Staffing trends in college and university libraries

Purpose - The paper aims to discern, document, and analyze current staffing trends in college and university libraries. Design/methodology/approach - The author gathered information from the literatures of library and information science and higher education. Findings - The paper details six trends across public and technical services affecting librarians, non-MLS professionals, and paraprofessionals. The presentation of trends is followed by a discussion of three concerns the author has about these trends. Research limitations/implications - The paper covers trends in college and university libraries but does not specifically address community college libraries. Community colleges may have similar issues, as well as unique trends; further research is encouraged. Practical implications - Library managers will be able to compare developments in their libraries to the profession-wide trends. They will also be able to link to a large body of literature on the topic. Originality/value - This kind of comprehensive look at academic library staffing does not seem to have been published recently.