No time perk here (Western Australia; I don't know of any Australian libraries where this is available for staff, actually). I agree that time is vital when it comes to learning new stuff. We recently ran a 23-things-type training course for staff at MPOW, and most of the staff we surveyed pre-course said that time was a major factor for them. I agree, I don't know how much you can do in 15 minutes a day but I guess it's better than nothing at all (and dare I suggest it, once you start enjoying what you're learning you somehow find more time... ;) that's what happened with me) We ran the course as a "one-hour-a-week" thing. I don't know how successfully people managed to use that time (yet to do post-course survey).

Your comment on part-timers having more time is interesting - are you suggesting that they have more time because they spend less time at work and therefore have more time to spare for learning? I regularly spend time reading and thinking about and playing with "stuff" outside work time - but then I enjoy it and find it fulfilling and valuable. I don't know what my colleagues would say about any suggestion that one could use non-work time to learn. I've come across a lot of resistance, along the lines of "Life's too short to sit in front of a computer outside of work hours", for instance. Not that I'm making any judgements about that attitude. I can see how it would not be possible for many, even if they had the inclination, due to family and other commitments outside work.. If I've misread you please tell me what strategies you use :)

CW, you make a good point about part-timers. If the university didn't give them leaves, they would need to do their research outside of official work time. My point is that, on an individual basis, we give part-timers the same leave perks as we give full timers. This doesn't seem fair to me, when full-timers (by definition!) spend full working days at the institution. Some part-timers have other jobs, some do not.

I have similar feelings about the teaching faculty. They aren't required to be on campus full time. They come in to teach and have their office hours, but some faculty come in only a few days a week. They have summers and intersessions off. We librarians are here five days a week, 52 weeks a year minus vacation. More than any group of academic faculty on campus, we are the ones who lack time to learn, to write, to do all the things that an exemplary academic should do.

I, too, spend time outside of work to learn new things, and also to do most of my writing for publication. Because of the busy nature of my job, this is a necessity. Like you, I'm also motivated and enjoy what I do. But I think life would be more fair if the institution supported these activities in a way that is more integral to our employment.

When I told my wise Aunt that I was working part time and finding that I seem to do as much outside work as I ever did, she sagely told me that if you are a professional, part time means half the money for the same number of hours. I think she is right - if you want to keep up and have more than just a "put one foot in front of the other" work life.

I have certain hours that I cannot be present at work due to child care commitments. I am on campus two days per week, with an official 1.75 hours at home making up the rest of my half-time load. My husband is responsible for childcare when I am at work, so there is very little flexiblity to alter these hours, without upsetting his work life.

Most of my contact days are spent in meetings or running training. I love it that they value my opinion and participation, but it stops me from doing any serious thinking, research and preparation. This is done at home, usually in my own time.

This setup is wrong and I am probably more to blame than my rather supportive workplace. I would prefer to do this preparation in work hours and actually get paid for it, however the office isn't open after 8:30pm when the kids have gone to bed and I do most of my work. Like CW pointed out - not everyone spends their time doing this, however for those of us part timers who do, the chance to take a paid day out from meetings and training would be productive for everyone concerned.

I don't have a solution, but today I considered cutting down "spare time" library speaking and writing commitments that are not worked based, so it didn't interfere with the out of work hours I put into job related tasks. Pure madness.

I'd like to see a scheme that provided research time in acknowledgement of professional development outside work hours. For example time out for research AFTER a book chapter has been written or a conference paper presented - to encourage this behaviour to continue. Yes, your first paper is written in your own time, but this sure beats all the following ones being written in your own time too.

Kathryn, I had no idea that you were a part-timer. How do you accomplish so much in so little time? Now I know.

I can't imagine any university paying people for the time they spend off-duty conducting research. This is because we full-timers are on salary, not an hourly wage. On the other hand, we give reference librarians comp time when they do weekend desk duty. They can translate this into vacation days. I'm not quite sure how to combine these notions into a solution for professional development!

Some years back, our Head of Reference gave everyone "a week without reference." Those 6-8 hours when they would normally be on the desk, they could use for professional development. This was one good idea, but it happened so rarely that it didn't really help. Someone in my library suggested a week each month without committee meetings. That's another possibility. I think there are creative ideas out there, but we need library administration to endorse and implement them.

I'm so glad you raised this topic. The University of Manitoba Faculty Association is currently bargaining a new Collective Agreement. One of our proposals is 40 days' research time annually for each member. We are also proposing that librarians be granted academic freedom, something we do not yet share with our teaching faculty colleagues. For all the reasons you and your commenters bring forward, we felt it was only right that librarians should have the freedom (including the time) to pursue research. We already have the 'duty' and the 'opportunity' to do so. We felt it was time to go beyond these well-meaning but partial measures and make research a fundamental part of a librarian's professional life. One can only do so much in one's spare time, on vacation, or during a rare sabbatical. We may not get what we have asked for, but at least the issue is on the table. We have got their attention.

Thanks for an interesting discussion.

Mark, I'm fascinated that your Faculty Association is including research time in your current round of bargaining. What a wonderful idea. We librarians in the SUNY system have never thought of that - and, in fact, union bargaining with the state for a new contract is taking place as we speak. Our only official research time is the sabbatical time we were granted when we became academic faculty.

I think it's all too easy for administration to say we can't spare the time from our daily jobs, while at the same time expecting research productivity. Among other things, this set of expectations is not the best way to attract the best and the brightest, or to get the best and the brightest to do their optimal work.

If your new Collective Agreement included even some of the research time you asked for, this would be big news!