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Part-time ALA Policy Manual Statement :
This statement is quoted from section 54.9 of the American Library Association Policy Manual.
54.9 Permanent Part-Time Employment
The right to earn a living includes a right to part-time employment on a par with full-time employment, including prorated pay and fringe benefits, opportunity for advancement and protection of tenure, access to middle- and upper-level jobs, and exercise of full responsibilities at any level.
ALA shall create more voluntarily chosen upgraded permanent part-time jobs in its own organization and supports similar action on the part of all libraries.
Characteristics of a Good Part-time Position:
Three members of APTL, Kathleen Quinlivan, Linda Herman, and Anne Huberman, have put together a list of features which they feel an ideal position for a part-time professional librarian should have. We know that some of these are found in some situations, while others may be seen as goals to strive for. Have you thought of some other qualities to add to our list? Which of these characteristics describe your current position? Which ones are most important to you?
Please send the answers to these questions or any other comments you would like to make on the subject by e-mail to Association_of_PT_Librarians@yahoogroups.com, our Yahoo Group.
Now, the list.....
Pro-rated pay. The pay for part-time librarians should be proportionate to the pay received by full-time librarians having the same qualifications and performing the same work.
Health insurance. If full health benefits are not possible, then employers should contribute proportionately towards the premiums, or at the very least allow part-timers to purchase health insurance at the group rates.
Sick leave and vacation time. These benefits should be pro-rated for part-time librarians.
Training and orientation. It is in the best interests of libraries to offer thorough training and orientation to newly hired librarians. Often, part-time librarians work night and week-end hours when no other professionals are on duty. They may not have the luxury of asking more experienced librarians for help during their working hours, and they need to be totally familiar with the library procedures for which they are responsible and with the collections they are using.
Communication. Changes in procedures, policies, resources, and programs often take part-time librarians by surprise because they are not around to hear about these changes when they are discussed by the full-time staff. Further, they may miss out on valuable hints about the current "difficult questions" patrons are asking if full-time librarians don't have and use an effective means of communication. Inclusion of part-timers in staff meetings, use of e-mail, and use of a reference desk notebook can improve communication.
Professional development. Library administrations should encourage part-time librarians to attend conferences and workshops and make it financially possible for them to do so.
Flexibility. Part-time librarians often work during night and weekend hours when important family and social events are likely to occur. Allowing part-timers to trade hours and rearrange their schedules for important events can make the difficulties of working unpopular hours much more manageable.
Retirement plan. Part-time librarians should have the same access to retirement plans as full-time librarians, and employer contributions should be made in proportion to the hours they work.
Professional recognition. Administrators and colleagues should recognize part-time librarians professionally by assigning them meaningful responsibilities that expand their skills and develop new ones, by listening to their ideas and opinions, by providing feedback on the quality of their work, by providing them with adequate facilities (e. g. office space, use of a computer and telephone, an e-mail account), and by avoiding assigning them non-professional duties.
Job security. A renewable contract for a specified period of time can give a part-time librarian the kind of job security that few now have.
Hints For Finding Part-time Librarian Positions:
Here are a few suggestions from the Association of Part-Time Librarians. We hope that readers will contribute to making this page as helpful as possible by sending suggestions to Association_of_PT_Librarians@yahoogroups.com, our Yahoo Group..
Get experience. If you are attending library school, take every opportunity available to work as a student assistant in the university libraries, do a practicum or internship in another library, or volunteer in the type of library which interests you most. Library administrators may not expect an applicant for part-time employment to have as much experience as a candidate for a full-time position, but they are likely to select a candidate with some relevant experience over one with none.
Make contacts. Often, part-time jobs open up unexpectedly and need to be filled quickly. There may not even be time to advertise the job. If you have followed the suggestions in #1, if you have joined various local professional organizations for librarians, and if you have kept in touch with your local library friends, you will have a network through which you may hear about part-time opportunities when they arise.
Send out your resume. Find out the name and address of every institution in your area where you might like to work (the telephone book is helpful; call to find out to whom to address your cover letter). Polish up your resume, write enticing, individualized cover letters, and scatter your information about. When openings occur, administrators often pull out their collection of unsolicited resumes and contact the candidates.
Join local discussion lists. Many local jobs are advertised on the internet. Find out what local lists tend to advertise jobs, and join them. In the Western New York area, you may find interesting leads on these lists.
WNYLIB-L. This is the Western New York Library = Resources Council Member Listserve, and it sometimes has announcements of local part-time jobs. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, and put in the message SUBSCRIBE WNYLIB-L.
SILS-L. This is the UB Department of Library and Information Studies list, and often it contains job announcements. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU, and put in the message SUBSCRIBE SILS-LIST.
Put your name on the APTL distribution list. If you are interested in part-time jobs in Western New York, send your name and e-mail address to Anne Huberman. She will put you on a distribution list. Sometimes library administrators call her to find out if she knows of any people who are looking for part-time MLS jobs. She will let you know about these jobs by e-mail. She will also forward to you local part-time job announcements she sees on various lists. This would probably amount to receiving no more than two or three messages a month.
Check the local newspapers. Read the want ads in your local newspapers. Often administrators who have time to advertise choose this method. If you live in Western New York and want to search the want ads in the Buffalo News.
Look for jobs on the World Wide Web. This may not be as productive for people seeking local, part-time jobs as the steps above, but it might yield some information. Try the following links for some leads:
Job Search Pathfinder. This Pathfinder is maintained by the Student Chapter of the ALA at UB. IT's a good place to start because many of the links are local.
Mary Niederlander, who is a library technician at the Millard Fillmore Hospital's Gates Circle Library (now part of Kaleida Health), has put together an "Online Job Fair" covering sites advertising library positions, general employment sites, and career resources.
Lisjobs.com - Jobs for Librarians and Information Professionals is a comprehensive guide to online job resources for librarians and information professionals. The site is entirely designed and maintained by Rachel Singer Gordon.
Library Associates Companies specializes in consulting, staffing and outsourcing of information management functions and positions. They say the often place part-time librarians, and they are not local to Western New York.
Check out the survey on Part-time Librarians in Western New York.
The results of this survey are a little old now, but we think that things have probably not changed very much since we did this work in 1993. Even if there have been changes, we have included these results on our site because we think that they may stimulate us all to think about important issues for part-time librarians. We hope you will find them informative. Here is what we wrote about them when we presented them at a Western New York Library Resources Council poster session in 1994.
Part-time employment is on the rise throughout the American economy, and the library profession clearly reflects this trend. Library directors and administrators often hire part-time librarians when seeking solution to the problems of budget cutbacks and staffing dilemmas. In an attempt to shed some light on this situation, the Association of Part-Time Librarians, during the summer of 1993, completed a survey of part-time librarians working in the Western New York area. The survey was based on a recent national study by Hogue and Sisson published in the March-April issue of Library Personnel News.
99 questionnaires were sent out. 56 questionnaires were returned. The response rate was 57%.
Survey results, illustrated visually in the form of graphs and charts, include data on employment conditions, salaries, and job responsibilities for part-time librarians. The survey features an "In Their Own Words" section in which the survey respondents give voice to specific issues which concern part-time librarians.
Poster session committee:Lisa Carbone
Linda Herman
Anne Huberman
Sheryl Knab
Kathleen Quinlivan
Maureen StankoFollow the links below to see the results of the survey.
Graphs and charts illustrating the survey results
Survey respondents give voice to specific issues
