Employees of Special Libraries Utilize More Wellness Initiatives Than Other Library Workers

By Jamie Bragg

The second installment of Library Worklife’s discussion of the 2009 Library Workplace Wellness online survey identifies trends by type of library (academic, public, special and “other,” an option provided by the survey to employees who do not work in the other three). Data from the 2007-2008 Library Workplace Wellness survey is also available.

The first section of this article, Employer Options, studies the activities or initiatives offered by employers. Using data from the survey this compares the average number of initiatives offered by each type of library. The second section, Employee Participation, examines workers’ choices to participate in different initiatives.

Of the 616 respondents, 609 specified the type of library in which they work. Of the 609 respondents, 352 work in public (referred to in the tables as P), 185 work in academic (A), 23 work in school (Sc), 28 work in special (Sp) and 21 work in other types of libraries (O, e.g., government, etc.). Because the respondents were allowed to choose more than one initiative, the total number of initiatives selected often exceeds the number of respondents. For example, in response to the question, “Which of these workplace wellness activities does your library offer? Check as many as apply,” 562 respondents selected 1,797 initiatives. When asked, “Do you take advantage of any of these activities?” the 502 respondents selected 836 initiatives.

Employer Options

In the survey’s first question about available programs, respondents were asked to select from a list of work-life initiatives any offered by their employers. Table 1 lists the survey’s initiatives in alphabetical order and illustrates the number of initiatives offered at each of the four types of libraries. Among public libraries, the four most commonly offered options are Employee Assistance Plans (EAP), flu shots given at work, work release for continuing education and leave allowed for student functions. Academic libraries most commonly offer flu shots at work, EAPs, on-site exercise facilities, and wellness classes. School libraries most commonly provide flu shots at work, leave for children’s school functions, EAPs, and on-site exercise facilities. Among special libraries, workers will most likely be offered flu shots at work, alternative work schedules, EAPs and leave for children’s school functions; “other” libraries, however, most often provide alternative work schedules, leave for children’s school functions, work release for continuing education, and flu shots at work.

Table 1: Employer Options

	P	A	Sc	Sp	O	Total respondents offered initiative
Alternative work schedule	81	60	1	11	9	162
Childcare on-site or subsidies	1	18	2	2	2	41
Compressed work week	36	21	0	5	3	65
Discounts or subsidies for gym membership	70	38	3	6	3	120
Employee Assistance Plans (EAP)	151	79	6	10	8	250
Flu shot given at work	113	102	15	12	8	149
Health screenings (encouraged to get diabetes, mammograms, prostate cancer, screenings, etc.)	68	51	3	4	6	170
Job sharing	19	6	2	3	0	25
Leave allowed for children’s school functions	87	34	11	8	9	30
On-site exercise classes	13	48	2	3	3	254
On-site exercise facilities	12	78	5	2	2	69
Other (please specify)	23	23	0	2	3	99
Telecommuting	16	14	0	7	4	158
Wellness classes (stress relief, time management, diet/nutrition, smoking cessation, CPR, etc.)	77	65	3	7	6	132
Work release for continuing education	93	55	5	8	9	51
None	47	12	3	2	3	67
Total initiatives (other than “None”) selected per library type	860	692	58	90	75	1775
Total respondents per library type	318	167	23	27	21	556

From Table 1 and other available data we determined the average number of initiatives offered by each type of library. On average, employees of academic libraries report just over four available initiatives (692/167=4.14), the largest number of options offered by any of the library types. School libraries, on average, offer the fewest work-life options to employees (2.52). Within this range fall “other” (3.57), special (2.52) and public (2.70). We also calculated the percentage of each type of library that offers no work-life activities. Leading the four categories is public libraries; 14.78 percent of public library respondents report no available workplace initiatives from this list (47/318=14.78 percent). The response by workers in “other” libraries follows close behind that of public libraries, with 14.28 percent of “other” libraries represented by the survey offering no work-life initiatives. Employees of school libraries fare similarly, with 13.04 percent of respondents receiving no such programs. Special and academic libraries, however, are far more likely to offer some form of work-life program; only 7.41 percent of special libraries offer no such plans, and all but 7.19 percent of academic libraries offer at least one initiative.

Employee Participation

In the second question about available initiatives, respondents were asked to what extent, if any, they take advantage of the work-life initiatives listed above. Table 2 (below) illustrates the participation of employees in work-life activities, organized by initiative and type of library. Employees of public libraries most commonly participate in flu shots, work release for continuing education, EAPs, and alternative work schedules. Among academic library employees, the four most commonly utilized options are flu shots, alternative work schedules, wellness classes, and health screenings. In school libraries, employees most regularly participate in flu shots, work release for continuing education, leave for children’s school functions, and health screenings. In special libraries, workers will most likely take advantage of flu shots, work release programs, alternative work schedules, health screenings, wellness classes and telecommuting. Employees of “other” libraries most often choose to participate in work release for continuing education, flu shots, alternative work schedules, and health screenings.

Table 2: Employee Participation

	P	A	Sc	Sp	O	Total respondents offered initiative
Alternative work schedule	47	41	0	7	5	100
Childcare on-site or subsidies	1	1	1	0	0	3
Compressed work week	17	7	0	2	0	26
Discounts or subsidies for gym membership	20	14	1	1	0	36
Employee Assistance Plans (EAP)	53	22	2	1	1	79
Flu shot given at work	62	61	9	10	6	148
Health screenings (encouraged to get diabetes, mammograms, prostate cancer, screenings, etc.)	42	33	3	5	5	88
Job sharing	4	2	0	1	0	7
Leave allowed for children’s school functions	33	16	4	3	4	60
On-site exercise classes	6	24	1	2	1	34
On-site exercise facilities	4	30	1	1	0	36
Telecommuting	12	10	0	5	3	30
Wellness classes (stress relief, time management, diet/nutrition, smoking cessation, CPR, etc.)	37	37	2	5	4	85
Work release for continuing education	58	25	4	7	7	101
No participation	86	42	7	3	3	141
Total initiatives (other than “No”) selected per respondent’s library type	396	323	28	50	36	833
Total respondents per library type	276	157	20	25	20	498

Table 2 reveals the average number of initiatives employees in each type of library take advantage of. On average, employees of academic libraries are most likely to participate in employer-sponsored initiatives, averaging just over two per respondent (323/157=2.06). After academic libraries follow special (2.0 initiatives per respondent), “other” (1.8), public (1.43) and school (1.4).

Conclusion

It is not surprising that when libraries offer a greater average number of work-life initiatives, library employees are more likely to participate in at least one initiative. This trend is evident in academic and “other” libraries; both, on average, offer four programs, and their employees participate in two. In the same way, public and school libraries offer their employees an average of three programs, and employees participate in an average of 1.5. Special libraries depart from this approximate 2/1 ratio of programs to participants; for every three programs offered by special libraries, two employees participate.

We are excited to explore the results of this important survey, and future issues of Library Worklife will continue the discussion. In upcoming issues, LW will address the following questions: which initiatives are most commonly offered in each type of library, and what does this data reveal about priorities and funding capabilities in these respective institutions? Which programs are most popular among employees in each type, and what can these trends tell us about employee needs in each type of library?

Finally, the survey asked several open-ended questions. These questions include: “Do staff in your library collaborate on activities, like walking clubs and healthy potlucks? Please describe,””If your library does not offer any of these activities, why do you think this is the case?” and “Do you think these activities are important? Why or why not?” Future articles in LW will discuss how employee responses to the survey’s open-ended questions complicate and reinforce the quantitative data. All articles in this series will be available on the ALA-APA website on the Salaries page.

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