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Circulation clerk vs reference assistant

The differences between circulation clerks and reference assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a reference assistant has an average salary of $27,874, which is higher than the $24,325 average annual salary of a circulation clerk.

The top three skills for a circulation clerk include customer service, patron accounts and library materials. The most important skills for a reference assistant are library materials, library patrons, and interlibrary loan.

Circulation clerk vs reference assistant overview

Circulation ClerkReference Assistant
Yearly salary$24,325$27,874
Hourly rate$11.69$13.40
Growth rate-4%-4%
Number of jobs66,736658
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4747
Years of experience--

Circulation clerk vs reference assistant salary

Circulation clerks and reference assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Circulation ClerkReference Assistant
Average salary$24,325$27,874
Salary rangeBetween $19,000 And $30,000Between $21,000 And $36,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between circulation clerk and reference assistant education

There are a few differences between a circulation clerk and a reference assistant in terms of educational background:

Circulation ClerkReference Assistant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 54%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorBusinessEnglish
Most common collegeStanford UniversityNew York University

Circulation clerk vs reference assistant demographics

Here are the differences between circulation clerks' and reference assistants' demographics:

Circulation ClerkReference Assistant
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 23.0% Female, 77.0%Male, 32.3% Female, 67.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 5.2% White, 63.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between circulation clerk and reference assistant duties and responsibilities

Circulation clerk example responsibilities.

  • Create displays for checkout material (fiction, DVDs, children's section, etc . )
  • Process internal and external inter-library loan requests for fiction and non-fiction titles and digital media.
  • Issue library cards to customers and collect fines for books, CDs, and videos.
  • Catalogue and stack books, movies, CDs, records and periodicals.
  • Help troubleshoot technology relate issues.

Reference assistant example responsibilities.

  • Construct and manage subject LibGuides.
  • Manage yearly budget for DVDs.
  • Search for and retrieve cases from online databases such as Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis.
  • Prepare library libguides and bibliographies on various areas of law.
  • Train fellow staff members in inter-library loan procedures and online database, OCLC.
  • Process requests for journal articles and books from RapidILL, OCLC, and DOCLINE.
  • Show more

Circulation clerk vs reference assistant skills

Common circulation clerk skills
  • Customer Service, 18%
  • Patron Accounts, 18%
  • Library Materials, 15%
  • Circulation Desk, 6%
  • Library Patrons, 4%
  • Issue Library Cards, 3%
Common reference assistant skills
  • Library Materials, 8%
  • Library Patrons, 7%
  • Interlibrary Loan, 6%
  • Reference Desk, 6%
  • Reference Services, 6%
  • Library Resources, 5%

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