Qualified Library Faculty and Staff 

Qualified Library Faculty 

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) establishes standards and guidelines on academic libraries. The ACRL Statement on the Terminal Professional Degree for Academic Librarians identifies the appropriate standard for education and training of academic librarians. Specifically, “the master's degree from a program accredited by the American Library Association or from a program in a country with a formal accreditation process as identified by ALA’s Human Resource Development and Recruitment Office is the appropriate terminal professional degree for academic librarians”. Archivists at Auburn University have either an ALA accredited master's degree in library science or an accredited master's degree in history or a related field and, in addition, graduate coursework or comparable professional experience in archival administration. Librarians and archivists at Auburn University have faculty status, are eligible for membership in the University Senate, and serve on university-wide committees. 

Auburn University Libraries has 27 faculty members holding either the master's degrees in library science or a degree in archives and/or an allied field. Of this number, nine library faculty members hold additional master’s level degrees, four hold PhD degrees, and one (the Head of the Veterinary Medicine Library) holds a DVM degree. One non-tenure track library faculty member, holding the rank of Associate Research Professor and working in the field of digital humanities, holds a PhD degree in English; the MLS was not required for this position.  

Library faculty typically have additional coursework, professional experience, training, and/or certifications in areas related to their job responsibilities. Library faculty have attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians;Patent and Trademark Resource Center Training seminars at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); informational meetings of the Inter-University Consortium for Political & Social Research (ICPSR); FAIR data practitioner certification (University of Leiden), the University of Virginia Rare Book School; the Digital Humanities Summer Institute; the ACRL Institute for Information Literacy Immersion Program; Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) on human subjects research; and various workshops on government publications, Census Bureau data, preservation management, environmental control and monitoring, disaster preparedness and recovery, and book repair and binding. 

Policies and procedures for promotion and tenure of library faculty follow those outlined in the Auburn University Faculty Handbook and in the Auburn University Libraries Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure. Tenured and tenure-track library faculty hold the rank of assistant, associate, and full professor. As outlined in these documents, tenure-track librarians undergo a third-year review prior to standing for promotion and tenure. Library faculty treat the third-year review as an opportunity to assess the candidate’s progress towards tenure and to provide candidates with feedback on their dossiers and job performance. Library faculty are expected to contribute to scholarship in their field, serve Auburn University and their profession, and make strong contributions in areas of job performance such as reference, instruction, collection development and management, library liaisonship, acquisitions, cataloging, and electronic resources support to qualify for promotion. To qualify for tenure, they must also demonstrate collegiality. Among 28 library faculty members, eight hold assistant professor rank, 14 hold associate professor rank, and fourhold professor rank (includes the Dean of Libraries);oneholdsnon-tenure track rank, and oneholds associate research professor rank.  

Qualified Library Staff 

The library employs 26 administrative and professional members and 25 staff members in addition to the library faculty. All staff members hold credentials appropriate to their positions as established by the Auburn University Human Resources’ Department of Compensation and Classification and described in the Auburn University Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual. Auburn University provides a series of progressive steps through which library staff members can advance in salary and responsibilities.  

Professional Development  

Professional Development for Library Faculty 

To ensure delivery of quality services, library faculty are provided with opportunities to grow professionally through involvement in library and Auburn University programs as well as external conferences and programs. Faculty members attending off-campus conferences, workshops, or professional meetings are allowed time away from work, and eligible expenses are reimbursed. The Libraries allocates funds for travel and other professional development activities in the amount of $5000 annually for tenure-track library faculty, $3000 for tenured faculty, and $2500 for library faculty holding the rank of full professor. In addition to the training and programs detailed earlier, library faculty members have attended meetings and conferences of the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Library Information Technology Association, NASIG, Electronic Resources and Libraries, the United States Agricultural Information Network, the Medical Libraries Association, the Society of American Archivists, the Art Libraries Society of North America, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Library Assessment Conference, the Charleston Conference, and the Alabama Library Association, among others.Locally, library faculty can take advantage of courses and workshops offered by Auburn University’s Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Auburn University also offers a tuition assistance plan that provides tuition waiver benefits to eligible and qualified employees. 

Professional Development for Library Staff 

Library staff are encouraged to seek opportunities for professional development, especially in their areas of specialization. Staff members attending off-campus conferences, workshops, or trainings are allowed time away from work, and eligible expenses are reimbursed. The Libraries allocates funds for professional development activities in the amount of $1000 annually for administrative and professional staff and $700 for staff.In recent years, library staff members have attended meetings and conferences of the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Alabama Library Association, the Charleston Conference, OCLC’s Resource Sharing Conference, Library Juice Academy, Electronic Resources and Libraries, the Cascade Conference (web development), Makerspaces for Innovation and Research in Academics (MIRA), and North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS), among others.Staff take advantage of LinkedIn Learning (online training courses to which the university subscribes) as well as Auburn University Human Resource Development training and professional development courses designed to help staff expand their skills in areas such as project management and time management. 

Faculty & Staff Governance 

Internally, the Libraries maintains open lines of communication that encourage faculty and staff involvement. The Dean meets annually with each faculty member and attends faculty meetings upon request. The Dean and library supervisors meet twice a month to share and discuss current projects and strategic initiatives. At various points throughout the year, all faculty and staff gather for forums, which include information sharing and the celebration of accomplishments. The Libraries’ Communications and Marketing Specialist also distributes a weekly “News You Can Use” email to all library faculty and staff,,.  

Library faculty and staff are encouraged to participate on library committees that inform library policies and procedures and provide proposals and feedback to library administration.The Faculty Advisory Committee, University Staff Advisory Committee, and Administrative & Professional Advisory Committee serve as consultative bodies to facilitate communication with the Dean.Library faculty meet regularly for promotion and tenure reviews, third-year reviews of tenure-track faculty members, and other matters related to their role in governance, as detailed in the library faculty by-laws. 

Library faculty and staff participate in Auburn University governance and planning through service on institutional committees and other groups. Members of the library faculty fill designated positions on the University Senate, University Budget Advisory Committee, University Promotion and Tenure Committee, and Faculty Dismissal Hearing Committee. They also have designated positions on the following University Senate committees: the Competitive Research Grant Committee, Academic Program Review Committee, Core Curriculum and General Education Committee, Curriculum Committee, Faculty Grievance Committee, Faculty Research Committee, Library Committee, Teaching Effectiveness Committee, and University Writing Committee. Faculty and staff members serve on other Auburn University committees as appointed. The Libraries enjoys representation on the University Staff Council and the University Administrative and Professional Assembly. 

Commitment to Diversity 

Auburn University Libraries seeks to foster a supportive, inclusive, and diverse work environment that utilizes and develops the best talents of its employees.As part of campus-wide efforts and informed by its 2019-2024 Strategic Plan, the Libraries developed a diversity, equity and inclusion strategic plan addressing its unique local needs and opportunities. Based on feedback solicited from library employees, the Libraries’ Diversity Action Plan (DAP) identifies three priorities: (a) develop a more welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, (b) develop a more diverse library community, and (c) improve the faculty/staff relationship.In addition to organizational priorities, the Libraries’ DAP provides actionable goals and tactics along with measures of progress towards these goals. One recent initiative is the Libraries’ Leadership Fellows Program. The program pairs underrepresented students with a library faculty/staff mentor and a special job project designed to introduce the student to the field of library and information science and to develop specialized skills and expertise through practical, hands-on experience. 

Sufficiency of Library Faculty and Staff 

The Libraries maintain a sufficient, though not abundant, number of qualified staff to fulfill Auburn University’s institutional mission. In 2020 statistics published by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Auburn University ranked 104th in professional staff, 116th in support staff, 114th in total staff (includes student employees), and 119th in total salaries and wages, with 125 member institutions reporting. This represents an upward trend from 2019 ARL rankings when Auburn was ranked 110th in professional staff, 121st in support staff, 118th in total staff (includes student employees), and 121st in total salaries and wages. Though in the lower tier, the rankings come within an elite group of research libraries.  

Figure 11.2-1 shows how Auburn University Libraries compares in staffing to selected peer institutions in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) such as University of Alabama, Louisiana State University, the University of Missouri, and the University of Tennessee. Despite having a relatively small staff for an R1 institution, the Libraries has consistently maintained a cohort of subject librarians to address the research and instructional needs of all academic programs on campus; provides positions dedicated to information literacy instruction; provides technical services and IT support for technology, digital projects, metadata, acquisitions, and collection development; and invests in new library services supporting research and scholarship on campus.  A centralized technical services unit also eliminates the need for duplicate staff positions in the branch libraries. 

During the previous decade, the Libraries has created new, faculty-level positions in the areas of data management, digital scholarship, digital humanities, collection strategist, and electronic resources and discovery. During the same period, two new staff positions in the areas of instructional technology and outreach programs were also added. Currently, the Libraries is conducting the following faculty and staff searches: one active staff search for a Systems Engineer (Server Infrastructure); two active faculty searches for an Instruction and Student Success Librarian (Research & Instruction Services Department); and a newly created position of Instruction and Research Librarian (Special Collections & Archives Department).