Library Leadership & Management (LL&M) (E-Journal)
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Where Does the Money Go? Creating Transparency in Libraries Operational Budgeting
No full textOperating and personnel budgets encompass the majority of spending in academic libraries, but are often decided with little process or participation. Transparent budget processes for assigning this funding provide the opportunity for widespread clarity and understanding of how budgets are used, and how to acquire funding. The budget model described offers one way to help ensure that every voice in the library has the opportunity to share their ideas for improvements, programs, personnel, and events
Libraries Taking a Lead
No full textAt the April 22nd, 2021, ALA Monthly Webinar meeting led by President Julius Jefferson, we heard several incredible stories about how many US libraries had connected with their local communities to offset the effects of the pandemic. Then, in his Making a Difference article in the May 2021 American Libraries edition, he highlighted the $7.2 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund recently passed by Congress that includes funding for library services related to devices and broadband internet for library patrons. The combination of both underscores what can be accomplished by community libraries, as well as what can potentially be achieved by community library leaders and their teams with this incredible new funding. It’s a once in a generation opportunity not to be wasted
Revisiting Strategy in a Time of Crisis
No full textThe season of upheaval brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic is a critical occasion for libraries to revisit their organizational strategies. Strategy includes two complementary dimensions: alignment with the environment and the pursuit of competitive advantage. Rapid changes in the environment call for practicing strategic thinking iteratively rather than engaging in a fixed rhythm of multi-year planning. An effective library strategy displays four key attributes: (1) It responds to the concerns of diverse stakeholders. (2) It is flexible enough to adapt to emerging conditions. (3) It enacts organizational mission but can also help to reshape it. (4) It integrates with organization development to achieve success with and through people
Library Security: Perceptions of Preparedness
No full textThis article details the results of two parallel surveys sent to the heads of campus security and the libraries at 54 schools within the SUNY system. We undertook this study to determine the extent of collaboration between these groups and to learn where library and security staff perceptions of safety and preparedness differ. The findings indicated that most campuses have emergency response plans in place for the possibility of a high-impact violent event or a human-caused emergency.
However, libraries are less likely to have dedicated emergency plans and report an inconsistent mix of physical security measures and staff safety trainings. Overall, both campus security respondents and library staff members feel safe at work and reasonably prepared for a human-caused emergency. Additionally, campus security consistently rated the libraries as safer and more prepared than the librarians rated themselves, and a gap exists in perceptions of the frequency and usefulness of collaborations between the two. Security consistently answered that they are closely involved with library trainings and safety measures, while the librarians’ responses ranged from no contact with security to praise for existing collaborations and a desire for more
Mentoring Experience of Academic Librarians: A Pilot Study of Mentorship in Academic Libraries
No full textLibrarians have embraced the critical role mentoring can play in the professional growth, socialization and leadership development for academic libraries. The author sought to understand mentoring experiences in career and professional development and psychosocial functions as well as barriers to entering mentoring relationships in New England academic libraries. Surveys sent to academic librarians at Association of College and Research Libraries/New England Chapter News Group invited them to share their experiences with mentoring relationships and its benefits. The study suggests that few structured formal mentoring programs from their own libraries exist for librarians outside of professional associations’ mentoring programs. Additionally, results suggest that the mentoring program antecedents of library organizational culture, prior positive mentoring experience are the main influencing factors for successful implementation of mentoring programs
Exploring Internal Communication in Public Libraries: Challenges and Opportunities for Library Leaders
No full textEffective internal communication is essential to library staff being able to fulfill their duties, work together as a cohesive unit, and carry out the library’s mission. However, there is often a lack of coordinated focus on clear internal communication that includes all staff members in libraries. This can create environments where there is disconnect among staff and library departments leading to rumor mills and lowering morale. This exploratory study looked at the current state of internal library communications in public libraries and ideas to improve internal communications. Library leadership has the potential to create environments and cultures where internal communication is effective and supports library staff, their work, and the effective functioning of the library as a whole
Too Many Spoons: Library Workers and Disabilities
No full textA desk attendant gestures in my direction where I am waiting for an interview at a library on campus. I am nervous. My hand is shaking over my assistive device.
Beside the desk attendant stands an impeccably dressed, tall woman who adjusts her glasses. “Where is she sitting?”
“There, near the gray couches,” the desk attendant answers. She leans over and says, “It’s that person with the assistive device,” as if she’s trying not to out me as a leper.
Any person with a disability reading this who has applied for jobs and gone on interviews has experienced some version of the above exchange. You arrive for an interview, something you feel fortunate for, and think for a split second “They want me! I could be hired here!” Only once you get there, staff members look you over, silently deciding for themselves how much your disability limits what you can and can’t do, walking too quickly and expecting you to keep up, and worst of all, making judgments without speaking to you. The above experience has happened to me at academic libraries, public libraries, and other institutions
A Good Jobs Strategy for Libraries
No full textIn the 2014 book "The Good Jobs Strategy" management and organizational theory scholar Zeynep Ton identifies a set of key issues in job design, operational models, and staffing that enable organizations to both create good jobs and, as a result, deliver better products and services. Written primarily about retail, the key concepts in the framework relating to building teams, defining services, and supporting and empowering staff are also relevant to library organizations. Ton’s framework focuses on four principles; offer less, standardize and empower, cross-train, and operate with slack, each of which are relevant to varying degrees to library and archives organization contexts. This essay brings together points from the framework and connects them to issues in library management and organizational theory literature to explore the extent to which issues in the framework connect with issues facing libraries. The paper ends with recommendations for how libraries can similarly benefit from implementing a good jobs strategy that both supports library workers and enables better functions for our organizations
Write Now! Managing Change and Increasing Research in an Academic Library
No full textNew and innovative technologies have expanded librarian roles and expertise to include virtual learning, chat reference, online research guides, maker spaces, virtual reality, and more. Change is a consistent part of working in any library, and effectively managing change often has a learning curve for library administrators. Change Management theory is popular amongst business leaders, but could these theories work in libraries as well?
In 2017, Library Administration at Marriott Library designed a Change Management program based on the theories of Todd Jick, a nationally-recognized expert in organizational change management. Their goal was to increase the overall amount of scholarly research publications and creative products librarian faculty completed each year.
The authors conducted a multi-year research project, hypothesizing that by implementing Jick’s framework, librarian faculty would create more scholarly work. Data was collected from faculty’s self-reported research profiles, survey feedback from research retreats and workshops, and web traffic from staff intranet pages. An analysis of the results indicated a steady increase in research and scholarly output, and an overall positive response to the research change program
Leading Others To Lead: The Importance Of Staff Empowerment In Times Of Change
No full textChange management can be one of the most difficult aspects of library leadership with well-known issues and challenges, such as inertia, fear, and resistance to change. However, by embracing change management as a long-term program for building trust, communication, and empowerment of staff, library leaders can create environments where change not only happens but is embraced by all levels of the library hierarchy. In this article, the authors share their work and research as part of a library staff empowered by their library dean to guide the formation and piloting of public service model changes due to the planning of a new library building. Library leaders can use these insights as they work with their staff to implement change at their libraries