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CONTEXT Librarians know that there are differences between types of libraries and even differences between individual instances of the same type of library. Not all aca- demic libraries are the same and neither is every public library. The use of short- term staff varies between libraries, and this book tries to cover the broad range of academic libraries in Chapter 7 and public libraries in Chapter 8. Since archives and special collections can be in a variety of institutional contexts and since they utilize a wide array of short-term staff, they are considered separately in Chapter 9. No separate chapter covers short-term staff in special libraries. However, a good overview of the use of volunteers can be found in Tara Murray’s article in the Journal of Library Administration (Murray 2015). She mentions the use of remote volunteers, especially in projects that crowdsource metadata like that in DIY History at the University of Iowa (DIY n.d.). That innovative project utilizes volunteers to read and transcribe handwritten letters in order to make their con- tents searchable. Murray also cautions that managing volunteers, especially for one-person libraries, can be time consuming, even in relationships that are internships or practica for graduate students. Working closely with the aca- demic institution to maximize the contribution that a student can make so that the impact on the library staff is minimized is highly recommended. MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS One of the sources of tension and opportunity in incorporating short-term staff into existing staff is that around workplace culture. Although a precise definition of workplace or organizational culture is illusive, Bradigan and Hartel (2013) quote Deal and Kennedy in their review of the topic and include characteristics such as the history, values, beliefs, rituals, stories, and informal networking. They also note that Edgar Schein described this culture as the most difficult characteristic of a workplace to either explain to outsiders or change. The connection to short- term staff is important. Being prepared to provide bridges between permanent staff and those hired for short amounts of time will challenge the status quo of the work- place culture. How that is managed will be considered in the following chapters, and this section will introduce some of the important elements. Hiring Some of the short-term staff arrangements considered in this book are gov- erned by standard human resource considerations that cover the recruiting, hir- ing, and training of regular staff members. Grant personnel, student staff, and fellows are the types of positions that are usually advertised and recruited like long-term staff. Each institution’s rules as well as local, state, and federal laws must be followed. Short-term voluntary arrangements, however, can be handled by other per- sonnel. The literature suggests that the best practice is to have an appointed vol- unteer coordinator (Driggers and Dumas 2011), and Chapter 8 explains how that can work in the public library setting. In academic libraries, different 6 Short-Term Staff, Long-Term Benefits