A structured questionnaire was mailed to the directors (n=124) of all of the academic libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to obtain information on the status of participative management for support staff groups in major research libraries. Thirty of the 69 library administrators responding to the survey report that their libraries have Support Staff Councils. The majority of these councils are advisory only. Some of the councils are able to make decisions concerning issues that pertain to support staff, e.g., benefits, awards, work procedures, etc. Members on the council are usually elected by their peers. In some instances the members can be appointed to the council by the chair of the council. The majority of these members serve a 2-year term, and members are replaced in a staggered fashion. The libraries that do not have Support Staff Councils indicate that there are other means for the support staff to convey their ideas and opinions. Interestingly, the libraries without councils viewed the Support Staff Councils as a form of a union, yet they did have a council for the professionals. Surprisingly, only half of the academic research libraries responding to the survey are fully automated. A copy of the survey instrument is appended. (31 references) (Author/MAB)