ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


272 /  C &R L  News

C a n d id a te s  fo r  A LA  C o u n c il

These A C R L  mem bers need your vote.

T h e  fo llo w in g  m e m b e rs of th e  A ssociation of 
C ollege a n d  R esearch L ib ra rie s a re  e ith e r n o m i­
n a te d  or p e titio n  c a n d id a te s for A L A  c o uncilor in 
th e  sp rin g  1989 elections. M em bers a re  e n c o u ra g ed  
to vote for these c a n d id a te s to  increase A C R L ’s 
voice in  th e  affairs o f  th e  A m erican  L ib ra ry  Associ­
ation.

B arry B. B aker, A ssistant D ire c to r fo r T echnical 
Services, U niversity of G e o rg ia, A tlan ta .

Billy C . B eal, M e rid ia n  C o m m u n ity  C ollege L i­
b ra ry , Mississippi.

H e rb e rt B iblo, D ire c to r, L o n g  Isla n d  L ib ra ry  
Resources C o u n c il, Stony Brook, N ew  York.

Susan B rynteson, D ire c to r o f L ib ra rie s, U niver­
sity of D e la w a re , N e w a rk , D e la w a re .

F ra n k  D ’A n d ra ia , H e a d  of T ec h n ic a l Services, 
U niversity o f C a lifo rn ia , R iverside.

H ira m  D avis, D ire c to r of U niversity L ib ra rie s, 
N ew  M exico S ta te  U niversity, L as C ruces.

M a rv a  L . D e L o a c h , A ssistant to  th e  D ire cto r, 
G re en  L ib ra ry , S ta n fo rd  U n iv e rsity , S ta n fo rd , 
C alifornia.

C a ro l K . D iP re te , D ire c to r, R o g e r W illia m s 
College L ib ra ry , B ristol, R hode Island.

Jo a n  L . D obson, A ssistant M a n a g e r, D a lla s P u b ­
lic L ib ra ry .

Ja c k ie  E u b a n k s , A sso c ia te  P ro fe sso r, CU N Y  
Brooklyn C ollege L ib ra ry , B rooklyn, N ew  York.

E d ith  M . F ish e r, Associate L ib ra ria n , U niver­
sity o f C a lifo rn ia  a t  San D iego, L a  Jolla.

A rth u r L . F rie d m a n , N assau C o m m u n ity  C ol­
lege L ib ra ry , G a rd e n  C ity , N ew  York.

Salvado* G u e re n a , U niversity of C a lifo rn ia  L i­
b ra ry , S a n ta  B a rb a ra .

C a ro ly n  L . H a rris , P re se rv atio n  D e p a rtm e n t, 
C o lu m b ia  niversity, N ew  York.

J a n e t S w an H ill, H e a d , C a ta lo g  D e p a rtm e n t, 
N o rth w e stern  U niversity L ib ra ry , E v an sto n , Illi­
nois.

A rn o ld  H irsh o n , V irg in ia  C o m m o n w e a lth  U ni­
versity L ib ra ry , R ichm ond.

Jo sep h  H . H o w a rd , N a tio n a l A g ric u ltu ral L i­
b ra ry , Beltsville, M a ry lan d .

B a rb a ra  Iv y , Assistant Professor, School of L i­
b r a ry  a n d  In fo rm a tio n  Studies, Texas W o m e n ’s 
U niversity, D e n to n , Texas.

J a n e  G . Jo h n so n , H e a d  o f A cquisitions, G eorgia 
S o u th e rn  C ollege L ib ra ry , S tatesboro.

M . C la ire  K now les, G ra d u a te  School of L ib ra ry  
a n d  In fo rm a tio n  Science, Sim m ons C ollege, Bos­
to n , M assachusetts.

V icki R . K re im e y er, D e p u ty  S ta te  L ib ra ria n , 
W ash in g to n  S ta te  L ib ra ry , O ly m p ia .

B everly L y n ch , U niversity L ib ra ria n , U niver­
sity of Illinois a t C h ica g o , C h ica g o , Illinois.

G e ra rd  B. M c C a b e , D ire c to r of L ib ra rie s, C la r­
ion U niversity o f P e nnsylvania.

B e rn a rd  M argolis, Pikes P e a k  L ib ra ry  D istrict, 
C o lo rad o  Springs, C olorado.

N a n cy  H . M a rsh a ll, U niversity L ib ra ria n , C ol­
lege of W illia m  a n d  M a ry , W illia m s b u rg , V ir­
ginia.

L ouis E . M a rtin , D ire c to r, L in d a  H a ll L ib ra ry , 
K ansas C ity , M issouri.

S te p h en  L . M a tth e w s, L ib ra ria n /M e d ia  C o o rd i­
n a to r, C u rrie r L ib ra ry , F oxcroft School, M iddle­
b u rg , V irginia.

R ic h a rd  A. M a tze k , N a z a re th  C ollege of R oches­
te r, N e w  York.

Susan L . P e rry , H e a d  L ib ra ria n , M eyer M em o­
ria l L ib ra ry , S ta n fo rd  U niversity, C a lifo rn ia.

M a rio n  T . R eid, Associate D ire c to r, T ec h n ic a l 
Services, L o u isia n a  S tate U niversity, B ato n  R ouge, 
L o u isia n a .

J o a n  M . R e p p , D ire c to r of Accessions Services, 
B ow ling G reen  S tate U niversity L ib ra ry , O hio.

Roscoe Rouse J r . ,  U n iversity L ib ra ry  H isto rian , 
O k la h o m a  S t a te  U n iv e rs ity , S t i llw a te r , O k la ­
h o m a.



April 1989 /  273

M arvin L . Scilken, 330 W . 28th S t., New York, 
NY 10001.

T ed P. Sheldon, D irector, U niversity of Missouri 
L ibrary, Kansas C ity.

Louise S. Sherby, Assistant D irector for Public 
Services, U niversity of Missouri, Kansas City.

C h a rle s  T o w n le y , H e a d , H e in d e l L ib r a r y , 
Pennsylvania State University, M iddletow n.

Jo h n  Tyson, U niversity L ib ra ria n , University of 
R ichm ond, Virginia.

Jam es F . W illiam s II, D irector, U niversity of 
Colorado L ib ra ry , Boulder. ■ ■

INNOVATIONS

Cavalry to the rescue: The use of temporary 
employees in place of student assistants

By Curtis L. Kendrick
H ead, Circulation D e p artm ent
State University o f  N e w  York at S tony Brook

A persistent problem  facing m any academ ic li­
braries is the shortage of stu d e n t assistants avail­
able to w ork d u rin g  the w in te r intersession period. 
A t th e  S ta te  U n iv e rsity  of N e w  York a t Stony 
Brook, this problem  has been in  evidence for years, 
resulting in shelving backlogs th a t can linger on 
well into th e  next semester. In  o rder to c om bat this 
situation, this p a st intersession the lib ra ry  experi­
m ented w ith the use of tem porary employees hired 
th ro u g h  an external agency.

In  D ecem ber 1987 th e  H ead of C irculation a p ­
proached th e  Associate D irector for R eader Ser­
vices, Planning, a n d  Facilities w ith  a proposal to 
hire full-tim e tem p o rary  employees th rough M an­
pow er, In c ., a tem p o rary  employee service. Stony 
B ro o k  h a s  a n  a r r a n g e m e n t  w i t h  M a n p o w e r 
w hereby employees can be h ire d  a t a discounted 
ra te . T he duties of th e  tem p o rary  employees w ere 
to be essentially shelving and shelf reading. L ater 
in D ecem ber th e  proposal w as approved by L i­
b ra ry  A dm inistration, a n d  fo rw a rd ed  to th e  Office 
of the Provost for action. As p lan n e d , th e  lib ra ry  
w o uld h ire four employees for four weeks, a t a cost 
of approxim ately $3,500 (the a ctu al cost ended up 
being som ew hat less, a bout $2,200, as not all of the 
allocated hours w ere w orked by th e  tem p o rary  em ­
ployees) .

T he concept of using tem p o rary  employees in li­
braries is not new . C hervinko re p o rte d  th a t 80 % of 
th e  respondents (n = 74) to an Association of Re­
search L ibraries survey h ad hired  tem p o rary  w ork­
ers fo r a variety of projects. O nly six of these li­
b raries, how ev er, re p o rte d  t h a t  th ey  h a d  gone 
th rough an outside agency, a n d  for the m ost p a rt, 
th e  use of tem p o rary  employees has been for high- 
level w ork such as cataloging, retrospective con­
version, book selection, a n d  bibliographic search­
in g .1

Shortly before th e  program  w as to begin, M an­
pow er contacted the lib ra ry  w ith  th e  nam es of the 
employees w ho w e re  scheduled to w ork. T he li­
brary  played no role in th e  selection of the em ploy­
ees, w hich could h ave been a d ra w b ac k  to this ven­
tu re. F ortunately, th e  people th a t w ere sent over 
w ere c apable a nd b right. All of the tem porary em ­
ployees w e re  c u rre n tly  en ro lled  in college else­
w here. As students, they w e re  fam iliar w ith  a ca­
dem ic libraries, and c au g h t on quickly to th e  tasks 
they w ere re q u ire d  to p erform .

1Jam es S. C h ervinko, “ T e m p o ra ry  Em ployees 
in A cadem ic a n d  Research L ib ra rie s ,” Journal o f 
A c a d e m i c  L i b r a r i a n s h i p  12 (S e p te m b e r  
1986):217-20.