Funding for Individuals
The Michigan State University Libraries support the professional development of its librarians with the following arrangement. Newly appointed librarians, who face a seven year probationary period leading to continuous appointment (the equivalent of tenure), are guaranteed $2,500 per year to support professional development activities. This would include, but not be limited to, attendance at training sessions such as ARL offerings, participation at conferences such as ALA, and the hiring of student assistants or purchase of hardware or software to facilitate research or writing efforts. Utilization of these funds does require supervisor approval. It should be noted that if a librarian is directed to attend events, such as officially representing MSU at a meeting or attending training at the request of the supervisor, then the entire costs of these activities is covered by central library funds and does not count against the individual’s allocation.
For librarians who have achieved continuous appointment, the amount of professional activity support is determined by the yearly evaluation. For example, librarians in the top rated group would continue to receive $2,500, with lesser amounts being assigned for lower rankings. The average allocation for all librarians currently exceeds $2,000.
This allocation system is designed to provide the maximum amount of support for newer librarians. Because new librarians typically have the lowest salaries, they are the group that would most readily pass on such activities due to financial constraints. This would be terribly unfortunate as this is the very point in their career that these activities are the most critical for long-term professional growth. MSU requires scholarly and professional activities to achieve continuous appointment status, and it is, therefore, entirely appropriate that we eliminate, or at least substantially reduce, the financial barriers that can inhibit success.
Involvement in professional and scholarly activities has increased markedly since the introduction of this program, which has also served as a potent factor in the recruitment of beginning librarians.
