LAW FOR K-12 LIBRARIES AND LIBRARIANS
by Lee Ann Torrans, Libraries Unlimited, 2003
The following excerpt is a focused explanation of the key requirements for a legally justifiable objective performance evaluation management process:
1) Employee Evaluation
School libraries are flexible environments. If someone is not pulling their weight the consequence is manifested in many different areas and it may be difficult to document this deficiency. Documentation is the key to fairness.
2) Staffing Adequacy
First, in employee evaluation, it could be helpful to determine how your library is staffed as compared to other school libraries of the same size, is your staffing above or below the national average? This might help in a decision regarding the reasonableness of expectations of the staff.
The U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, Library Statistics Program (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries) can give guidance of the statistical norms in this area. The data provide a national picture of school library collections, expenditures, staff, technology, and services. The library media specialist questionnaire provides a national profile of the school library media specialist work force. Federal surveys of school library media centers in elementary and secondary schools in the United States were conducted in 1958, 1962, 1974, 1978, and 1985, school year 1993-94, and school year 1999-2000.
3) Job Description
Each job should have a written description which enumerates the specific responsibilities of that position. This should be updated annually and should be an honest reflection of all the tasks expected of that position. This is an important tool not only for the employee but as an essential tool for the head librarian in effective library management. There are both scientific and anecdotal methods for determining the actual use of an employee's time.
There are several websites which can guide you in crafting or updating a job description model. The Washington Library Media Association maintains an excellent and extensive bibliography which outlines many websites which will be an aid in structuring job descriptions for your library. (http://www.wlma.org/Professional/responsibilities.htm).
Only with a written job description and rating criterion can a fair and accurate evaluation be made of the employee's performance on an annual basis. Evaluating an employee's performance on preset and communicated criteria is the only fair way to objectively evaluate the quality of an employee's performance or to fairly promote, demote, or dismiss an employee.
The list of duties for a typical librarian media specialist position will include:
[1] Develop a curriculum for student instruction and faculty instruction;
[2] Participate in the administration responsibilities of the library;
[3] Participate in instruction of students;
[4] Participate in reference support to the students;
[5] Participate in curriculum support for the faculty;
[6] Participate in circulation activities;
[7] Provide access to technology;
[8] Aid both students and faculty in the use of technology;
[9] Weed the collection;
[10] Participate in cataloging activities;
These sort of categories may be found in school library job descriptions. Some librarians will be better with interpersonal skills while others will be better with administrative and technical tasks. Using this type of "task itemization" will serve as a tool for doing an objective performance evaluation and for assigning duties and related tasks to a subordinate employee who is best suited for them.
The most important point is to have a written criterion for ensuring that the annual performance evaluation process has an objective element. The criterion is the agreed-upon consistent and uniform scale that is the essential part of the documentation validating objectivity in the annual performance evaluation process.
Without it, subjectivity based upon gender biases or racial and ethnic prejudices or socio-economic stereotypes can overly distort the ratings of the supervisor.
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