A recent CALL needs assessment gathered input from more than 350 library workers across 137 jurisdictions. The message was clear: California library staff are committed to serving their communities and eager to learn, but they are stretched thin.
Eighty-five percent of respondents said lack of time is their biggest barrier to learning, and more than a third reported feeling emotionally exhausted.
What We Heard from Library Staff
Library work today goes far beyond traditional expectations. Staff support people with technology, respond to community challenges, and handle situations that can be unpredictable, fast moving, or high pressure.
One of the strongest themes in the assessment was the need for practical training for real situations. Staff want clearer guidance about their roles, responsibilities, and boundaries, especially when they are making decisions in real time or navigating situations where expectations or authority are not fully clear. They are looking for support that helps them decide when to act, how to respond, and when to bring in others, along with tools grounded in real examples they can apply immediately.
Staff also want to strengthen core workplace skills, including:
- communication
- supervision and supporting others
- project and program planning
- understanding policies and governance
- technical systems such as cataloging, reporting tools, and digital resource management
Looking ahead, many staff are also interested in emerging areas such as AI, data-informed decision making, and new approaches to community engagement. Just as importantly, they want to better understand how their work connects to the broader purpose of libraries and how libraries function within larger civic and institutional systems.
How Staff Want to Learn
Time is the biggest challenge, so learning opportunities need to be flexible, easy to access, and clearly connected to daily work.
At the same time, staff are asking for learning that is more human, relational, and grounded in experience. They value:
- learning from peers
- real examples from library practice
- opportunities to reflect and make meaning from what they learn
This creates an important tension. Staff need training that fits into tight schedules, but they learn best through relational, experience-based approaches that take time and space to engage with. CALL is actively experimenting with ways to balance this by designing learning that is flexible and accessible while still creating space for connection, reflection, and peer learning.
Next Steps
CALL is using these findings to shape future training and support for California’s library workforce, with a focus on strengthening both immediate skills and long-term professional learning systems.
This includes:
- expanding practical, scenario-based training on handling difficult situations
- strengthening offerings that support everyday workplace skills and confidence in core roles
- making learning more visible, organized, and easier to navigate
- elevating staff expertise as a core learning resource through stories, examples, and shared practice
- supporting peer learning opportunities across the state
- strengthening the role of directors and supervisors in enabling and organizing learning locally
Most importantly, these findings will continue to guide how CALL invests in training that reflects the real conditions library staff face every day, while also supporting their ability to grow, adapt, and lead within their communities.
Supporting library workers is one of the most important ways to strengthen libraries themselves, now and in the years ahead.