Library of Congress undergoing workforce transformation

With 40 percent of its librarians eligible for retirement by 2010, the Library of Congress is trying to retrain and adjust its workforce while preparing to digitally preserve its extensive collection of print and broadcast media.

"The overwhelming challenge facing the Library in its third century is how to superimpose the exploding world of digital knowledge and information onto the still-expanding world of books and other traditional analog materials," Librarian of Congress James Billington said in prepared testimony during a recent House Administration Committee oversight hearing.

But many of its staff will not make the transition. Bill Ayers, the Library's director for workforce acquisitions, said it offered a voluntary retirement incentive for librarians who had become "very comfortable" with traditional research and had no desire to update their skills for the digital era.

Nearly 200 employees took advantage of that incentive to retire early and the sections for which they worked made individual decisions about whether those workers needed to be replaced, he added. As a result, the number of full-time Library of Congress employees dropped by 130 between fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2005.

Terry Bickham, director of operations management and training, said the Library is drafting a workforce transformation initiative to help the current workforce upgrade its skills while attracting new employees whose skills match the services the library offers.

For example, Bickham said, a new online learning management program available to all library employees offers 600 courses.

"Because of volume discounts negotiated for federal agencies, our annual cost for providing these courses to employees is about $25 per employee per year. That's not per course, but access to the entire library of courses. That's a pretty good deal," Bickham said.

Workshops and discussion groups also are offered, and part of the initiative will focus on updating skill requirements and job descriptions. The third and fourth stage of the initiative set for fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2007 will enhance professional development opportunities.

Bickham stressed that the Library first wants to revamp its services before hiring new librarians to avoid the frustration that develops when new librarians are hired whose skills exceed the services that are available. Among the goals of the fifth and final stage of the initiative are training and recruiting new skills, he said.

Beyond training and changing how the Library acquires and preserves information in the digital age, Billington said it needs more flexibility in its staffing. He said the Library would be drafting legislation for the 110th Congress that will address many of these needs.

Human Resources Director Dennis Hanratty and Bickham agreed that recruiting new librarians will not be a problem since Library of Congress jobs are seen as "prestigious" and "well paying."