Library Management

The Librarian as a Manager

•Managerial roles and functions•Social responsibility and managerial ethics

•Decision making•Professional branding

Signs of a successful library

•Many people use it•Attractive and welcoming•Sufficient books processed and ready to use•Well organized and administered•An increasing number of books are issued•Users accepts the library

Managerial Roles

• Advocate Act as lawyer when they deal with the issue

relating to law such as copyright law, intellectual property right.

Communicate news about the library through newsletters, web sites and memos to parents and staff

Update users, staff and faculty on what is happening in the library and to promote library activities and special projects

• Consortia Manager Responsible for coordinating and overseeing

consortium operations, including strategic planning, systems development and project management

Facilitating communication among the participating libraries

Consortium's representative with vendors for contracted products and services (technical librarian)

• Consultant They advice to solve problems Recommends both the best sources of

information and ways in which to access information

This is a consultancy role which deserves recognition

Skills (knowledge on the collection and interpersonal communication skills) need to be developed to a high level in order to achieve the librarian as consultant role

• Content Manager Knowledgeable about the transformation of the

traditional to modernize type of collections

• Facilitator Ensure that user and/or staff knows how to access

relevant sources of information

• Guide/Teacher Provide guidance to their user community with

Information literacy program Information literacy is the ability to access and evaluate

information that promotes both independent learning and social responsibility

Users must know how to plan, locate and retrieve information– aim of this role

More specified to teacher-librarians

• Intermediary "A person or mechanism placed physically between IR

(Information Retrieval) systems and actual user with the purpose to transform interactively requests for information to query formulations that suit the retrieval components of one or several IR systems, to model and support the actual user as to his information need and underlying goals and to provide information of potential value to that user from IR systems“– Peter Ingwersen

Users Librarian Information

• Knowledge Manager Effectively participate in the process of knowledge

creation which includes mechanisms for knowledge capture, exploitation and protection besides in required infrastructure creation by the virtue of capabilities gained as Information Managers of the organization Librarians, in future, would move from the background to the center of the organization

• Researcher They are highly skilled in the research process and

possess a unique knowledge of both the breadth and depth of information resources in various subject specialties

By facilitating access to nascent information in the way to finding it, analyzing, synthesizing and packaging the LIS professionals would move to the beginning of the information production cycle, playing a more substantial role in the information creation process

• Sifter "software programs to extract unknown, valid and

actionable patterns, associations, changes, anomalies and rules from large databases“– data mining

The term "sifter" may be used for the skilled librarian who helps users make sense and order of the resources

Raw Information Librarian Produced Information

On this role, it seems that the librarian is the catalyst to produce or extract the unknown information to a valid information.

• Web designer Librarian create a web page to deliver information

about the library and its services like hours of service, location of services, details of library staff, library policies, an interface to the library Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC), etc.

Managerial Functions

Planning• Planning includes articulating clearly the

objectives to be achieved/decision making, determining the resources required to reach these objectives, preparing budgets and timelines and prioritizing tasks

• Help ensure correct alignment between organizational priorities, staff concerns and clients or user needs

Organizing• Required to ensure resources such as staff,

equipment, appropriate training or materials are made available when required in order to achieve the objectives of any plan

• Putting plans into effect

Leading• This includes and motivating staff, mentoring

individuals, modeling appropriate behaviors and creating the right environment for the development of individual potential

• It is also important to organize-well an organization

• Consistency of a leader is important to know who’s the one will obey

Controlling• To ensure that progress towards the desired goals

proceeds as expected• Requires the establishment of proper procedures,

milestones and standards• Applies to areas such as ensuring legislations,

procedures and practices are adhered to; quality standards and timelines are monitored and work practices properly documented

• Too much controlling will affects the motivation of the staff

BudgetingTypes of budget

Line-item budget Lump sum budget Formula budget Program budgeting Performance budgeting Planning, Programming Budgeting System Zero-based Budget

Management levels

Top Management

Middle Managers

First-line Managers

Social Responsibilities and Managerial Ethics

The responsibility of a library is to provide free and censored information.

Libraries should anticipate social needs and try to solve them.

Figure above shows the two extremes that a library should demonstrate.

Library’s issues of social responsibility are:

• Equal opportunity of service• The facility• Researcher’s concern• Librarians (subordinates) safety and welfare

A manager should know:

• Their responsibility toward human rights and information freedom

• Codes of conduct Do not use child or forced labor Provide a safe working environment Respect workers’ right and unionize Do not regularly require more than 48-hour work

weeks Pay wages sufficient to meet workers’ basic needs

Values concerning on the Social Responsibility

Wenstop and Myrmel (2006: 679) suggest that three kinds of values exist in organizations:

• core values—such as integrity, honesty, respect• protected values—such as health, environment,

safety, rights• created values—such as return on investment,

quality, image, citizenship.

How Managers Can Improve Ethical Behavior in an Organization

• Hire individuals with high ethical standards.• Establish codes of ethics and decision rules.• Lead by example.• Delineate job goals and performance appraisal

mechanisms.• Provide ethics training.• Conduct independent social audits.• Provide support for individuals facing ethical

dilemmas.

Decision Making

Individual

Four main approaches that are relevant to managers

• Utilitarian approach From the word ‘utilitarian’ means useful/practical.

It is the ethical concept that moral behaviors produce the greatest good for the greatest number.

Organization

• Individualism approach The ethical concept that acts are moral when they

promote the individual’s best long-term interests, which ultimately leads to the greater good. Individual self-direction is paramount or overriding, and external forces that restrict self-direction should be severely limited.

Organization Individual

• Moral rights approach The ethical concept that moral decisions are those

that best maintain the rights of those people affected by them.

Organization Individual

Six moral rights should be considered during decision making

1. The right of free consent. 2. The right to privacy.3. The right of freedom of conscience.4. The right of free speech. 5. The right to due process.6. The right to life and safety.

• Justice approach

The ethical concept that moral decisions must be based on standards of equity, fairness, and impartiality.

Distributive justiceProcedural justiceCompensatory justice

• Distributive justiceThe concept that different treatment of

people should not be based on arbitrary characteristics. In the case of substantive differences, people should be treated differently in proportion to the differences among them.

• Procedural justiceThe concept that rules should be clearly

stated and consistently and impartially enforced.

• Compensatory justiceThe concept that individuals should be

compensated for the cost of their injuries by the responsible party and that individuals should not be held responsible for matters over which they have no control.

Remember! “Managers bring specific personality and

behavioral traits to the job. Personal needs, family influence, and religious background all shape a manager’s value system. Specific personality characteristics, such as ego strength, self-confidence, and a strong sense of independence, may enable managers to make ethical decisions.”

Decision Making Process

1. Define the problem.2. Identify limiting factors.3. Develop potential alternatives.4. Analyze the alternatives.5. Select the best alternative.6. Implement the decision.7. Establish a control and evaluation system

Professional Branding

Ten ways to brand your profession

1. Become an expert source.2. Become a great communicator.3. Draft a marketing plan for yourself annually,

and review it quarterly.4. Develop an ‘elevator speech.”5. Build your Rolodex.6. Realize that your boss can be your most

powerful ally—or enemy—in building your brand.

7. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.

8. Become a class act.9. Select “significant” significant others.10.Give something back.

Remember!Your professional brand is one of your

asset in your workplace. If a MLIS or DLIS degreed librarian would show a good professional branding, they could create a good subordinates-top managers relationship.

Prepared by: Johny A. Prudencio (II-BLIS)

Library Management