Managing Cultural Change in Public Libraries

Managing Cultural Change in Public Libraries
Author: John Pateman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2018-11-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1351784323

Managing Cultural Change in Public Libraries argues that changes to library Strategies and Systems can lead to transformations in library Structures that can, in turn, shape and determine Organisational Culture. Drawing on Management theories, as well as the ideas of Marx and Maslow, the authors present an ambitious Analytical Framework that can be used to better understand, support and enable cultural change in public libraries. The volume argues for radical – but sustainable – transformations in public libraries that require significant changes to Strategies, Structures, Systems and, most importantly, Organisational Culture. These changes will enable Traditional Libraries to reach out beyond their current active patrons to engage with new customer groups and will also enable Traditional Libraries to evolve into Community-Led Libraries, and Community-Led Libraries to become Needs-Based Libraries. Public libraries must be meaningful and relevant to the communities they serve. For this to happen, the authors argue, all sections of the local community must be actively involved in the planning, design, delivery and evaluation of library services. This book demonstrates how to make these changes happen, acting as a blueprint and road map for organisational change and putting ideas into action through a series of case studies. Managing Cultural Change in Public Libraries will be of particular interest to academics and advanced students engaged in the study of library and information science. It should also be essential reading for practitioners and policymakers and all those who believe that communities should be involved and engaged in the planning, design, delivery, and evaluation of library services.

Workplace Culture in Academic Libraries

Workplace Culture in Academic Libraries
Author: Kelly Blessinger
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2013-02-11
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1780633688

Workplace culture refers to conditions that collectively influence the work atmosphere. These can include policies, norms, and unwritten standards for behavior. This book focuses on various aspects of workplace culture in academic libraries from the practitioners' viewpoint, as opposed to that of the theoretician. The book asks the following questions: What conditions contribute to an excellent academic library work environment? What helps to make a particular academic library a great place to work? Articles focus on actual programs while placing the discussion in a scholarly context. The book is structured into 14 chapters, covering various aspects of workplace culture in academic libraries, including: overview of workplace culture, assessment, recruitment, acclimation for new librarians, workforce diversity, physical environment, staff morale, interaction between departments, tenure track/academic culture, mentoring/coaching, generational differences, motivation/incentives, complaints/conflict management, and organizational transparency. - Includes the most current best practices and models in academic libraries - Represents the viewpoints of both the employee and manager - Focuses on the academic library as workplace rather than as a service provider

Bold Minds

Bold Minds
Author: Margaret Weaver
Publisher: Facet Publishing
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2020-11-10
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1783304537

Are librarians and libraries relevant in the 21st century? This is a fundamental question and one that presents differing opinions across the many diverse information sectors. If there is a continuing need for libraries and for librarians, then how do library leaders obtain strategic support when there appears to be a lack of clarity or understanding about the very purpose of libraries at a time when economically, libraries are under pressure to develop new business models and be more commercially focussed? Bold Minds: Library leadership in a time of disruption brings together international leaders who frame many aspects of the current library provision and who carry responsibility for the library models of the future to consider how librarians and libraries can be a driving force in a time of disruptive economic, technological and cultural change. Each chapter critically presents a short leadership provocation regarding libraries and their purpose, encompassing impact, service delivery, collections, staff skills and professional training and assessing what it means for leaders, their sectors and organisations, and how they have developed their personal leadership signature. This book will be invaluable to library and information professionals in a range of public and private sector libraries as well as policy makers in services where libraries are a component. It will also be useful for students, educational establishments, and IT professionals with an information management element to their work.

Public Libraries and Marxism

Public Libraries and Marxism
Author: Joe Pateman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 158
Release: 2021-05-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 100042555X

Public Libraries and Marxism provides a Marxist analytical framework for understanding public libraries and presents a set of proposals for transforming the capitalist libraries of today. Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of this Marxist framework, the authors also provide a critical examination of the history, theory and practice of libraries in the Soviet Union and North Korea. Considering what a Marxist library service would look like in the Western capitalist countries of today, Pateman and Pateman synthesise the insights provided throughout the book into a set of Marxist proposals designed to promote the transformation of contemporary Western public librarianship. These proposals suggest how Western public libraries can change their organisation and practices – their strategies, structures, systems and culture – in order to best serve those with the most needs, particularly as society evolves in response to new challenges. Public Libraries and Marxism will be relevant for scholars and students of library and information science, history, politics and sociology. Outlining the rudiments of a Marxist library service that should be applicable around the world, the book will also appeal to library practitioners who want to develop libraries in a community-led and needs-based direction.

Library Management and Technical Services

Library Management and Technical Services
Author: Jennifer Cargill
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2012-11-12
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1136553398

This exciting volume explores the role of technical services functions and organizational structure as forces in the library change process. It provides practical information to help administrators make decisions about how their libraries are organized and managed. As libraries change in many ways--organizational structure, design of jobs, managerial philosophy, responsibilities of professionals, and the impact of automation--librarians in technical services, administrators, and personnel officers--need guidance in meeting the new challenges in order to continue providing thorough efficient services. Professionals from a variety of library environments address the pertinent issues of automation, personnel matters, education, management techniques, and the role of technical services within the total library community.

Public Library Governance

Public Library Governance
Author: Edward Abbott-Halpin
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2020-09-07
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110533324

Major changes in public libraries throughout the world have led to an increased focus on governance issues. Forging successful futures for public libraries depends on effective governance. This book defines governance and examines its many facets in relation to public library provision internationally, differentiating governance from the policies, processes and practices of public libraries. The perspectives of leaders, practitioners, researchers, decision makers, and service users are presented, offering a variety of views from the past, the present and potential approaches in the future. Decision-making and the roles of decision makers involved in governance are explored. Prominent figures from the public library community throughout the world have contributed their knowledge and experience. Wicked problems facing the public library sector are identified and the varying approaches adopted internationally to deal with them are outlined. There are many practitioner and professional practice issues associated with provision of libraries and views on library usage and delivery vary according to user and practitioner standpoints. Globally diverse content provides directions for the future development of public libraries and for dealing with the emerging challenges facing the library world.

Intellectual Freedom Stories from a Shifting Landscape

Intellectual Freedom Stories from a Shifting Landscape
Author: Valerie Nye
Publisher: American Library Association
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2020-04-21
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0838947352

These stories provide a rich platform for debate and introspection by sharing real-world examples that library staff, administrators, board members, and students can consider and discuss.

Practical and Effective Management of Libraries

Practical and Effective Management of Libraries
Author: Richard Moniz Jr.
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2010-01-20
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1780630239

Aimed at library science students and librarians with newly assigned administrative duties the book is about improving one's thinking and decision making in a role as a library manager. Most librarians get very little exposure to management issues prior to finding themselves in a management role. Furthermore, most library science students do not expect that they will need to understand management yet they quickly find that there is a need to understand this perspective to be effective at almost any library job. Effective library management is about having some tools to make decisions (such as a basic understanding of management theory and how it applies in the library environment, understanding common traps we all fall into, etc.), knowing yourself, being able to motivate others, fostering a diversity (especially within workgroups), being able to communicate effectively, and having an understanding of one's organizational culture. The book touches on all of these aspects of library management. - Provides a concise understanding of theories from management, psychology, etc. and applies them to practical every day library issues - Contains real world cases for considering how theoretical concepts might apply in real library-related situations - Cuts out much of the extraneous material often found in books of this kind and focuses more on what you actually need

The Public Library Service

The Public Library Service
Author: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Section of Public Libraries
Publisher: NBD Biblion Publishers
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2001
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9783598218279

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. It is the global voice of the information profession. The series IFLA Publications deals with many of the means through which libraries, information centres, and information professionals worldwide can formulate their goals, exert their influence as a group, protect their interests, and find solutions to global problems.

Cultural Humility

Cultural Humility
Author: David A. Hurley
Publisher: American Library Association
Total Pages: 57
Release: 2022-08-17
Genre:
ISBN: 083894941X

This accessible and compelling Special Report introduces cultural humility, a lifelong practice that can guide library workers in their day-to-day interactions by helping them recognize and address structural inequities in library services. Cultural humility is emerging as a preferred approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts within librarianship. At a time when library workers are critically examining their professional practices, cultural humility offers a potentially transformative framework of compassionate accountability; it asks us to recognize the limits to our knowledge, reckon with our ongoing fallibility, educate ourselves about the power imbalances in our organizations, and commit to making change. This Special Report introduces the concept and outlines its core tenets. As relevant to those currently studying librarianship as it is to long-time professionals, and applicable across multiple settings including archives and museums, from this book readers will learn why cultural humility offers an ideal approach for navigating the spontaneous interpersonal interactions in libraries, whether between patrons and staff or amongst staff members themselves; understand how it intersects with cultural competence models and critical race theory; see the ways in which cultural humility’s awareness of and commitment to challenging inequitable structures of power can act as a powerful catalyst for community engagement; come to recognize how a culturally humble approach supports DEI work by acknowledging the need for mindfulness in day-to-day interactions; reflect upon cultural humility’s limitations and the criticisms that some have leveled against it; and take away concrete tools for undertaking and continuing such work with patience and hope.