Serials assistant vs circulation clerk

The differences between serials assistants and circulation clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a serials assistant has an average salary of $36,172, which is higher than the $24,325 average annual salary of a circulation clerk.

The top three skills for a serials assistant include OCLC, newspapers and library materials. The most important skills for a circulation clerk are customer service, patron accounts, and library materials.

Serials assistant vs circulation clerk overview

	Serials Assistant	Circulation Clerk
Yearly salary	$36,172	$24,325
Hourly rate	$17.39	$11.69
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	543	66,736
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	-	-

Serials assistant vs circulation clerk salary

Serials assistants and circulation clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Serials Assistant	Circulation Clerk
Average salary	$36,172	$24,325
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $63,000	Between $19,000 And $30,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between serials assistant and circulation clerk education

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

	Serials Assistant	Circulation Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Psychology	Business
Most common college	University of Maryland - College Park	Stanford University

Serials assistant vs circulation clerk demographics

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

	Serials Assistant	Circulation Clerk
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 30.8% Female, 69.2%	Male, 23.0% Female, 77.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 5.9% White, 64.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black 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%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between serials assistant and circulation clerk duties and responsibilities

Serials assistant example responsibilities.

Edit MARC records for serials.
Process newspapers, magazines, and journals using SirsiDynix.
Shelve periodicals and newspapers in the periodical area and keep the area tidy.
Spearhead creation of a share document listing recurring names and terminology to facilitate consistent taxonomy across the cataloging team.
Assess and discard non-fiction collections as assigned.

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.

Serials assistant vs circulation clerk skills

Common serials assistant skills

OCLC, 30%
Newspapers, 19%
Library Materials, 16%
Cataloging, 12%
Marc, 11%
Library System, 10%

Common circulation clerk skills

Customer Service, 18%
Patron Accounts, 18%
Library Materials, 15%
Circulation Desk, 6%
Library Patrons, 4%
Issue Library Cards, 3%