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Colleen Malo
LIS748: Collection Management
Paper #1

Competencies in the Public Library

Librarians working at a public library face many changes and job competencies.

Competencies are “the skills, principles, and concepts of librarianship that provide the building

blocks or mental models for its practice” (Johnson, 2018, p. 47). These skills are crucial for

librarians to interact with patrons, complete their jobs and responsibilities, maintain and grow

their collections, and to keep up with the everchanging library world. In addition to being tools

for the librarian, competencies can also be used by management and the director of the library to

determine how the librarian is performing their responsibilities. According to Yu-Ping Peng, “the

competency model is an appropriate tool for recruitment and selection, education and training,

performance evaluation, and employee development” (2019, p. 101). Because of the importance

of competencies in the library, MLIS graduate students, current librarians, and librarians looking

towards the future have to consider which are most important to them, which are needed for

success, and which are beneficial in changing times, such as a pandemic.

Public librarians have many competencies that they need to be aware of and using in their

professional lives. The most important is creating a collection that is diverse and meets the needs

of their community. According to Peggy Johnson, a public librarian “advocates for and

purchases materials by and about underrepresented communities, addressing the need for more

representation and of marginalized groups” (2018, p. 46). Having a diverse collection is

imperative to reach as many audiences as possible and help everyone feel included. A more

diverse collection also helps with reducing stereotypes, increasing acceptance and understanding,

and providing more learning opportunities for the patrons. A diverse collection is especially

important for the children’s section of a public library. “Public libraries can provide children
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with reading resources to compensate for the inadequacies of families and schools” (Peng, 2019,

p. 102). Because families and schools are unable to always provide the most diverse collection,

the public library and its librarians must be aware of keeping the collection as diverse as

possible. According to Ramiro Salazar, director of the San Antonio Public Library, “certain

demographic data such as age of population, language spoken at home, socioeconomic status,

and level of education coupled with usage data should help determine the service efforts and

strategies to be deployed to effectively serve targeted communities” (2020, p. 4). Bearing all of

this in mind, public librarians must be able to find and add the best resources to their collections

to effectively serve their community.

For future MLIS graduate students who wish to work in a public library, the reference

interview is a crucial competency to be aware of and use in their future place of employment.

When they become professional librarians, being able to complete their jobs at the reference desk

effectively and politely is one of the most important tasks and competencies for them. According

to Emily Chan, an academic librarian:

Due to the joint academic/public library status, navigating the electronic resources can be

both ambiguous and difficult. Each entity offers a unique assortment of electronic

resources…Thus, the reference provider must conduct a reference interview to ascertain

what kinds of information are needed, identify the corresponding resources that would

provide the information, and determine the use parameters for the individual user (2014,

p. 29).

When a patron is willing to come and ask for help, rather than attempting to Google an answer or

figure it out themselves, they are expecting the librarian to give it their all and navigate through
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resources that they would not have thought of or considered. For a new librarian, this can seem

daunting, but it is something that he or she should have learned and mastered in graduate school.

In addition to completing a knowledgeable reference interview, the new librarian needs to

be warm and welcoming. “Soft skills were seen as essential for the urban public librarian,

including empathic qualities, conflict resolution, communicative skills, and an appreciation for

the needs of diverse and possibly impoverished populations” (Chan, 2014, p. 30). To complete a

reference interview, the librarian must be able to help the patron and provide satisfactory

customer service. This is critical for new librarians to master and be able to do upon starting their

careers. This competency is important as new public and reference librarians are seated at

reference desks most of the day. They need to be warm, welcoming, and knowledgeable for all

of their patrons.

Times are constantly changing for libraries and librarians. With the COVID-19

pandemic, the competencies of librarians have changed drastically to become more electronic

and technology based. While some libraries had some e-resources and programs, others had to

drastically change the way they ran after many closed to the public. However, “much of what the

library offers today is mediated through technology. To properly help and instruct users,

reference providers must be correspondingly adept at those technologies” (Chan, 2014, p. 31).

As libraries become more focused on technology, whether because of the pandemic or because

of future technology and increased social media usage, the librarians must also become more

competent at using technology. “Because the habits of media use are ever changing, librarians

should familiarize themselves with development trends and the tools related to these

technologies” (Peng, 2019, p. 107). Librarians must be able to quickly learn and adapt to new

technology to best assist their patrons and continue learning themselves. While some librarians
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are more reluctant to change, this pandemic has caused many to change their beliefs and learn

how to be of use to the patrons even with the library doors closed. According to Siobhan

Stevenson, “this is not about turning back the clock, but it is about recognizing the historical

antecedents of contemporary change” (2020, p. 49). Regardless of how librarians feel about

changes in the library and increased dependency on technology, they are here to help patrons and

must be able to do so with all formats, print or e-resource.

New and current public librarians have many competencies required of them to perform

their duties and responsibilities in the library. They are expected to maintain and grow a diverse

collection, conduct professional and kind reference interviews, and learn new technology and

changes so that patrons are always at the center of the library, even if the library is closed due to

a pandemic. These competencies may seem like a lot, but they are critically important for each

librarian to have so that they can best do their job. For the public library to remain an important

part of the community and a helpful place for its patrons, the librarians must be able to do their

jobs accurately and these competencies make it possible for them to do so.
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References

Chan, E. (2014). Analyzing Recorded Transactions to Extrapolate the Required Knowledge,

Skills, and Abilities of Reference Desk Providers at an Urban, Academic/Public Library.

Journal of Library Administration, 54(1), 23-32.

Johnson, P. (2018). Organization Models, Staffing, and Responsibilities. In Fundamentals of

Collection Development and Management (4th ed., pp. 37-76). Chicago: ALA Editions.

Peng, Y.-P. (2019). A Competency Model of Children’s Librarians in Public Librarians. Library

Quarterly, 89(2), 99-115.

Salazar, R. S. (2020). On Staffing the Modern Public Library. Public Libraries, 59(2), 3-5.

Stevenson, S. (2020). What Is the “Value-Add” of the MLIS in Public Libraries? Perspectives

from Today’s Library Leaders and Their Rank and File. Library Quarterly, 90(1), 38-55.