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The responsibilities of district library centers and consulting staff are outlined in law, regulation, and policy. However, consultants are not employed by OCL and therefore each consultant will have unique job descriptions and responsibilities as outlined by their employer.
Pennsylvania’s goal for library development is to improve library resources and services for every Commonwealth resident. The 1958 Martin study proposed levels of public library service ranging from four Regional Library Resource Centers (now referred to as the Statewide Library Resource Centers (SLRC)) to local libraries. Between the levels of public libraries and Regional Library Resource Centers, The Library Code of 1961 (Statute) provided the State Librarian with the authority to designate up to 30 district library centers.
When district library centers were first designated, they were strong local libraries within an hour’s drive for the district residents they served. Their roles were primarily viewed as providing larger physical collections for local libraries in areas such as non-fiction, reference, children’s resources as well as access to OCLC and interlibrary loan. Since then, access to online resources such as POWER Library, ShareIt, local databases and e-collections have changed that role somewhat.
Each district library center is responsible for employing at least one full-time consulting staff (§ 141.22 (e)(2)(ii)). The district may hire additional consultant staff as necessary to carry out district services. Consultant salaries are set by the district library center and consultants report to the district administrator. If fewer than five local libraries exist in the district, the consultant can spend no more than half time assigned to other professional duties. As outlined in §141.22(c)(6), the primary responsibility of consultant staff is to provide advice and guidance to the local libraries in the district.
As in other areas of librarianship, it is not necessary for consultant staff to know the answers to every question. Rather, it’s important to know where to find the answers. While a librarian working in reference or youth services has the general public as patrons, the patrons of consultant staff are the librarians, staff, and board members of the local libraries in their district. In addition, municipal officers and any group wishing to form a new library may also contact consultant staff.
Consulting staff may be called upon to provide information on or resources for a wide range of topics. Examples are:
There are many resources available to help answer questions. These resources include print and electronic sources, as well as human beings. Familiarizing yourself with these resources is your first line of defense. Begin with colleagues. There may be staff members in-house who are experienced grant writers. Your library director may know the E-Rate program inside out and will probably be well versed in nonprofit laws and regulations. Your fellow consultant staff are also an excellent resource. Seek out these people and ask for their assistance. You may find you learn more from one five-minute conversation than from hours of searching the Internet or browsing through regulations. OCL advisors are also a tremendous resource and will be able to answer a host of questions or will direct you to someone who can. Be professionally active, joining professional associations, reading professional journals and networking to receive and provide information on new developments in public library services.
For information concerning library matters, the Compendium is how OCL communicates news to the field. It is recommended that consulting staff should also subscribe to the PADLC, PAPUBLIB, PAMAILLALL, and PAPLDIRECTOR statewide email lists. The full list of listservs and instructions on how to join are found on POWER Library.
Though each district is free to develop more specific duties and expectations based on the needs of the member libraries, the following are considered core duties by district consultants:
Other possible responsibilities and activities of the consulting staff:
Every district will look different based on its unique makeup and structure. Consultants are not employees of OCL, but that of the district library center. Job descriptions and job duties are determined by the district administrator and should reflect a focus on district services, which in most cases does not include completing applications and reports on behalf of member libraries, seeking funds for member libraries, or supplanting adequate staffing for member libraries.
If a consultant feels they are being asked to perform duties that do not fall within their purview, please reach out to your district administrator, fellow consultants, and OCL for resources and advice.
Given that each consultant’s responsibilities and duties vary depending on the district, these are representative “soft skills” that may be important in your position. The way you implement and use these skills on a day-to-day basis is going to look different for each person. What you bring to the position often shapes the job and responsibilities.
It is important to understand the organizational structures of the libraries and systems you will be interacting with and how they function. Very little is exactly the same from one district or system to another in Pennsylvania. Likewise, it is important to understand the roles each is expected to play within your setting. Some districts will exist within one county and entirely overlap with one library system. Others may encompass two or more counties and also encompass two or more library systems as well as independent libraries. Some systems primarily receive and distribute state aid to their member libraries, and some systems provide a full array of support services. Some administrators have multiple roles as system administrator, member library director and/or district administrator. Likewise, how districts and systems relate and interact with each other can vary widely depending upon everything from organizational structure to personalities of the administrators to the history the organizations have together.
Consultants stand in the middle of these structures. Because of this, it is important for consultants to build trusting, professional relationships with the administrative leaders and boards of districts and systems, doing your best to hold space for all of the library leaders in your district.
Consultants should do a careful analysis of the library structures in their districts. Learn about the history of each, how they developed, and what they understand their mission to be. One of the best ways to clarify the role of the consulting staff is to help the local libraries, the systems and the district to understand and clarify their roles. This is not always easy as there may be significant overlap, significant gaps and unmet needs and possibly competition and “turf” battles.
The most common overlapping roles occur between systems and districts. This may or may not be an issue in your district. Some districts and systems are designed to be overlapping. In these cases, consulting staff may want to focus on ensuring that library outlets and staff are receiving the support they need, and residents are receiving equitable services. In some cases, districts and systems may have significant overlap in terms of priorities and work. In these cases, consulting staff may want to focus on building robust communication between systems and districts and where necessary collaborative planning and priority setting to ensure that the libraries and residents get the best services possible. Where gaps have developed, it is not the responsibility of the consulting staff to fill the gaps. It is consulting staff's role to try to move libraries, districts, and systems to work together to identify the priorities each has and to collaborate to provide equitable services to the greatest extent possible.
To accomplish all of this, consultants will need to be excellent communicators, have good planning skills and more than a little political savvy. A fundamental piece in the relationship between consulting staff and the district and/or system administrator is open lines of communication.
Here are some recommendations:
Boundaries are important for your health and for the organizational health of the libraries you serve. The ease of boundary setting will vary by the personality of the consultant, as will the areas of flexibility for each consultant. Some boundaries may already be in place, while others may be able to be highly personalized. Questions helpful to have an answer for:
You will be constantly balancing your boundaries with the needs of member libraries. Expect to have bumps in the road as you go along and address them quickly, so they do not build up. Everyone has different things on their plates and different perspectives, and yours may not be the correct or complete one. If you approach conflicts with integrity and an open mind you are far more likely to have success.