The range in time for cataloging a title was from 11.3 to 40 minutes; the average, 27.3; the median, 29.4. According to table 3 the range in the cost of cataloging a title was from 12 cents to 72 cents; the average, 34 cents; the median, 29 cents.

Cataloging and classifying nonbook material (pamphlets, clippings, audio-visual aids, etc.) per unit, ranged from 0.5 to 27 minutes. The average was 7.7; the median, 4.5. The average cost was 13 cents; the median, 6 cents.

The following classification indicates the groupings of categories which were made after investigating the practicality of allocating the librarian's time:

Reference, instruction, and book (1) Reference work.

advisory services.

Circulation work..

(2) Instruction and book advisory services. (3) Circulation.

(4) Care of room and collections.

Acquisition and cataloging----- (5) Acquisition of books, etc. (New titles).

(6) Acquisition of books, etc. (Duplicates and

replacements).

(7) Acquisition and care of periodicals.
(8) Cataloging and classification (new titles).
(9) Cataloging and classification (duplicates
and replacements).

(10) Cataloging and classifying material other
than books.

Administration and public rela- (11) Administrative duties.

tions.

(12) General office work.

School routine__
Unproductive time

(13) Public relations.

(14) School routine.

(15) Keeping the time record.

(16) Unproductive time (time for which librarian was paid when she did not work). (17) Special duties.

Caution in Interpreting Unit Costs

It must be emphasized that unit costs should be interpreted with caution. Many qualitative elements, not as yet susceptible to arithmetical measurement, enter into library work and the fact that costs in one school are higher than those in another school should not be considered as a justification for reducing the expenditures in that school. Expenditures should not be altered until a careful analysis is made of the qualitative elements involved in effective library service, in relation to the general school program.

Percentage Distribution of Direct Labor Time

The cost in terms of time, as has been stated previously, in a study which attempts to compare unit costs in several institutions with a variation in salary schedules, is more significant than the cost in money. In the preparation of tables showing the units of

direct labor time, it was possible to show the percentage distribution of all direct labor time reported and the percentage distribution by class.

Of the total labor time in the 11 schools reporting, 10 percent was spent in reference, instruction, and book advisory services. These categories include answering information and reference questions, compiling lists and bibliographies, making special indexes, giving book advisory service to pupils, teachers, and parents, and teaching classes in the use of books and the library.

Circulation and care of collection consumed 53 percent of the total time. Care of room and collection includes shelving and getting books from shelves, shelf reading, mending, mounting pictures, etc., preparing books and periodicals for the bindery, discarding books, taking inventory, and arranging exhibits, bulletin boards, flowers,

etc.

Acquisition, cataloging and classification of books, together with periodicals, pamphlets and other nonbook material took 11 percent of the time reported. Eleven percent seems an unusually low percentage for this phase of school library work. This is explained in part by the fact that in school libraries this work is usually seasonal, being done before or immediately after the opening of school in the fall or in the spring before school closes. Work done in either of these periods would not show in this study. Another reason for the low figure may be the fact that the cataloging for one school in the study is done by the public library.

Administration, public relations, and general office routine took almost 9 percent of the time. Administrative duties were those performed by the librarian in connection with the supervision of the work of others and in her capacity as a member of the faculty. These included preparing work schedules, conducting staff meetings, attending professional library and educational meetings and faculty meetings, and preparing reports. Public relations included work done by the librarian with outside agencies such as the public library, mothers' clubs, parent-teacher groups, etc., or with individuals not directly connected with the school, such as parents, visitors, etc. General office work includes general correspondence, ordering and care of supplies, and bookkeeping.

Thirteen percent of the total time was spent in school routine. By school routine is meant any activity of the librarian or staff which relates to the functioning of the school but has no immediate implications for the library. This includes disciplinary duties, checking attendance records, distribution and collection of free textbooks, hall duty, conducting "home rooms," etc.

Miscellaneous tasks not easily classified in the categories listed, together with unproductive time took 2 percent of the total time.

Table 4.-Percentage distribution of labor time

Table 4 shows the percentage distribution of the gross labor time reported for each school library activity
in the 11 participating schools and the average percentage distribution for the group. The activities are listed in
vertical column 1. The 11 participating schools are indicated by the letters A to K, inclusive, in columns 2-12,
with the percentage distribution of labor time for each activity of the individual school. For example, school A
spent 13 percent of its gross labor time in information and reference service and 16.6 percent of its time in
circulation.

Unproductive time is considered as being that time for which the librarian was paid when she did not work. For instance, time when the librarian was away owing to illness or similar causes on a day on which she was scheduled to work was counted as unproductive time, as was also time spent in activities not concerned with the library or the school. In this study the time was computed on a basis of actual working days and hours. Saturdays and Sundays, school vacations and national holidays, therefore, were not included in this category.

Keeping the time record consumed 3 percent of the total time.

Percentage Distribution of Labor Time by Class of Position

The gross labor time was next broken down into time spent in the various categories by the staff members graded by class of position. Table 5 shows these percentages and in this table the percentages are of the class total only and not of the gross total. For example, 10.4 percent of the total time of professional workers was spent in information and reference service, and 32.8 percent of the total volunteer student time was spent in care of room and collection.

Table 5.-Percentage distribution of labor time by class of position Table 5 shows the percentage distribution of direct labor time by class of position under each school library activity. Vertical column 1 indicates these activities and columns 2 to 8 indicate the classes of position. These percentages are of the class total only and not of the gross total; thus 10.4 percent of the time of professional staff was spent in reference and information service and 6 percent in cataloging. The horizontal column at the bottom indicates the percentage of the total time which was included under each class of position.

In the preparation of the table showing the distribution of labor time by class of position the qualifications set up by the American Library Association in its Statistical Report for Junior and Senior High School Libraries in Public School Systems were used.

These qualifications are as follows:

A professional assistant is a member of the staff performing work of a professional grade which requires training and skill in the theoretical or scientific parts of library work as distinct from its merely mechanical parts. To be classed as a professional assistant, the person should have:

(a) At least a bachelor's degree which includes 1 year of professional library education in the 4 years which lead to the bachelor's degree;

or

(b) An informal education considered as the real equivalent of 4 years of college work plus 5 years' experience in a library of recognized professional standing. (This provision is to take care of those already in the profession who are performing duties which require a knowledge of books and library technique as taught in a library school.)

A subprofessional assistant is a person who performs under the immediate supervision of professional staff members, work largely concerned with the higher routine processes which are peculiar to library work and which require some knowledge of library procedure. (No assistant paid on an hourly basis should be included here.)

A subprofessional assistant should have had at least brief elementary training as taught in a library summer session or a training class.

A clerical assistant is a person such as typist, etc., who performs, under immediate supervision, processes which may require experience, speed, accuracy, and clerical ability of a high order, but do not require knowledge of the theoretical or scientific aspects of library work.

High-school graduation is presupposed for this classification.

The work of the professional staff accounted for 33 percent of the gross labor time. In six schools this was made up of the librarian alone.

Six schools have assistant librarians, although one of them is in the clerical grade. Four schools have one professionally trained assistant librarian and one school has two.

According to the findings, the professional staffs considered in the aggregate spent 21 percent of their time in reference, instructional, and book advisory service; 16 percent in acquisition and cataloging; and 15, in administration and public relations. In the more or less clerical activities they spent 32 percent of their time in circulation and care of collection and 10 percent in school routine. All of the time spent by the subprofessional staff was reported under school routine. Only one school recorded such time. It should be noted that teachers who performed library duties were classified arbitrarily as subprofessional since it was assumed that they were not trained librarians.