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Circulation worker vs reference assistant

The differences between circulation workers 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 $24,116 average annual salary of a circulation worker.

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

Circulation worker vs reference assistant overview

Circulation WorkerReference Assistant
Yearly salary$24,116$27,874
Hourly rate$11.59$13.40
Growth rate-4%-4%
Number of jobs19,380658
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 82%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4747
Years of experience--

Circulation worker vs reference assistant salary

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

Circulation WorkerReference Assistant
Average salary$24,116$27,874
Salary rangeBetween $18,000 And $31,000Between $21,000 And $36,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between circulation worker and reference assistant education

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

Circulation WorkerReference Assistant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 82%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorHistoryEnglish
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborNew York University

Circulation worker vs reference assistant demographics

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

Circulation WorkerReference Assistant
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 37.6% Female, 62.4%Male, 32.3% Female, 67.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.2% Asian, 4.1% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%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 worker and reference assistant duties and responsibilities

Circulation worker example responsibilities.

  • Process internal and external inter-library loan requests for fiction and non-fiction titles and digital media.
  • Develop library collection materials for young adults including award-winning non-fiction and fiction titles.

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 worker vs reference assistant skills

Common circulation worker skills
  • Library Materials, 25%
  • Library Services, 20%
  • Customer Service, 14%
  • Library System, 13%
  • Newspapers, 13%
  • Front Desk, 9%
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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