In Fall 2009, University of the Pacific's Health Sciences Branch (HSB) Library initiated a reference training program to develop competencies and skills in order to promote a uniform level of reference expertise among its paraprofessional staff. Like many other branch libraries, HSB serves specialized user populations with minimal staffing. At the time of the training, the Sciences Librarian was the only provider of reference services and her presence at HSB varied, based upon her responsibilities to the Main Library, its Reference Desk and other departmental, school, and university-wide committees.