Staffing & Schedule Considerations at Your Academic Library: You Want Me to Work When???

How does staff scheduling work at your library? Do the librarians get preferred treatment, working “fluffy” 8-4 shifts Monday through Friday, while paraprofessionals pick up the slack during the evening and night (not to mention weekends!)? What does this mean for the service end of things? Are the evening and weekend patrons getting equitable library service and Reference help? Or maybe your library can afford to hire part-time ALA-accredited librarians to cover the Reference Desks for those hours when your “in-house” librarians can’t be there (for example, during evenings, weekends and/or entire summers). Or what about this scenario: Your library is out in the boonies, and you don’t have access to degreed librarians, so even if you had the money to hire them, there are none to be had. Or this: Perhaps you’re so small and under-funded that you’re running your in-house librarians ragged, asking them to work day, evening, weekend, and summertime shifts to the point where they feel guilty for calling in sick! And if anyone else calls in sick, it means more work for them! What’s to be done? If any of these staffing scenarios sounds familiar, or if you have another to add to the mix, please join me for a lively “open Forum discussion” about staffing and schedule considerations at your academic library!