Good Fences Make Bad Libraries: Rethinking Binary Constructions of Employment in Academic Libraries

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Volumn 4, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 85-104

  Jones, Phillip J ^a   Stivers, James ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS   (United States)

^b NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 2342635203     PISSN: 15312542     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/pla.2004.0011     Document Type: Review

References (82)

1. Rush G. Miller, "Support Staffs in Academic Libraries: The Dilemma and the Challenge," Journal of Educational Media & Library Sciences 25, 4 (Summer 1988): 358.
2. Betsy Wilson, "Letter of Welcome to Colleagues," ACRL X: Crossing the Divide, Tenth National Conference, Denver, Colorado, Conference and Exhibits Program (March 2001), 7.
3. For the classic text on "humanistic" management see David A. Baldwin and Robert L. Migneault, Humanistic Management by Teamwork: An Organizational and Administrative Alternative for Academic Libraries (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1996).
4. American Library Association, Third Congress on Professional Education: Focus on Library Support Staff, Report of the Steering Committee (Chicago: ALA, 2003), 4-5, 14-16. Available: 〈http://www.ala.org/Content/ContentGroups/ HRDR/3rd_Congress_on_Professional_Education_Focus_on_Library_Support_Staff/ COPE3Final_Report.pdf〉 [October 7, 2003].
5. This article follows the practice of most authors and uses "paraprofessionals" and "support staff" interchangeably. Some works in librarianship divide support personnel into several grades, with the "paraprofessional" employee at the top. In these texts, however, the divide between librarians and paraprofessionals is clearer and sharper than the divide among the levels of support staff, effectively resulting in a binary classification. See Larry R. Oberg et al., "The Role, Status, and Working Conditions of Paraprofessionals: A National Survey of Academic Libraries," College & Research Libraries 53, 3 (May 1992): 216.
6. Wilson.
7. Charles C. Williamson, Training for Library Service: A Report Prepared for the Carnegie Corporation of New York (1923; reprinted, with a preface, as The Williamson Reports of 1921 and 1923, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1971), 3, 136.
8. Charles C. Williamson, Training for Library Service: A Report Prepared for the Carnegie Corporation of New York (1923; reprinted, with a preface, as The Williamson Reports of 1921 and 1923, Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1971), 3, 136.
9. American Library Association, Library and Information Studies Education and Human Resource Utilization: A Statement of Policy (Chicago: American Library Association, 2002). Available: 〈http://www.ala.org/Content/ContentGroups/ HRDR1st_Congress_on_Professional_Education/lepu.pdf〉 [October 7, 2003]. The word "Education" is only present in the title of the document on the executive summary. For the original version, see American Library Association, Library Education and Manpower: A Statement of Policy (Chicago: American Library Association, 1970).
10. American Library Association, Library and Information Studies Education and Human Resource Utilization: A Statement of Policy (Chicago: American Library Association, 2002). Available: 〈http://www.ala.org/Content/ContentGroups/ HRDR 1st_Congress_on_Professional_Education/lepu.pdf〉 [October 7, 2003]. The word "Education" is only present in the title of the document on the executive summary. For the original version, see American Library Association, Library Education and Manpower: A Statement of Policy (Chicago: American Library Association, 1970).
11. The ACRL "Statement on the Terminal Professional Degree for Academic Librarians," approved in 1975 and reaffirmed in 2001, reads, "The master's degree in library science from a library school program accredited by the American Library Association is the appropriate terminal professional degree for academic librarians." Available: 〈http://www.ala.org/Content/ NavigationMenu/ACRL/Standards_and_Guidelines/ Statement_on_the_Terminal_Professional_Degree_for_Academic_Librarians.htm〉 [October 7, 2003].
12. Allen B. Veaner, Academic Librarianship in a Transformational Age: Program, Politics, and Personnel (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1990), 29; see also Allen B. Veaner, "Paradigm Lost, Paradigm Regained? A Persistent Personnel Issue in Academic Librarianship, II" College & Research Libraries 55, 5 (September 1994): 395.
13. Allen B. Veaner, Academic Librarianship in a Transformational Age: Program, Politics, and Personnel (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1990), 29; see also Allen B. Veaner, "Paradigm Lost, Paradigm Regained? A Persistent Personnel Issue in Academic Librarianship, II" College & Research Libraries 55, 5 (September 1994): 395.
14. Allen B. Veaner, "Continuity or Discontinuity - A Persistent Issue in Academic Librarianship," Advances in Library Administration and Organization 1 (1982): 10.
15. st Century: Creative Approaches to Staffing and Organization," OLA Quarterly 5, 4 (Winter 2000): 4-6, 19.
16. Jill Anne Farmer, "A Poststructuralist Analysis of the Legal Research Process," Law Library Journal 85, 2 (Spring 1993): 391.
17. A.L. Dick, "Three Paths to Inquiry in Library and Information Science: Positivist, Constructivist and Critical Theory Approaches," South African Journal of Library and Information Science 61, 2 (June 1993): 58.
18. Veaner, "Continuity or Discontinuity," 5.
19. Ibid., 3, 5, 11.
20. Ibid., 2.
21. Ibid., 10.
22. Veaner, "Paradigm Lost," 393.
23. Veaner, Academic Librarianship, 439.
24. Veaner, "Paradigm Lost," 393; Veaner, Academic Librarianship, 70-3.
25. Veaner, "Paradigm Lost," 393; Veaner, Academic Librarianship, 70-3.
26. Veaner, "Continuity or Discontinuity," 6, 15-6; Veaner, "Paradigm Lost," 393-4.
27. Veaner, "Continuity or Discontinuity," 6, 15-6; Veaner, "Paradigm Lost," 393-4.
28. Veaner, "Continuity or Discontinuity," 13.
29. Ibid., 12.
30. I b i d.
31. Veaner would rather that work go undone than be executed by the wrong category of employee. See ibid., 13.
32. Ibid., 12.
33. Veaner, "Paradigm Lost," 399.
34. Ibid., 393.
35. Larry R. Oberg, "The Emergence of the Paraprofessional in Academic Libraries: Perceptions and Realities," College & Research Libraries 53, 2 (March 1992): 99-112; Larry R. Oberg et al., "Role, Status, and Working Conditions," 215-38.
36. Larry R. Oberg, "The Emergence of the Paraprofessional in Academic Libraries: Perceptions and Realities," College & Research Libraries 53, 2 (March 1992): 99-112; Larry R. Oberg et al., "Role, Status, and Working Conditions," 215-38.
37. Oberg et al., "Role, Status, and Working Conditions," 235.
38. I b i d.
39. Ibid., 215-6, 235.
40. st Century," 19.
41. Ibid., 6.
42. Thomas J. Froehlich, "Ethical Considerations Regarding Library Nonprofessionals: Competing Perspectives and Values," Library Trends 46, 3 (Winter 1998): 460.
43. Frances Davidson-Arnott and Deborah Kay, "Library Technician Programs: Skills-Oriented Paraprofessional Education," Library Trends 46, 3 (Winter 1998): 542.
44. Richard A. Murray, "Job Satisfaction of Professional and Paraprofessional Library Staff at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill" (master's paper, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1999), 29, ED 437 041, 34.
45. Evan St. Lifer, "'We Are the Library!': Support Staff Speak Out," Library Journal 120, 18 (November 1, 1995): 30-1.
46. For application forms and a list of fees by category of membership see 〈http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Our_Association/Membership/ Membership.htm〉 [October 7, 2003].
47. The cheapest registration fee for a regular member was $120 and available to members of a division. See American Libraries 34, 1 (January 2003): 118.
48. COPE 3 recommended measures to make ALA more hospitable and accessible to paraprofessionals, including examining the dues structure. See ALA, Third Congress, 12-3.
49. Terry Rodgers, The Library Paraprofessional: Notes from the Underground (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1997), 321-58.
50. For an example of her vitriol, see ibid., 43.
51. Ibid., 13, 306.
52. For several examples, see ibid., 13, 278.
53. Veaner, Academic Librarianship, 440.
54. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 § 13(a)(1), 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1) (2000).
55. 29 C.F.R. § 541.3(c).
56. See Julia C. Blixrud, comp., SPEC Kit 257 The M.L.S. Hiring Requirement (Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries, Office of Management Services, 2000), 7-9; the flyer at the front of John G. Zenelis and Jean M. Dorrian, comps., SPEC Kit 212 Non-Librarian Professionals (Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries, Office of Management Services, 1995).
57. See Julia C. Blixrud, comp., SPEC Kit 257 The M.L.S. Hiring Requirement (Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries, Office of Management Services, 2000), 7-9; the flyer at the front of John G. Zenelis and Jean M. Dorrian, comps., SPEC Kit 212 Non-Librarian Professionals (Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries, Office of Management Services, 1995).
58. American Library Association, Human Resource Utilization, 5.
59. Ibid., 3.
60. I b i d.
61. Ibid., 7. "Specialist" is capitalized throughout the original; this article only capitalizes the term in this direct quotation.
62. HRU influenced COPE 3, particularly in its recommendations for career mobility and lattices for support staff, although this congress avoided the matter of "specialists." See American Library Association, Third Congress, 4-5, 14.
63. Association of College and Research Libraries, Ad Hoc Task Force on Recruitment & Retention Issues, Recruitment, Retention & Restructuring: Human Resources in Academic Libraries (Chicago: American Library Association, 2002), 4. Available: 〈http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ACRL/ Issues_and_Advocacy1/Recruiting_to_the_Profession/recruiting-wp.pdf〉 [October 7, 2003].
64. Stanley J. Wilder has documented extensively the cohort of "graying" librarians and the effects on staffing research libraries, particularly in technical services. See Stanley J. Wilder, "Demographic Trends Affecting Professional Technical Services Staffing in ARL Libraries," Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 34, 1/2 (2002): 51-5; Stanley J. Wilder, "New Hires in Research Libraries: Demographic Trends and Hiring Priorities," ARL: A Bimonthly Report on Research Library Issues and Actions 221 (April 2002): 5-8. However, predicting the long-term demand for librarians remains difficult, and Wilder, himself, notes that fiscal and other reasons may check the one-to-one replacement of retiring librarians, see Stanley J. Wilder, "Generational Change and the Niche for Librarians," Journal of Academic Librarianship 22, 5 (September 1996): 386.
65. Stanley J. Wilder has documented extensively the cohort of "graying" librarians and the effects on staffing research libraries, particularly in technical services. See Stanley J. Wilder, "Demographic Trends Affecting Professional Technical Services Staffing in ARL Libraries," Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 34, 1/2 (2002): 51-5; Stanley J. Wilder, "New Hires in Research Libraries: Demographic Trends and Hiring Priorities," ARL: A Bimonthly Report on Research Library Issues and Actions 221 (April 2002): 5-8. However, predicting the long-term demand for librarians remains difficult, and Wilder, himself, notes that fiscal and other reasons may check the one-to-one replacement of retiring librarians, see Stanley J. Wilder, "Generational Change and the Niche for Librarians," Journal of Academic Librarianship 22, 5 (September 1996): 386.
66. Stanley J. Wilder has documented extensively the cohort of "graying" librarians and the effects on staffing research libraries, particularly in technical services. See Stanley J. Wilder, "Demographic Trends Affecting Professional Technical Services Staffing in ARL Libraries," Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 34, 1/2 (2002): 51-5; Stanley J. Wilder, "New Hires in Research Libraries: Demographic Trends and Hiring Priorities," ARL: A Bimonthly Report on Research Library Issues and Actions 221 (April 2002): 5-8. However, predicting the long-term demand for librarians remains difficult, and Wilder, himself, notes that fiscal and other reasons may check the one-to-one replacement of retiring librarians, see Stanley J. Wilder, "Generational Change and the Niche for Librarians," Journal of Academic Librarianship 22, 5 (September 1996): 386.
67. Association of College and Research Libraries, Recruitment, Retention & Restructuring, 18.
68. Ibid., 20.
69. I b i d.
70. Ibid., 19.
71. I b i d.
72. Ibid., 21.
73. Sheila S. Intner, "Integrating the Activities of Librarians and Paraprofessional Workers in Evaluating Academic Library Collections," in Collection Management for the 21st Century: A Handbook for Librarians, ed. G. E. Gorman and Ruth H. Miller (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1997), 136.
74. Ibid., 151.
75. H. Curtis Wright, "The Symbol and Its Referent: An Issue for Library Education," Library Trends 34, 4 (Spring 1986): 769.
76. Rodgers, 142.
77. Michael Gordon Jackson, "Image and Status: Academic Librarians and the New Professionalism," Advances in Librarianship 23 (1999): 94.
78. For examples see Steve McKinzie, "For Ethical Reference, Pare the Paraprofessionals," American Libraries 33, 9 (October 2002): 42; Felix Chu, "Another Look at Staffing the Reference Desk," College & Research Libraries News 58, 10 (November 1997): 713.
79. For examples see Steve McKinzie, "For Ethical Reference, Pare the Paraprofessionals," American Libraries 33, 9 (October 2002): 42; Felix Chu, "Another Look at Staffing the Reference Desk," College & Research Libraries News 58, 10 (November 1997): 713.
80. See also the first issue in W. Lee Hisle, "Top Issues Facing Academic Libraries: A Report of the Focus on the Future Task Force," College & Research Libraries News 63, 10 (November 2002): 714-5.
81. The authors are indebted to Joan Wallach Scott's accessible and insightful reading of deconstruction. See Joan Wallach Scott, Gender and the Politics of History (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), 7. See also Rodgers' discussion of the "invisibility" of paraprofessionals and of librarians' attempt at "erasing" them in Rodgers, Library Paraprofessional, 23-4.
82. The authors are indebted to Joan Wallach Scott's accessible and insightful reading of deconstruction. See Joan Wallach Scott, Gender and the Politics of History (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), 7. See also Rodgers' discussion of the "invisibility" of paraprofessionals and of librarians' attempt at "erasing" them in Rodgers, Library Paraprofessional, 23-4.