The allocation of staff: time to the reference desk is one of the mast impo
rtant library personnel issues. Staffing level decisions should be based up
on the workload at a particular time. If the reference desk keeps records a
bout the amount and type of assistance provided to patrons by time of day,
then it is possible to statistically analyze the time-of-day usage to disco
ver periods of significantly light and heavy usage. Here we provide an exam
ple of how statistics can be applied to make these decisions.