Library Student Employees Matt Anderson

Library Student Assistants  Make it possible to be open at odd hours  Can do routine work, freeing librarians to do more complex tasks  Can work brief shifts  Bring valuable, hard-to-find skills (like foreign languages or technical skills)  Are not replacements for full-time people

Library Student Assistants Student assistants in the past:  Emerged in 1800s  Didn’t work with the public until the 1930s  Usually handled card-filing and basic preservation of materials  Were in demand in the 1970s to help improve cultural diversity of the library staff  Source: Sweetman, K.B. (2007). Managing student assistants: a how-to-do-it manual for librarians. New York: Neal-Schuman.

Library Student Assistants In access services:  75% of ARL libraries have more student employees now than they did in 1995 Often fill positions as:  Acquisitions assistants  Circulation desk assistants  Government information assistants  Interlibrary loan aides  Reserve desk assistants  Shelvers

Why Students Work in Libraries As a student, what would make you apply to work in a library?

Why Students Work in Libraries Students want to work at libraries because:  They can work night and weekend hours  There is access to materials they need  They see libraries as a place where they can socialize with their friends

Why Students Work in Libraries The primary reason students choose to work in libraries:  42% “learning to balance my time between work and studies”  21.1% “purely to earn money”  21.1% “training myself to be a responsible person”  15.8% “gaining some work experience” Source: Yang, Z.Y. (2007). “Survey of interlibrary loan and document delivery student assistants' job satisfaction: communication and feedback.” Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply 17 (4), p

Why Students Work in Libraries Studies indicate on-campus jobs increase the likelihood of graduation

Your New Job When you interview for an academic librarian job, do you ask about the library’s student employees?

Your New Job It is important to adapt to the library’s culture at first, rather than imposing changes People do not want to hear about how different things were at your last library Asking existing employees about themselves is like an informal interview Identifying each individual’s needs is important

Recruiting and Interviewing Students Students can have many different statuses, including:  Volunteer  Research assistant  Intern  Hourly  Fellow  Federal Work-Study

Recruiting and Interviewing Students Federal Work-Study  Allows students to earn money while attending school without having to repay  Students must be at least half-time  At some institutions, FWS makes for a higher hourly wage  Institutions only end up paying 25-50% of the wage  FWS employees can be reassigned

Recruiting and Interviewing Students The interview should address:  Experience (but not be totally based on experience)  Technical knowledge  Creativity  Experience working with the public  What the student likes about the library and the collection  Future plans (but realize that many students change their plans fairly often)

Training a Student Employee Employees without much work experience need A LOT of training and repetition Training two 20-hour students takes more time than training one 40-hour employee

Training a Student Employee Nothing can ruin the student’s experience faster than miscommunication with a supervisor

The Student’s Experience Yang’s survey of 19 (17 undergrads and 2 grad students) student assistants at Texas A&M found: Only 5.3% felt daily job assignments were too large 15.8% said their supervisor had not trained them thoroughly 57.9% thought they worked as hard as their supervisors Fewer than half would like to have a student training manual 84.2% preferred supervisors to offer feedback in person

The Student’s Experience 68.4% felt free to voice frustrations to supervisors 89.5% felt free to voice frustrations to other staff members Source: Yang, Z.Y. (2007). “Survey of interlibrary loan and document delivery student assistants' job satisfaction: communication and feedback.” Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply 17 (4), p

The Student’s Experience Problematic student employees:  Complain  Procrastinate  Become lazy  Have low morale  Are absent or late  Have personal problems  Have personality problems  Refuse to do things  Gossip  Dress inappropriately

Communication When communicating with student employees face-to-face:  Listen  Smile  Acknowledge their good work

Communication When communicating with student employees via  Avoid rambling  Proof what you send them  Make sure your audience can understand what you mean  Don’t work too hard on trying to impress

Good Student Assistants  Will have a more positive academic experience for having worked in a library  Will help you get work done  Will make you a better librarian

Library Student Employees Questions? Comments?