Staffing Rural Public Libraries: The Need to Invest in Intellectual Capital

A WIDE RANGE OF PEOPLE are just beginning to equate information service in their communities with the institution they once believed served a primarily recreational and educational function-the public library. At present, many rural libraries have inadequate numbers of staff, and many others have staff which are seriously undereducated to meet the expanded information needs of the people in their communities. If rural libraries are to seize the opportunities suggested by the developing positive view, develop services to support this view, and market such a view to a wider range of citizens in their communities, they must invest in the intellectual capital of their staffs. The benefits which technology promises for rural people to access information and education could also be the key for developing rural public library staff to provide those resources and services. INTRODUCTION Before ever considering the problems associated with staffing the rural public library, the question, Do we really need rural public libraries? should be answered. Vavrek (1993),whose insightful scholarship and unquestioned commitment to the profession and to rural people, forces this question to be considered. If current use equates need, according to his research, then perhaps we do not need public libraries in rural areas. On the other hand, if it is a matter of the institution called “library” simply not being perceived as an important information resource by rural Daniel D. Barron, College of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 LIBRARYTRENDS, Vol. 44, No. 1, Summer 1995,pp. 77-87