The Emergence of the Paraprofessional in Academic Libraries: Perceptions and Realities

Several forces have contributed to a broad redistribution of tasks within the library workplace. Today, support staff accomplish much of the day-to-day work of the library and are routinely assigned tasks that a generation ago characterized the work of librarians. This redistribution of the library work load has created a new and unique class of library worker, the paraprofessional. It has also resulted in a significant overlap in the tasks performed by the two groups, for librarians have been curiously reluctant to give up many traditional aspects of their work that today can be performed satisfactorily by paraprofessionals. Task overlap has caused the role blurring that, in turn, creates resentment in the workplace and confuses our clientele who may not distinguish clearly between the two groups.A new model of librarianship is needed to define less ambiguously the role of paraprofessionals and librarians alike