Personnel administration: in-service training at the nonprofessional level

A growing shortage of professional librarians has caused library administrators in all types of libraries to take a hard look at their interpretation of what constitutes professional work. The Free Library of Philadelphia is no exception, and in recent years it has evolved formal position classifications providing for the employment of nonlibrarians in positions formerly classed as professional as well as in the usual clerical and desk assignments. Conceived primarily out of necessity, these classifications and assignments are now readily accepted by the Library's staff, and there is little likelihood that earlier interpretations of professional and nonprofessional duties will ever be revived. This article outlines the Free Library's classification and training plan for nonprofessionals.