Abstract
During times of fiscal restraint, many hospitals are questioning library budgets. As a result, hospital library managers are faced with justifying their current levels of staffing. Increases in a library's staffing complement are even harder to realize. The purpose of our research was to learn more about the extent of volunteer use in hospital libraries and to increase our understanding of the issues and challenges related to using volunteers. The target population of the research was managers of Ontario hospital libraries. To identify potential respondents, the membership listings for the Canadian Health Libraries Association and Ontario Hospital Libraries Association were consulted. DOCLINE ® yielded additional names of library managers. In April 2003, a mail survey questionnaire was sent to 89 Ontario hospital li- brary managers. Findings relating to staffing issues in Ontario hospital libraries are discussed with particular reference to two key factors: the extent of volunteer use and the adequacy of staffing. This research has highlighted a number of implications for practice, including the need for (1) prescriptive staffing standards and formalized volunteer-use poli- cies; (2) advocacy, lobbying, and networking with other components of the health care system; and (3) formalizing staffing planning in hospital libraries to ensure they are staffed with appropriate personnel. McDiarmid and Auster 43
Highlights
Few hospital library managers have not gone to the administrators of their hospitals with a request for additional staffing
A hospital librarian in Ontario has a ready supply of volunteer workers available through the hospital’s auxiliary program who may be used to help out in the library when workloads are heavy and staffing is inadequate
Given the depressed economic situation, a hospital librarian may willingly or unwillingly use volunteers in lieu of paid staff to provide services, and there is a real risk that jobs can be lost, or new paid positions cannot be justified
Summary
Few hospital library managers have not gone to the administrators of their hospitals with a request for additional staffing. Important issues have arisen, compelling library managers to reconsider whether and how volunteers should be used in their libraries. One of these issues is the use of volunteers to replace staff lost to budget cuts. A hospital librarian in Ontario has a ready supply of volunteer workers available through the hospital’s auxiliary program who may be used to help out in the library when workloads are heavy and staffing is inadequate. Given the depressed economic situation, a hospital librarian may willingly or unwillingly (because of administrative pressures) use volunteers in lieu of paid staff to provide services, and there is a real risk that jobs can be lost, or new paid positions cannot be justified. In 1996, a Canadian hospital librarian found herself out of a job and replaced by a volun-
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