[Publib] RE: reference desk time

[Insley, Diane]

We are probably not your typical library where staffing is concerned
because ALL of our staff (except the 15hr per week pages) work at either
the circulation or reference desk - wherever they are most qualified.
So yes, this means our Director works regular reference shifts and our
acquisitions clerk works at the circulation desk.  This means quite a
bit more training, but also quite a bit more flexibility in scheduling.
And it does help those in the "back" to see that accuracy and speed in
their work is appreciated by the "front" staff and the customers.

We have 7 full-time librarians and our shifts are 3 hours in length
except the weekends.  This is the basic schedule, but of course everyone
has to cover in case of illness/vacation/meetings:

1 Director - 2 shifts
3 Librarian III - 3 shifts each
3 Librarian I - 4 shifts each

This changes in June and July because we run a really large summer
reading program.  So for those two months, we give people involved in
those programs a break.

1 Director - 2 shifts
3 Librarian III - 4 shifts
3 Librarian I - Cataloger - still 4 shifts
			PR and adult program - 2 shifts
			Children's librarian - 1 shift

Diane Insley
San Marcos (TX) Public Library



Message: 19
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 16:50:17 -0800 (PST)
From: Kathleen Fargo <kaf33 at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Publib] reference desk time
To: publib at webjunction.org
Message-ID: <440705.5985.qm at web51509.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Hi all you reference workers out there!
Think about your typical shift at work...how many hours are you actually
"on call" at the reference desk?  Also, does your library have reasons
for the amount of time each reference librarian is at the desk? If so,
please explain.  
Thanks,
Kathleen