The University of California Libraries: A Plan for Development (1977)

IX. Staffing 143
handle inter-campus movement of materials if the University system as
a whole is to function efficiently, and if use of the University's
collections as a whole is to be maximized. Additional personnel are
also needed to provide adequate reference and information services to
all categories of users, and for library instruction, as pointed out in
Chapter VII. Finally, the increased demands by people not associated
with the University for services that can only be provided by the University's
libraries must also be accommodated, and this will require
additional staffing. For all these reasons, the plan recommends that
any staff savings achieved in technical processing operations be used
to augment the libraries' public services.
Staffing projections based on these recommendations, and projected
to fiscal year 1987/88, are shown in Tables 19 and 20. It should be
noted that these projections assume that savings through automation will
be sufficient to accommodate all of the needs mentioned above. Further
experience with both automation and public demand in the coming years
will be required to validate these projections, however, and it is possible
that future workload analyses will indicate a pressing need for
additional public service staff.
Further Considerations. At least three other points should be
mentioned as well. First, the projected staffing levels are shown for
the University as a whole, not for individual campuses, because the
particular circumstances in individual libraries vary widely, and flexibility
in implementing automated systems and staff changes is both
necessary and desirable. Existing allocations of personnel amongst the
campuses may also be inequitable, and a University committee is presently
attempting to devise a formula, based on identifiable workload factors,
that will assure equitable distribution of staff in all categories.
Second, and more importantly, the impact of any changes in work
assignments on individuals must be carefully considered. Attrition
may allow some changes, but re-training of staff is likely to be
necessary in some instances. Re-training itself, however, should be
looked upon not as an unpleasant necessity, but as a positive opportunity
for increased employee development programs. Another University
committee, in fact, is already at work on the development of one