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BL BUDGETING FOR LIBRARIES
23,4
Higher learning as a business:
what are library employees
202
worth?
Received October 2010 Kirstin Steele
Daniel Library, The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider library faculty and staff activities within an
institution of higher learning in light of the recent ACRL report Value of Academic Libraries:
A Comprehensive Research Review and Report.
Design/methodology/approach – Using some of the student assessment measures listed in the
ACRL report, the paper discusses possible ways to quantify library duties.
Findings – The paper finds that it is invigorating to ponder what libraries do, within a bigger
picture.
Research limitations/implications – Avenues for possible research, with and without human
subjects, include: library employees’ effects on enrollment, retention, and graduation; using SCOPUS
or other citation database, to evaluate libraries’ effects on faculty research.
Practical implications – It is important to expand assessment of libraries beyond the usual
“internal” statistics such as circulation, to include wider institutional measures.
Originality/value – The paper provides a commentary on September 2010 ACRL report.
Keywords Academic libraries, Librarians, Performance appraisal
Paper type Research paper
Running a library “like a business” is not a new concept. From rechristening patrons
“customers” to showing return on investment (ROI), many of us regularly borrow ideas
and vocabulary from the commercial side of the economy. In September 2010, the
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) published Value of Academic
Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report, a 172-page tome compiled to
illustrate the ways in which libraries can demonstrate their value within an
institutional context. The report is viewable in its entirety at www.acrl.ala.org/value/
On September 14, I received a forwarded announcement from a member of an
administrative department, telling me that the report is likely to have reached the
extra-library portion of its target audience. Coupled with the college’s recent search for
a chief financial officer, the evidence seems clear that The Citadel is serious about
increasing efficiency in addition to looking for alternative funding sources.
The Bottom Line: Managing Library Following the most recent Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
Finances accreditation report, and even before that to some extent, bibliographic instruction
Vol. 23 No. 4, 2010
pp. 202-204 librarians at The Citadel began tailoring data sets toward the bigger, college-wide
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0888-045X
picture; in particular, how the library affects student assessment measures. Several
DOI 10.1108/08880451011104018 librarians have attended continuing education programs via the American Library

2. Association and the Library Orientation Exchange (LOEX) addressing student Higher learning
assessment. One of our library faculty is working closely with a high-ranking member as a business
of the institutional assessment team. All this is to say that I think we have begun doing
the right things to demonstrate the library’s value within the institution. One thing we
have not looked at in detail is how library faculty and staff as individuals or positions
contribute value to The Citadel, and I think that is next on the to-do list.
My first thoughts about library employee value are: we are bargains, each and every 203
one, based on past compensation studies and how salaries compare to similar South
Carolina and nation-wide institutions; and some of our worth might be difficult to
quantify (e.g., the undocumented shoulders and ears we provide). The salary value,
while perhaps more important once a new CFO is in place, is less pressing to me than
compiling a list of what we do and how we might assign assessment-related value to
those duties. As in most libraries, we have gray areas where faculty and staff uneasily
overlap in assigned and real-life duties; however, we all care deeply about the library’s
community members. We are especially fond of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets
(The Corps) and do whatever we can to make their time at The Citadel as productive
and pleasant as possible. If something is not “our job,” we try very hard to find the
person whose job it is or to answer a question to our best ability.
I mention the “overlap” because I will try to not assign responsibility to the duty
areas I discuss in this column. Who does what with which degree is its own special
question. The ACRL report affirms that “librarians in universities, colleges, and
community colleges can establish, assess, and link academic library outcomes to
institutional outcomes related to the following areas: student enrollment, student
retention and graduation rates, student success, student achievement, student learning,
student engagement, faculty research productivity, faculty teaching, service, and
overarching institutional quality.” (p. 12) So much more interesting than circulation
counts and directional questions, and more relevant to the role of the library as the
intellectual center of a campus!
In terms of student enrollment, I think every time one of The Citadel’s employees
(including those in the library) associates herself with the institution, we have the
opportunity to affect student enrollment. We speak to high school classes, mentor
middle and secondary school students, and provide a place to perform community
service for the schools and court system. We present at and attend conferences locally
and nationally; while we do not usually see potential members of The Corps at library
conferences, attendees do pursue graduate degrees or continuing education, and have
children who will probably attend college. We can count events attended, attempt to
follow, at least by high school or region, who enrolls at The Citadel, and relate
anecdotes from students or parents who were influenced by our affiliation with the
school. With the internationally respected Charleston Conference hosted two miles
away, we can probably do more in the areas of student enrollment and retention.
Similarly, retention and graduation rates could potentially be related to counts and
types of student and parent interactions. I have only been at The Citadel for eight
years, but library employees have a long history of helping students. The library is a
place where the Corps can be “at ease,” especially important to the first-year,
fourth-class Knobs who have military discipline to learn in addition to maintaining
academic status. Generations of librarians have provided “cookies and cokes” on
orientation day, water and air conditioning on hot, sticky Charleston days, and official

3. BL and unofficial “adoptions” of cadets and their parents. One of the values that libraries,
including ours, provide is anonymity of patrons, but we could report numbers of
23,4 Christmas cards, donations, and other greetings which continue long after students
have graduated. Other related duties are serving on committees involving students or
intramural activity boards and, of course, teaching courses.
Regarding faculty research and teaching productivity, I rest easy knowing that The
204 Citadel’s participation in the Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries
(PASCAL) provides faculty across the disciplines with materials and information on a
par with larger research institutions. SCOPUS and similar tools can help quantify the
works and further citations of our faculty. I have heretofore had trouble rationalizing a
relatively expensive SCOPUS subscription, but I can imagine designing a research
paper around it for a year or two if it helps prove the library’s value to The Citadel
faculty’s research. The interlibrary loan department consistently receives thank-you
letters and other accolades for their services, and we are in the process of upgrading
our software and other tools to increase ILL service and efficiency.
I look forward to examining how we do or can affect student success, achievement,
learning, and engagement, as well as “overarching institutional quality.” While looking
at libraries and library employees in terms of “value” is not new to me, it is easy to
marshal enthusiasm for demonstrating said value to an expanded audience.
Corresponding author
Kirstin Steele can be contacted at: kirstin.steele@citadel.edu
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