On rare occasions when staff development does merit inclusion in the base operating budget, these funds are usually the first to be cut in times of budgetary crisis. In some libraries, support staff find that they frequently do not have access to the same level of training and development available to librarians. I'd like to discuss with you this morning some of the issues related to training and development for library support staff. First, let me make a distinction between staff development and training. For me, training is frequently reactionary and not necessarily expected to be an on-going activity.
Training is usually job-specific and focuses primarily on tasks or procedural instructions.
Staff development is, on the other hand, a far more comprehensive and future oriented undertaking. It provides not only the necessary orientation and training, but also prepares staff for greater challenges and new responsibilities. Each person is this room knows that library environments have changed over the past decade. Very few libraries and information organizations will remain viable far into the future if they are unable to embrace the significant changes that are certain to come our way. Organizational change is a necessity for survival and none of us will remain unaffected by it.