An investigation of the education needs of health sciences library manpower. V. Manpower for hospital libraries

Abstract

The extent of library service and the character of the library staff of hospitals in the United States are reported from the results of a survey conducted by the American Hospital Association in 1968. These data supplement the data reported on the nonhospital institutional population to make up a composite picture of health sciences library manpower today. Only 2,918 hospitals (48.5 percent) out of a total of 6,018 surveyed reported the existence of a library of any kind, though some of the hospitals reported multiple libraries. For all of these libraries only 2,872 individuals were reported under the rubric for "librarians," and of these only 726 were reported as having the master's degree or better. Of the total staff almost half are non-salaried (volunteer or contributory) and almost half of the salaried staff are half time. It is obvious, therefore, that hospital libraries must be substantially strengthened if they are to fulfill their important function in the biomedical information network.