Innovative Cross-training and Cross-functional Staffing at a Small Liberal Arts University Library by Sue Erickson (Director, Hofheimer Library, Virginia Wesleyan University) <serickson@vwu.edu> and Amber Gruszeczka (Research Librarian, Virginia Wesleyan University) <agruszeczka@vwu.edu>
Background Virginia Wesleyan University is a small liberal arts university in coastal Virginia with a “high touch” approach to student engagement. On this tight-knit residential campus, departments often work together on projects to benefit students, the campus community, and to engage with the broader context of the surrounding Hampton Roads area. Hofheimer Library has a small staff of five full-time librarians and approximately twenty student assistants. Over the past few years, staff turnover and staffing reductions have led to the need for designated backups in key services and a heavier reliance on student assistants.
Cross-training for Full-time Staff On a small library team, everyone has a variety of job responsibilities. All library staff have cross-functional assignments, and most task areas have a primary person responsible as well as a first and second backup. To keep track, a shared document captures who is responsible for backing up a given task area. With limited staff, the backup system allows for coverage during illnesses, vacations, and conferences and also eases transitions as people move on and new people are hired. Just as importantly, this arrangement fosters an appreciation of what each person does. To effectively cross-train everyone, each staff member trains their colleagues at some time or another. For example, the primary person responsible for a task area trains their backups. Moreover, all staff are engaged in onboarding new hires: the library director provides everyone with a training checklist to ensure that new employees are thoroughly prepared for their new positions. All procedures are kept on a Google shared drive to ensure that any staff member can access and update the documents as needed. Much of the library’s work happens in small teams. A team approach supports the cross-fertilization of input on projects and reflects the collaborative campus culture. For example, the Display Team intentionally includes a person from the Diversity & Inclusion Team to ensure that displays are representing diversity. Likewise, there is overlap between the Marketing Team and the Diversity & Inclusion Team and between the Display and Marketing teams. Teams can be involved in staff training as well. Drops of Diversity* is a website created and maintained by the Diversity & Inclusion Team to raise cultural awareness among the fulltime and student staff. The primary library teams (Diversity & Inclusion, Marketing, and Displays) are interrelated and all tie into the library’s strategic plan. The teams cross-pollinate one another with their overlapping memberships. A team approach to student training and management emerged when the University eliminated a circulation supervisor position. The library director decided to split student assistant training from student assistant management, distributing responsibilities so that no one person would be overloaded. Currently, one librarian designs and delivers the initial and ongoing training programs, and another has a more managerial role, liaising with 28 Against the Grain / September 2020
the Financial Aid Department, hiring new student assistants, scheduling students’ shifts, and handling performance issues and terminations as needed.
Student Assistant Training Librarians depend on the large student staff for lower level tasks that can be performed with minimal training. Even more advanced tasks, such as 3D printing and interlibrary loan support, are being shifted to specific student assistants who show aptitude or interest in that work. While this shift is driven by necessity, the librarians also have a desire to contribute to students’ early work life. Because of this desire, training emphasizes students’ development and reinforces their understanding of transferable skills that can help build their resumes. Training is also intended to expand students’ knowledge and to exercise their creativity and problem solving abilities. In this way, their early work life at the library helps them to form the cognitive and behavioral habits that engender career success. The library has collaborated with Career Development at the University to provide training for library student assistants on building their resumes to highlight transferable skills gained in their work at the library. The library has also provided an undergraduate internship to students interested in pursuing a career in libraries. To maximize their potential, new student assistants complete an interest survey, which helps match project assignments based on the likelihood that a student assistant will enjoy and succeed at the task. This includes, but is not limited to, operating the 3D printer, processing and repairing print books, and contributing to the library’s social media and book displays. Student assistants are also tapped for their involvement in student activities and their connections to other students. For example, when a librarian Student assistant paints rocks was developing an escape for a social media project. room activity and needed an #vwulibraryrocks actor to be in a video, she consulted a student assistant who had a friend involved in the University’s theater program. Initial training of new students incorporates a range of training methods to support various learning styles, ensuring an equitable training program. It includes demonstrations, discussions, online tutorials, peer training, and hands-on practice. Student training incorporates videos so that some training can be self-directed; students can watch the videos as many times as necessary. Training is split between technical or procedural skills and soft skills, and the librarian who trains the students continued on page 29
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