Human Resource in its early years at Sarawak State Library
Staff Strength
Before opening its door to the public on 1st January 2000, initially, the Sarawak State Library had only eleven staff with 1 seconded from Kuching North City Council, 1 appointed by the library, 6 seconded from the Ministry of Environment and Public Health, 1 seconded from the State Planning Unit of the Sarawak Chief Minister's Department and 2 from Sarawak Information Systems Sdn. Bhd. Of the eleven, 7 have librarianship qualifications, 1 was an administrative assistant and 3 were library assistants. Interview for temporary counter service staff was done in December 1999.[1]
Staff Development
Training for the new recruits had to be done internally by the library officers. 2 volunteers, who joined the team in 2000, were school leavers waiting to further their studies. Without enough administrative support, the first few months were quite chaotic. The condition improved when administrative officers and accounting staff reported for duty in the second half of 2000.
[2]After 15 years in operation, most of the staff have enough training to execute their jobs well. Some of them become trainers as they gain experience along the way. Competency-based human resource development was introduced in 2012 with the development of competency dictionary and Job Competency Profile – Personal Competency Profile analysis. Coaching and on-the-job training soon become better options for service-related issues as the library continues its journey.
