Leisure Activities and Personality Traits of Medical Librarians

Objectives: This study examines medical librarians’ personality based on their leisure activities to find out which personal characteristics prevail among working medical librarians.

Methods: An electronic survey was administered among medical librarians of the New England/South East regions. The collected statistics was compared to the national leisure statistics and previously published studies on personality traits.

Results: The respondent group exhibited prevailing Artistic, Investigative, and Conventional types, with a slightly higher number of introverts.

Conclusions: Personalities of the respondents fit into the job environment quite well, which could positively influence their interaction with patrons and the overall quality of work.     

Using Contingent Medical Librarians to Address Workforce Staffing Dilemmas

Abstract

Experienced medical librarians have been recruited by Mayo Clinic to provide contingency staffing. Functioning as just-in-time librarians, a nontraditional staffing plan was introduced in 2016 to affordably lessen stressors caused by fluctuating demands for library services such as literature searching. Contingent medical librarians were also needed to provide staffing coverage during the absences of existing full-time librarians, particularly Mayo’s librarians employed as solo librarians working in hospital and smaller academic libraries. A four-year, nontraditional staffing plan which incorporates contingent medical librarians has proved to be a helpful, affordable, and sustainable staffing alternative for the libraries at Mayo Clinic.     

Children's Librarians and BPH Subregional Librarians

Ways are explored in which public library children's librarians can help sighted children increase their understanding of persons with visual impairment and their skills in communicating with them. Interviews were conducted with six children's librarians and six BPH subregional librarians, and searches were made in the public library catalogs and the Regional BPH Library fiche catalog for selected titles. Three areas for discussion emerged: reader advisory and reference questions, collection development, and programming. Public library children's librarians and BPH subregional librarians can jointly coordinate provision of children's services by identifying and building on present strengths in collection development and programming.