Library Assistant Series Job Standards

The supplemental standards for the Library Assistant job series are guidelines for classifying Library Assistant positions at the University of California, Berkeley. They are based on the University-wide class specifications for the Library Assistant series.

The standards are organized in a downloadable chart in two major sections:

1. Level Factors, which delineate for each of the five Library Assistant levels the following job factors: Supervision Received, Assignments and Duties, Guidelines Used or Provided, Required Skills, Knowledge, and Background, and Supervisory Responsibility.
2. Function Descriptions, which describe, by level, typical tasks performed in the following functional areas: Bibliographic Checking, Cataloging, Circulation, Reference, and Serials Processing. These functions were selected as benchmarks and do not include all functional areas within the library. Note that these are not job descriptions, but rather descriptions of functional tasks. This distinction is important, because a position may combine a variety of functions, and a single-function description would not, in such cases, accurately describe the position’s total responsibility.

The third section of the supplemental standards describes the factoring process used to classify a multi-function position, or “total job.”

Classifying the "Total Job"

The level of duties and responsibilities assigned to a position determines its classification. Because a position may entail a variety of diverse-level tasks—for example, a combination of operational, advanced operational, and advanced paraprofessional-level duties—it is necessary to ascertain its overall, or “total job,” level in order to classify it.

This is done by factoring together the percentages of time allotted to each level of tasks required in the position. The result of this process is the “total job,” and it is the “total job” which is classified.

Two examples illustrate the factoring process:

1. Position “A” is structured so that its task levels are allotted as follows:
   • Library Assistant II - 55%
   • Library Assistant III - 35%
   • Library Assistant IV - 10%

   The “total job” is classified Library Assistant III. Although a majority of the incumbent’s time is spent on Library Assistant II-level tasks, this is partially offset by the 10 percent allotted to Library Assistant IV-level tasks. The position, overall, is thus stronger than Library Assistant II. But it is not Library Assistant IV, because (1) only a small percentage of the total job is at that level, and (2) a substantial portion of the position involves tasks classifiable two levels below that of the IV.

2. Position “B” is structured so that its task levels are allotted as follows:
   • Library Assistant III - 60%
   • Library Assistant IV - 40%

   The “total job” is classified Library Assistant IV. In this case, IV-level tasks constitute a substantial portion of the total job, the remainder of which is classifiable at just one level lower.

These examples also illustrate two guidelines used in classifying positions:

1. The inclusion of high-level tasks in itself does not warrant classification at that level if the tasks constitute a small portion of the total job (or are performed only occasionally, as, for example, in the temporary absence of the employee who regularly performs them, or as part of a rotational assignment).
2. Higher-level tasks need not occupy a majority of an incumbent’s time to warrant classification at that level, if they constitute a substantial portion of the total job, and the remainder of the position’s tasks are classifiable at the next lower level.

Note: Position “A” and Position “B” are only examples of many job configurations which would result in similar classification decisions. The percentages cited in these examples should not be construed as absolute standards.