Section IV:
STAFFING

 

"In two years, the library will move into a new building that is 50 percent larger than the existing one with a doubling of its computing capacity. The College needs to recognize that the expanded capacity and services will require additional staffing ranging from computing and technical personnel to student workers and custodial personnel. Moreover, the new library building underscores the need for the library to participate as a major information service provider in the College-wide technology planning process." Report ... by an Evaluation Team Representing the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
As the College looked toward a multi-million dollar new Library facility for fall 2002, it was essential to build the staffing necessary to deliver a broader array of services, over the course of a significantly longer service week, in a building more than half again as large as the present one. There would be little point in a marvelous new state-of-the-art Library unless its hours, programs, and human resources were fully the equal of the new facility and substantially better than those offered in the old building.

As part of the project of programming the new Library, the architects projected the staffing the new building would require, using software that considered the size of the building, the student population, and other factors. This report advised that the new building would require three dozen more staff members than the Library presently had. The College modestly aimed to fill vacancies and to add a handful of new positions which were largely support staff lines.

The new Library is now open, and usage has soared. A well-located spacious facility built to a high aesthetic standard and offering four times as many seats, more and better equipment, and greater comforts is besieged by students. The College has made a real effort to build Library staffing and achieved moderate success. In the fall 2002 the College provided $17,000 so that the Library could add eight hours of weekly service to its program. These were one-time-only funds, and may or may not be recurring, creating a question about the Library's ability to continue the new hours beyond the 2002/03 academic year.

The vacant positions listed below have been filled or are slated to be filled. The College has elected to defer filling the two librarian positions vacated in January 2003 until September 2004; at the present it is unclear what sort of support will be provided during the 2003/04 academic year–adjunct funds or substitute lines.

  • Physical Sciences Specialist
  • Education and Social Sciences Specialist
  • Web Developer
  • Manager, Library Café
  • Evening and Weekend Manager, Library Café
  • New Media Center Manager Evening and Weekend Manager
  • History/Classics/Judaic Studies Specialist (vacant 01/03; to be filled 09/04)
  • Film/TV-Radio/Media Studies/Philosophy Specialist (vacant 01/03; to be filled 09/04)
    • These new lines have been funded:
  • Multimedia Specialist
  • New Media Center Manager
  • Digital Supplementary Instruction Specialist (funded by the Student Technology Fee; recruitment in process)
  • Conservator (funded in part with Library gift funds)
    • The Library concluded the 2001/2002 academic year with:
    19.00 Librarians (full-time)
    .15 Faculty on lines shared with other departments
    .33 FTE adjuncts (weekend librarians)
    9.00 Higher Education Officers
    1.00 College Laboratory Technician
    2.00 Information Systems Aides
    16.00 Supporting staff (full-time)
    40.00 FTE College Assistants
    16.40 FTE Student Aides & Work-Study Students
    103.88 Total Library, Audiovisual Center, & Academic Information Technologies FTEs