ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

From Inside the DLP

By Dr. KatharineM. Stokes

College and University Library Specialist, Training and Resources Branch, Division of Library Programs, Bureau of Libraries and Educational Technology, U.S. Office of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202.

Recent reports of professional library vacancies have indicated that an over supply of library school graduates may be developing. Only sketchy data are available on the prospective need for librarians in the 1970s and they have not taken into account reentrants into the profession, “primarily women previously employed as librarians who temporarily left the labor force for family responsibilities.” Supply information is even more limited for librarian-related supportive positions. To cope with this problem a research project was begun early in 1972 to determine requirements up to 1980 for professional librarians and librarian-related manpower such as library technical assistants. The research will be performed by the Division of Manpower and Occupational Outlook of the Bureau of Labor Statistics under a contract with two agencies of the Office of Education, the National Center for Educational Statistics and the Bureau of Libraries and Learning Resources (the proposed name for the reorganized Bureau of Libraries and Educational Technology). Half the funding will be provided by each agency, BLLR’s part coming from Title II–B of the Higher Education Act appropriation for research.

“Statistical data currently available on employment from NCES, BLET, Census, BLS, and other sources will be used to develop data on current (1970 or 1971) employment of professional librarians, library technicians, and library assistants by employment setting or specialty,” according to the procedure planned by BLS which will use its established techniques to arrive at estimates where current data are not available. In addition BLS will conduct interviews of employees in the field and other knowledgeable persons. Techniques established in other BLS studies will be used to estimate replacement needs due to death, retirements, and transfers to other fields of work. The project is expected to be completed in one calendar year.

This year, the Fall of 1971 edition of Library Statistics of Colleges and Universities: Data for Individual Institutions is being published in two volumes, Part A comprising five tables as follows:

1. Number of Units Held at End of Year in Library Collection and Number of Units Added During Year to Library Collection, College and University Libraries, by Institution: Aggregate United States, 1970- 71.

2. Actual Operating Expenditures of College and University Libraries and Expenditures for Wages of Hourly Staff Not Charged to Library, by Institution: Aggregate United States, 1970-71.

3. Salary Expenditures for Regular Library Staff and Salary Equivalents of Contributed Service Library Staff, by Type of Position and Term of Employment, College and University Libraries, by Institution: Aggregate United States, 1970-71.

4. Budgeted Operating Expenditures of College and University Libraries, by Institution: Aggregate United States, 1970-71.

5. Regular Library Staff, Fall 1971, by Type of Position and Term of Employment, and Hourly Library Staff, 1970-71, by Hours of Assistance, College and University Libraries, by Institution: Aggregate United States.

Part B will contain four additional tables, as follows:

1. Indexes Concerning Operating Expenditures, Collections, and Staff, College and University Libraries, by Institution: Aggregate United States, Fall 1971.

2. Regular Library Staff (FTE) by Term of Employment, Type of Position, and Sex, College and University Libraries, by Institution: Aggregate United States, Fall 1971.

3. Extended USER Privileges Provided and Administration, if Applicable, of a Centralized, Organized Collection of Audiovisual and/or Other Nonprint Materials for Faculty and/or Students, College and University Libraries, by Institution: Aggregate United States, Fall 1971.

4. Interlibrary Cooperation and Participation in Title III, Library Services and Construction Act Programs, College and University Libraries, by Institution: Aggregate United States, Fall 1971.

These two volumes edited by Dr. Stanley V. Smith of the Library Surveys Branch, NCES, present the data of 2,514 college and university libraries and five joint libraries which submitted correct responses as of December 1, 1971.

Dr. Frank L. Schick, Chief of the LSB indicated that for the first time, for this 1971 survey, data are being provided for the branch campuses of multicampus institutions. In the past, a single consolidated institutional report was presented. This change was initiated to give more flexibility to the use of the data and to present significantly more data by publishing information for important segments of the institutions for which all branch campuses had not reported.

An analytic report with summary tables for all responding colleges and university libraries will be published at a later date. ■ ■