However, there still remained tasks which library professionals alone could take on such as conducting research for scholarly publications and communication; writing grant proposals; dealing with licensing and copyright issues and developing and preserving collections. Overall, the findings of the article suggested that "the role of paraprofessionals had been diminishing because more job duties required the broader background and greater expertise of professionals" and job prospects were shrinking (Zhu 2012). Existing paraprofessionals were taking on more tasks, which required them to have higher-level skills and more education, but there were frequent complaints that this did not result in enhanced prospects for promotion or higher salaries. For a young, aspiring professional reading this article, it is likely that he or she would seriously...

Paraprofessionals are doing more work for less money and their jobs are in greater jeopardy while the opportunities for fully fledged professionals are growing. Thus, there has been a substantial reversal in the previous trend to use more paraprofessionals, thanks to the increased technological complexity of library science. For aspiring paraprofessionals, this article is a 'must read,' given that it offers a timely portrait of the library profession, as seen from a ground's eye view. Many of the common assumptions about the utility of paraprofessionals have undergone a dramatic shift in recent years.
Reference

Zhu, L. (2012). The role of paraprofessionals in technical services in academic libraries. Library…