Library technician vs circulation technician

The differences between library technicians and circulation technicians 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 circulation technician. Additionally, a library technician has an average salary of $37,757, which is higher than the $24,904 average annual salary of a circulation technician.

The top three skills for a library technician include library services, data entry and circulation desk. The most important skills for a circulation technician are customer service, student assistants, and front desk.

Library technician vs circulation technician overview

	Library Technician	Circulation Technician
Yearly salary	$37,757	$24,904
Hourly rate	$18.15	$11.97
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	24,941	5,355
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	12	12

Library technician vs circulation technician salary

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

	Library Technician	Circulation Technician
Average salary	$37,757	$24,904
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $48,000	Between $19,000 And $32,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	Syracuse University	-
Best paying industry	Government	-

Differences between library technician and circulation technician education

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

	Library Technician	Circulation Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	English
Most common college	New York University	Duke University

Library technician vs circulation technician demographics

Here are the differences between library technicians' and circulation technicians' demographics:

	Library Technician	Circulation Technician
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 34.1% Female, 65.9%	Male, 46.2% Female, 53.8%
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, 9.6% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 14.8% Asian, 4.8% White, 64.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between library technician and circulation technician 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.

Circulation technician example responsibilities.

Provide cataloging services, including indexing, assigning metadata, classification and subject heading application using the standard thesaurus of terms.
Develop library collection materials for young adults including award-winning non-fiction and fiction titles.

Library technician vs circulation technician skills

Common library technician skills

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

Common circulation technician skills

Customer Service, 58%
Student Assistants, 17%
Front Desk, 14%
Library Cards, 12%

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Library Technician vs Circulation Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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