Staffing rightsizing: analyzing staffing studies to inform potential rightsizing practices

Abstract

PurposeA review of the literature on how academic library staffing is adjusted is especially relevant right now, as higher education is anticipating a large decline in college-age students matriculating into colleges and universities beginning in 2025. Academic libraries will be affected by these enrollment drops and will have to carefully consider how to support their institutions with smaller budgets and smaller staff sizes. This review will provide libraries with potential strategies to utilize as they consider how best to serve their users, both with changing demographics and continued changes in technology.Design/methodology/approachThe literature on staffing in academic libraries was reviewed from the last 20 years in the context of relevance to rightsizing.FindingsFindings show that there are studies looking at staffing trends over longer periods of time, analyses of particular areas (i.e. reference desks, technical services, etc.) to determine levels and types of staff needed (librarians, library staff or student workers), financial analyses of staffing, studies on outsourcing and a few studies on the dangers of downsizing.Research limitations/implicationsSince the research is limited to the library literature, the findings could potentially be limited. In addition, not all staffing studies were deemed relevant to the concept of rightsizing, so this study is not all inclusive.Originality/valueThere are many publications on staffing, but the researcher did not find a literature review of staffing studies from a rightsizing perspective.