 10 Assist with Course Reserve Processing 10 Process Holds & Other Requests 5 Assist Circulation Billing Manager 5 Faculty and Graduate Carrels 5 Supervise Student Workers 5 Committee Service and Other Duties as Assigned 11

12 Job Advertisement Ads are placed mainly just on ECU Website Last Billing Manager position advertised at ECU School of Business Would like to begin advertising on NCLA Listserve We include the following points in the advertisements. Required KSAs: set by state HR at high school diploma or equivalency Preferred KSAs: bachelor s degree; experience with customer service; proficiency with Microsoft Office; ability to analyze and apply policies and procedures; office or library work experience; ability to supervise student employees; ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with patrons and personnel. The position communicates with a wide variety of patrons. The position is responsible for carrying out the mission of the library through the services provided at the Circulation service desk in person, by telephone, and by . Duties at the service desk are listed in detail. Represents Circulation on Joyner Library committees and taskforces, and participates in Joyner Library and University projects 12

13 Interview Process minutes of questions and discussion Meet with Head & Assnt. Head, sometimes others in the dept. Tour of department workspace Tour of library (if applicant desires) 13

14 Interview Questions In the past, we asked if applicants had attention to detail, were prompt, had good attendance, worked well with others, etc. Always got positive replies without much explanation; not that helpful to us Now we ask for details about each desired trait. 1. What specifically interested you about the position? 2. Tell me about your experience working in a library or in other fields. 3. In your past and present jobs, how have you demonstrated your commitment to helping students or patrons learn and succeed? 4. Can you identify three strengths and weaknesses you have? 5. Can you describe your most important accomplishments in or outside of work? 6. Tell us about a particularly difficult patron situation at a service desk and how you resolved it? 7. Describe the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy. 8. Describe your supervisory experience and what do you expect from the people you supervise? 9. How do you go about learning something new? 10. How does this job fit in with your overall career goals? 11. What do you see as your primary qualifications for this position? 12. Tell us about your computer skills. What software are you comfortable using? 14

15 Training Detailed written instructions for particular job duties Routinely updated procedure manual Hands-on training by supervisor and colleagues Cross-training on various tasks to ensure knowledge continuation and coverage Continuous training in department meetings & online 15

16 Ongoing Support to Staff Allow flex-time for taking courses Allow some on-the-clock cross-training with other departments Permit homework to be done on the job if other tasks are finished Talk frankly about the field Advise on graduate programs and courses Share industry magazines and journals 16

17 Thanks & Questions William Gee, Pam Evans, 17