Library aide vs reference assistant

The differences between library aides and reference assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a library aide has an average salary of $28,197, which is higher than the $27,874 average annual salary of a reference assistant.

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

Library aide vs reference assistant overview

	Library Aide	Reference Assistant
Yearly salary	$28,197	$27,874
Hourly rate	$13.56	$13.40
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	40,987	658
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	-	-

Library aide vs reference assistant salary

Library aides and reference assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Library Aide	Reference Assistant
Average salary	$28,197	$27,874
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $36,000	Between $21,000 And $36,000
Highest paying City	Daly City, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	Dublin City Schools	-
Best paying industry	Education	-

Differences between library aide and reference assistant education

There are a few differences between a library aide and a reference assistant in terms of educational background:

	Library Aide	Reference Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Business	English
Most common college	Northwestern University	New York University

Library aide vs reference assistant demographics

Here are the differences between library aides' and reference assistants' demographics:

	Library Aide	Reference Assistant
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 26.6% Female, 73.4%	Male, 32.3% Female, 67.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 6.0% White, 63.8% 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 Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between library aide and reference assistant duties and responsibilities

Library aide example responsibilities.

Assist library patrons at the front desk, checking in/out, use of an ILS.
Label new books, label dvds and organize inventory.
Shelve DVDs and books, clean doors and windows.
Demonstrate initiative by volunteering to undergo cross training on inter-library loan policies and procedures.
Process internal and external inter-library loan requests for fiction and non-fiction titles and digital media.
Perform elementary descriptive cataloging using automate bibliographic database.

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.

Library aide vs reference assistant skills

Common library aide skills

Library Materials, 18%
Customer Service, 11%
Circulation Desk, 6%
Library Patrons, 4%
Library Services, 3%
Reference Materials, 3%

Common reference assistant skills

Library Materials, 8%
Library Patrons, 7%
Interlibrary Loan, 6%
Reference Desk, 6%
Reference Services, 6%
Library Resources, 5%