Library technician vs book shelver

The differences between library technicians and book shelvers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a library technician and a book shelver. Additionally, a book shelver has an average salary of $43,471, which is higher than the $37,757 average annual salary of a library technician.

The top three skills for a library technician include library services, data entry and circulation desk. The most important skills for a book shelver are dewey decimal system, library materials, and front desk.

Library technician vs book shelver overview

	Library Technician	Book Shelver
Yearly salary	$37,757	$43,471
Hourly rate	$18.15	$20.90
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	24,941	186
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	12	12

Library technician vs book shelver salary

Library technicians and book shelvers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Library Technician	Book Shelver
Average salary	$37,757	$43,471
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $48,000	Between $21,000 And $88,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	Syracuse University	-
Best paying industry	Government	-

Differences between library technician and book shelver education

There are a few differences between a library technician and a book shelver in terms of educational background:

	Library Technician	Book Shelver
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Most common major	Business	General Studies
Most common college	New York University	Washington Adventist Hospital

Library technician vs book shelver demographics

Here are the differences between library technicians' and book shelvers' demographics:

	Library Technician	Book Shelver
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 34.1% Female, 65.9%	Male, 44.4% Female, 55.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 5.3% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 14.1% Asian, 7.9% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between library technician and book shelver duties and responsibilities

Library technician example responsibilities.

Cataloge library materials using OCLC to be add to collection, and repair damaged materials.
Process books and serials in Sydney (ILS).
Enter new patron records into the ILS.
Process incoming serials and maintain serial records and archives.
Work with supervisors, coworkers, and patrons to resolve questions and troubleshoot both electronic and physical item requests.
Install, configure, troubleshoot laser scanners, RFID readers and antennas, sensors, detectors, actuators, payment systems.

Book shelver example responsibilities.

Repair books (binding, covers etc ...) before send out.
Provide cataloging services, including indexing, assigning metadata, classification and subject heading application using the standard thesaurus of terms.
Provide cataloging services, including indexing, assigning metadata, classification and subject heading application using the standard thesaurus of terms.

Library technician vs book shelver skills

Common library technician skills

Library Services, 6%
Data Entry, 6%
Circulation Desk, 5%
Customer Service, 5%
Library System, 4%
Library Patrons, 4%

Common book shelver skills

Dewey Decimal System, 37%
Library Materials, 35%
Front Desk, 28%

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Library Technician vs Book Shelver

Updated January 8, 2025

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