Library Management TIPS THAT WORK is an anthology for public, academic, special, and school librarians looking for successful examples of management when so much is changing in the profession: how to manage staff, time, boards, emergencies, finances, stress, patrons, technology, and related topics day after day with budget and staff cuts. It provides guidance on planning as well as execution. Managers are sometimes defined as those who bring out the best in others; in the library it is a term not limited to directors but includes youth services coordinators, reader advisors, web administrators, and circulation heads, any of whom could be in small rural libraries or large urban settings. This collection is for beginners as well as old hands, and for solo librarians and those part of a large staff. It includes chapters centered on practical results by librarians making hard choices to provide the best service, whether that be one of the library’s many specialized services or activities more commonly associated with library directors.
Management is central to good libraries, no matter the type of library or the librarian’s position title and roles, but it is largely learn-as-you-go, as expressed by the librarians who generously share their experiences in this volume. You may have had management classes, read books on management style, and attended workshops and webinars filled with well-designed organization charts, but these chapters will provide valuable insight on how influential managers really are—and on what they can do to make that influence work for the library and its patrons.
For this collection, I sought chapters from practicing public, school, academic, and special librarians from different areas in the country. I asked contributors to write concise, how-to case studies of successful managers employing innovation. Some suggested topics in the call were staff flex hours, financial planning, administrative skills, public relations, time management, library boards, partnering, library manuals, professional ethics, innovative technology, handling employees, and volunteers.
It was my privilege to work with the librarians willing to share their experiences. These dedicated and creative professionals illustrate many facets of what makes an effective library manager—what really works in these challenging times.
Carol Smallwood