College and Research Libraries JAMES WRIGHT Fringe Benefits for Academic Library Personnel This paper reports the results of a survey on fringe benefits provided by college and university libraries. Sixty-five of 120 questionnaires were returned from college libraries across the country. Benefits treat- ed are: vacations, sick leave, faculty rank, salaries, sabbatical, yearly increments, raises on merit, time off for funerals, voting, and fury duty. BENEFITS FOR LIBRARY personnel, as in other kinds of organizations, are con- stantly being evaluated in the light of their usefulness to personnel. Many li- brary administrators have not become aware of the need for good fringe bene- fits in recruiting and maintaining library staff. An assiduous search of library lit- erature on benefits for academic librari- ans did not reveal a sufficient amount of information to assist one in formulating a policy. While public school librarians have identified with teachers, academic li- brarians have for years attempted to identify themselves with college faculty , in order to gain the quite considerable b enefits that could come from faculty status-including short hours , time for independent research, grants for study programs, long vacations, tenure rights, as well as association with such pres- tigious groups as the American Associa- tion of University Professors. As faculty , also, librarians would come under the protection of the accrediting agencies, which can sink a school's reputation if it mistreats its faculty members. 1 Mr. Wright is Branch Librarian, Roch- ester Public Library. 18 I Liberal fringe benefits will lessen (but not eliminate) recruiting problems. As fringe benefits have become increasing- ly important, periodic reviews have been made within private employment, government, and senior colleges and uni- versities that facilitate comparison and improvement of their fringe benefits. 2 This article came about as the result of a survey conducted to assist in formulat- ing a more sophisticated benefits policy for library personnel at Alabama Agri- cultural & Mechanical College. Of 120 questionnaires sent to academic libraries across the country, sixty-five were re- turned. The distribution of replies was representative, with small and large, private and public, institutions well rep- resented, ranging from Benedict Col- lege and Delaware State College, with enrollments of less than 2,000 students, through Hampton Institute and Iowa State (under 5,000), to North Dakota State and Wyoming, on up to Purdue and Illinois and California. No attempt is made here to capsulize the entire sur- vey.3 Library staff is described as profes- sional and nonprofessional: professional staff is defined as possessing a master's Fringe Benefits for Academic Library Personnel I 19 degree in library science, and nonpro- fessional includes all other staff. There did not seem to be a great amount of difference in benefits offered by large and small institutions. The only signifi- cant difference was in the hours of op- eration, with larger institutions requir- ing longer hours. It appears that aca- demic administrators are working dili- gently to improve benefits of library em- ployees. With the increasing unioniza- tion of library employees, administrators might be well advised to get their houses in order. Benefits of M afor Interest Library employees seem to place greater importance on vacation, sick leave, faculty rank, and salaries as com- pared with sabbaticals and several other items. Time 10-15 days 1 month 60-90 days As needed No policy TABLE 1 SICK LEAVE Professional Non professional (Percent) (Percent) 38 56 19 16 2 2 23 8 17 18 Cumulative Sick Leave (Percent) Yes 62 No 20 No policy 17 The majority of institutions grant from ten to fifteen days sick leave for both professionals and nonprofessionals, with days computed on a day-per- month basis. Most Alabama and pre- dominantly Negro colleges have no pol- icy whatsoever regarding sick leave. Only 4 percent give a bonus day for staff members who had no sick days the previous year. It should be pointed out that 100 per- cent answered "yes" to the question of providing for staff to attend professional meetings. It was not clear in their an- swers as to whether all expenses are paid, or if time off, only, is allowed. Most academic libraries provide for one or two staff members to attend meetings at the school's expense, but it is usually limited to the library's administrators, with other members of the staff attend- ing at their own expense. There should be a policy to permit at- tendance at professional meetings which includes all levels of the library staff. A suggested method is a rotating system whereby members of the staff are se- lected on the basis of a combination of factors-years of service with the insti- tution, attendance at previous meetings at one's own expense, contributions to professional literature, and most certain- ly, membership in the organization. In March, 1969, institutions of higher learn- ing in the state of Alabama that are un- der the direction of the State Board of Education were informed that no em- ployees of these institutions were to at- tend any more meetings at state ex- pense until further notice. A policy of this nature certainly imperils recruit- Inent and retention of a competent staff. TABLE 2 PAID VACATION TIME FOR 12-MONTH EMPLOYEES Professional Nonprofessional Time Allotted (Percent) (Percent) 2 weeks 10 69 3 weeks 6 12 1 month 65 12 5 weeks 19 7 It is interesting to observe that 65 per- cent of the professionals received one month of vacation time and 19 percent received as much as five weeks depend- ing on length of employment, while 69 percent of nonprofessionals received only two weeks. In almost every case, professionals received more vacation than nonprofessionals. In some in- stances, librarians were employed on a nine to ten month basis and were not therefore considered for a paid vacation. 20 I College & Research Libraries • January 1970 TABLE 3 LENGTH OF EMPLOYMENT BEFORE VACATION Professional Nonprofessional Time Allotted (Percent) (Percent) Immediately 28 16 6 months 26 35 7-11 months 10 9 1 year 36 42 It seems clear from Table 3 that the length of employment before vacation varied sharply between professionals and nonprofessionals, with 28 percent of the professionals receiving some vaca- tion immediately, compared to only 16 percent for nonprofessionals. However, the most common length of employment before any vacation for both profession- al and nonprofessional staff was one year. TABLE 4 OTHER IMPORTANT BENEFITS Yes No Benefits (Percent) (Percent) Librarians with faculty rank 73 27 Salaries commensurate with faculty 80 20 Sabbaticals commensurate with faculty 54 46 Yearly increments 98 2 Raises on merit 79 21 There were other items which were of interest, and it was found that fewer libraries had any policy at all regarding these benefits. It seems clear from this table that the majority answered "yes" to the questions, but not as great a ma- jority as we would hope for. A 100 per- cent "yes" to each of these benefits would not be unreasonable. It should be noted that where em- ployees received 1 to 4 days off for fu- nerals, it was never more than one day for funerals of friends. It is significant to observe that most libraries do not have any policy on time due to attend fu- nerals; it might be that library adminis- trators do not consider them as they do other days off, and are willing to ar- range for employees as much time as needed for such unfortunate circum- stances. However, it would make for consistency in dealing with staff to have some type of policy. TABLE 5 TIME OFF FOR FUNERALS OF RELATIVES AND FRIENDS Time Allotted 1 hour-}~ day 1-4 days Week plus As needed No policy Time Allotted Relatives Prof. Non prof. (Percent) 34 37 4 3 10 8 51 45 TABLE 6 }URY DUTY Friends Prof. Non prof. (Percent) 12 12 8 8 6 5 73 74 Professional Nonprofessional (Percent) (Percent) Up to 2-3 weeks Salary cut if paid As needed 2 2 2 2 76 76 No policy 19 19 TABLE 7 VOTING Professional Nonprofessional Time Allotted (Percent) ( Percent) 1- 3 hours 15 15 1 day 3 3 As needed 28 28 No policy 52 52 Holiday 2 2 It is the consensus of college admin- istrators that a call for one to serve as a juror is a responsibility, and most are given as much time as needed to serve. Only 2 percent cut salary if the staff mem her is paid to serve. For voting time, 52 percent had no policy on the amount of time one should have, and 28 percent gave as much time as needed. Giving as much time as needed and having no policy at all could result in having too many key members of the staff away at the same time; it would be well to have a very liberal policy on the amount of voting time. Fringe Benefits for Academic Library Personnel 121 Su1nmary and Recommendations It is clear from this survey that bene- fits for college library personnel are varied and somewhat limited. A large number of colleges reported no policy on many benefits that are generally con- sidered important to employees. It ap- pears that many library .administrators are in the process of presenting recom- mendations to college administrators on fringe benefits and have no frame of reference to assist in these recommen- dations. Since, to my knowledge, this was the first nationwide study on fringe benefits to academic personnel, a num- ber of questions about fringe benefits cannot be answered. Further study is needed to answer these questions. Some of them are: 1. How do fringe benefits for academic librarians compare with those of pri- vate and governmental employees? 2. What are the effects of fringe bene- fits in recruiting and maintaining li- brary staff? 3. What are the benefits most desired by academic library personnel? If these questions are answered in a future study, library and college admin- istrators will be able to formulate more rational and relevant benefit policies. REFERENCES 1. Karl Nyren, "Libraries and Labor Unions," Library Journal, vol. 92, no. 11 (June 1, 1967), 2115. 2. C. W. Robert, "Fringe Benefits in Public Junior Colleges," Junior College Journal, vol. 39 (October 1968), 28. 3. Fr.ee copies of the completed survey may be ob- tamed from the author, Rochester Public Library, 115 South Avenue, Rochester, New York 14604.