Starting, Managing and Promoting the Small Library

Robert Berk

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781315491394
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Ciencias sociales
• Subtopic: Sociología

A guide to the establishment of the library which covers materials acquisition, the organization and usage of the library's collection to provide a variety of services and the use of automation. This book aims to instruct the librarian on managing the small library effectively.

1 Starting a Library

One of the major functions of the librarian who is planning to bring library service to a group of potential users is to secure support for the concept of library service. Achieving this support for a proposed library, especially a very small one, may be difficult because the lack of library personnel will limit the extent to which reference service can be planned for the new facility. Support for a proposed library must first come from the top management of the business, organization, or institution in which the library is to function and whose goals the library will attempt to achieve. However, it is unlikely that everyone in the higher decision-making positions of the organization will see the need for the creation of a library. The attitude encountered may be, "We haven't had a library up until now and we have done very well without one." Even a one-person library that is capable of providing well-designed information services is an expensive undertaking if it is to be done right, and the would-be librarian may have a hard time convincing a reluctant manager that such a capital outlay is really in the best interests of the organization. Since creation of the library may well be dependent upon overcoming resistance, developing strategies aimed at convincing management of the need for library services is the responsibility of the librarian.

Demonstrating a need for library service

A number of arguments favor the establishment of library services for virtually any type of modern day endeavor. An unemployed librarian might start by trying to convince the top management of a local company that a library is needed if that company is to prosper, with the desired outcome being that the librarian would be hired to create that library and to begin meeting the information needs of the organization's employees. A useful strategy in this instance would be to document the number of firms or organizations with similar interests who have already established library services. The hardest fact to demonstrate, but undoubtedly the most relevant, is how the establishment of a library will aid in the attainment of organizational goals. In the business world it is necessary to demonstrate how library services influence organizational profits. Although profit is not important to all types of small libraries, in organizations where profits are important, everything, including the provision of library services, must be viewed relative to this goal. Directories such as the one by Darnay for special libraries and information centers may be useful for gaining a picture of current library development in a given area of specialization as well as for providing a wealth of additional information.

A potentially strong means for demonstrating the need for library service would be to show past situations in which information needs went unmet and how these unmet needs adversely affected the attainment of the organization's goals. Perhaps a contract was lost because of a bid that was too high based on lack of information or the use of inaccurate information. An examination of the company's internal documents and interviews with key personnel may identify such incidents. If adverse situations can be identified, it becomes the job of the librarian to suggest how a library might have overcome such critical incidents by providing information in an accurate and timely fashion.

Another important role for the librarian to play in promoting the establishment of a library is that of change agent. A change agent is one who plans an active campaign to persuade others to accept an idea or product, or to begin using certain products or services. Some change agents may only provide pertinent information while others actually perform demonstrations and offer trial uses, but the end goal of every change agent's efforts is the adoption or use of a particular product, service, or idea. All individuals in sales are change agents, and this is exactly what the individual hoping to establish a library must be. In order to do so, the librarian must first demonstrate a thorough knowledge of what is needed. By talking with individuals on a one-to-one basis, the librarian can begin to gain support for the library concept.

Individuals in key positions within the organization must be identified for the change agent's campaign. Those in charge of personnel, those in positions where long-range planning is most important, and those in roles where budgeting and other organizational decisions are made are potential heavy users of library services. The librarian should concentrate on persuading people in these and similar positions. Some of those targeted might include the president of the organization, the vice-president, head of research and development, head of marketing, head of personnel, and head of laboratory facilities.

The librarian may not be able to garner much of the valuable time of these people, so face-to-face contacts may be limited to only one or two visits. The librarian must be well prepared to make both formal and informal presentations, often with little advance warning, in order to convince such individuals that library services are well worth their consideration. Larger formal presentations may be useful when they are made to decision makers, but the interaction of the librarian as a change agent on a one-to-one basis will usually provide the answers to individual questions and be most instrumental in persuading key staff members to accept the proposed library.

With the support of top management and other key decision makers within the organization, the result is likely to be "go ahead." Ideally, this will lead to the employment of the change agent as the new company librarian.

Identifying users’ needs

It is possible, but certainly not preferable, for the librarian to remain isolated while planning information services. A better approach is to actively involve potential users in planning for information services that will be most appropriate in meeting their individual needs. Once library services become available, potential users must be encouraged to use these services. This may be difficult if users have had no say about the services to be offered.

Hierarchically speaking, the universe of information services consists of all potential information sources and services, all potential information sources and services that the user is aware of, all sources and services to which the user has access, and all sources and services that the user actually uses. Each of the lower levels is a subset of the level above it. It is true that many individuals really have little idea of what services are available or possible. Because of this, one might decide to exclude potential users from the planning process. This would be a mistake, because even if their knowledge is limited in this area, their involvement provides the librarian with an opportunity to expand their awareness of information products and services.

The process used to determine what sources and services potential users of the library are already aware of, which ones they currently utilize, and which others they would like to see included in their library is called a user study. It is the responsibility of the librarian to be aware of the existence of all potentially useful sources and services. This knowledge can be used to provide a "shopping list" of available sources and services as part of the user study to aid potential users in their selection. How can the librarian become familiar with all of the potentially useful sources and services? This is part of the basic education for librarianship, and a variety of sources can be used in compiling the shopping list. Vendors of bibliographic search services publish reference manuals and newsletters detailing system capabilities, database availability, etc. DIALOG Information Services, for example, publishes Chronolog and BRS Information Technologies issues a Bulletin. Both are monthly newsletters designed to keep librarians informed. Library journals for each special field will provide information on services being developed and tested by other librarians serving similar user groups. For example, the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association will aid hospital librarians, the Law Library Journal legal librarians, the American Theological Library Association Newsletter theological librarians, the Music Library Association Newsletter music librarians, and so on. Specialized library publications provide insights into sources and services that might be adapted to any small library. One should become familiar with titles such as Special Libraries, Advanced Technologies/ Libraries, Database, Library Hi Tech, Online, The Reference Librarian, RQ, and Science & Technology Libraries, to name a few.

Other sources of information might include various literature guides and monographs describing information sources and services for a particular field or for special or small libraries in general. Roper's Introduction to Reference Sources in the Health Sciences is helpful for health sciences librarians as are the volumes of the latest edition of the Handbook of Medical Library Practice, the monograph on Hospital Library Management, and the British work, Hospital Libraries and Work with Disabled in the Community. General works to consult would include Special Libraries: A Guide for Management published by the Special Libraries Association, the Jackson compilation of published readings on special librarianship, the Aluri and Robinson Guide to U.S. Government Scientific and Technical Resources, and Subramanyam's Scientific and Technical Information Resources. Lancaster's Measurement and Evaluation of Library Services includes a chapter entitled "The range and scope of library services" that could also prove useful.

Librarians should be alert to specific user needs that might trigger the development of a new or previously unused information source or service. Many information services have been designed because an imaginative librarian was faced with the need to provide information different from ...