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–Unit 3
Library Management Episode 1:
Academic Libraries

Chapter 10 – An Overview of Academic Library Management

10.1 The Academic Library
10.2 The Academic Librarian
10.3 Organization Culture in an Academic Environment
10.4 Problems Faced by Academic Librarians

Chapter 11 – Management in Academic Libraries: Definition and Description of

Management Functions
11.1 Management for Academic Libraries Defined
11.2 Planning
11.3 Organizing
11.4 Staffing
11.5 Directing, Controlling, and Coordinating
11.6 Budgeting
11.7 Communicating and Reporting

Chapter 12 – Administration of Academic Libraries

12.1 Management Issues
12.2 Functions and Objectives
12.3 Collection
12.4 Services and Use
12.5 Cooperation
12.6 Staffing and Personnel
12.7 Evaluation
12.8 Finance and Budget
12.9 Facilities and Library Automation
12.10 Marketing and Public Relations
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Chapter 10 – An Overview of Academic Library Management

10.1 The Academic Library
The academic library is an institution within an academic parent institution – the college or the university.
Its primary purpose is to support the teaching, research, and extension services functions of the university.
In managing the academic library, the approach is dictated by many factors like
 size of the user population (faculty, students, researchers, administration, and staff)
 thrust of the parent institution (college or university)
 funding
 presence of a library committee
 position of the librarian in the organization and the duties and responsibilities given to him/her,
and so on.
The academic library should have a vision, as well as clear and concise objectives that are in line with the
mission and vision of the parent institution. It must be customer/client-based. Also, it must have concern for its staff.
The academic library must be efficient. The imaginative use of information and communications
technology (ICT) must be possessed. The academic library must also have good public relations and should market
its services.
The academic library must not be hesitant to implement necessary changes. It must be designed for
continual flexibility. First class service must be provided by these institutions.

10.2 The Academic Librarian

An academic librarian’s success is determined by his/her control of the library’s resources and services. The
job of a college or university librarian is highly political in nature because there is a need to be in touch with the
members of the community to promote library service and obtain support from the faculty. However, she must never
try to influence academic decisions in areas outside the library so that she is never perceived as a threat.

10.3 Organization Culture in an Academic Environment

The parent institution of an academic library may be a small college or a large university. These can be
single site or multi-site, and can either be government or private.
It is important for the library to keep in constant touch with its parent institution and determine its
objectives based on the parent institution’s mission, vision, and goals. For example, large university libraries are
usually more oriented to research than teaching. The library therefore provides information service to support
research activities. Undergraduate universities on the other hand are focused on teaching; thus, the library functions
as a book resource.
Today, academic libraries have no monopoly on information resources and services and must compete with
other sources of information for funds and services. Academic libraries, especially university libraries operate in a
political environment. Academic support is crucial for their success. The librarian must be seen to be exercising
legitimate authority within the framework of governance within the university.
In most academic settings, the library committee forms the central matrix for this relationship. Library
committees however, must not be controlling bodies, but advisory bodies. There is need for a good relationship
between the librarian and the chair of the committee. The committee is a legitimizing body for policies, rules, and
regulations, but the librarian must see to it that she has control over the minutes. It is very important for the librarian
to secure the minutes by any means.
In academic settings, certain questions are asked, such as:
 To whom is the librarian directly responsible?
 Who chooses library staff?
 Who controls the budget?
 Who represents the staff outside the institution?
The librarian needs control over all of these areas for effective management.
Threats in relationships with the academic community include influencing academic decisions in areas
outside the library, and indifference of the faculty, in action of the chief librarian. The chief librarian must act as
leader for his/her staff and library matters. It is crucial for him/her to be identified with the library. He/She must
display good judgment over organizational and professional matters, and must take risks when necessary. In most
academic settings, the chief librarian must be able to relate well with the board of trustees, the president, the library
committee, the dean, the faculty, the students, and the finance officer. If relationship with these people is not good,
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the librarian will find himself/herself members of groups such as the school forum, the administrative council, or the
curriculum committee among others, and will be appointed to represent the library outside the institution.
10.4 Problems Faced by Academic Librarians
The main problem facing academic libraries is their inability to maintain their acquisitions and services at
previous levels due to:
 budget cuts and inflation
 staff cuts and competencies
 more resource allocations for ICT than acquisitions
 inadequate space
 absence of a strategic development plan
 low image of librarians as compared with the faculty, which might be the reason for lack of
cooperation of faculty
 administration’s lack of knowledge and appreciation about the importance of the library to
education

Chapter 11 – Management in Academic Libraries: Definition and Description

of Management Functions
11.1 Management for Academic Libraries Defined
In general, management is the act or skill of transforming resources (collection, staff, finances, etc.) into
output to accomplish desired result or objective. This implies that head librarians and/or section heads must be able
to influence the achievement of objectives by means of a number of management functions such as planning,
organizing, staffing, controlling or directing, coordinating, reporting, budgeting, and communicating.

11.2 Planning
Planning establishes goals, and develops policies, procedures, and programs to achieve them. It is the
process of getting an organization to where it is to where it wants to be in a given period of time by setting it on a
pre-determined course of action.
Planning is working out in the broad outline of things that must be done and the methods of doing them in
order to accomplish the organizational purposes.
The construction of a strategic development plan with a long term vision and a short-term plan is also
involved. The plan will set out the aims and objectives of the organization and decide where the library would want
to be in certain time and indicate how to get there through various activities. Targets and performance measure for
each activity must be set.

11.3 Organizing
Organizing is grouping activities and establishing organizational structures and procedures to ensure that
activities are performed. It is the process by which the manager brings order out of chaos, removes conflicts between
people over work or responsibility, and establishes an environment suitable for teamwork.
Organizing ensures the establishment of the formal structure of authority through which work subdivisions
are arranged, defined, and coordinated for the defined objectives. Organically oriented systems/organizations are
where authority and power are delegated and dispersed. Collaboration and consultation are emphasized, and the
organizational chart features a wide span of control.

11.4 Staffing
Staffing is the process of obtaining and training personnel to work in the organization in order to achieve
goals and objectives. This is the whole personnel function of bringing in and training the staff and maintaining
favorable conditions of work.

11.5 Directing, Controlling, and Coordinating

Controlling and directing are functions that measure performance against goals and objectives, and
developing procedures for adjusting goals, procedures, or activities. They involve the use of measurements or
controls like established standards, performance measures, and corrections for deviations.
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The control of an undertaking consists of seeing that everything is being carried out in accordance with the
plan that has been adopted, the orders which have been given, and the principles which have been laid down. The
primal object is to point out mistakes in order that they may be rectified and prevented from occurring again.
In academic libraries, control is exercised by such regulatory groups like the board of trustees, chancellor,
president, dean, faculty, library committee, and students. Internal control rests with management/administration and
line supervisors within the library. Outside groups are also included in control such as accrediting associations who
set library standards and certification of libraries and librarians, friends of the library group, and certain laws that
regulate the practice of librarianship.
Coordinating is the all-important duty of interrelating the various parts of the system. The central key to
this process is communication.

11.6 Budgeting
Budgeting is what encompasses fiscal planning, accounting, and control. It is the primary means by which
formulated plans can be carried out.
Several techniques can be considered in budgeting. However, academic libraries must follow the budget
cycle and the budgeting scheme of the parent institution. Finances must not only be based on the allotment of the
parent institution alone, but the library must find other ways of securing funds and securing them in an account that
will be used for library operations.
The final outcome of budgeting is accounting and reporting. Outputs include monthly income statement or
balance sheet and formal written reports.

11.7 Communicating and Reporting

Communication is basically the transfer of information on goals, objectives, and performance to personnel
throughout the organization and the environment. Communication may be horizontal, diagonal, as well as vertical. It
consists more of advice, information, and suggestion than direct orders.
Reporting keeps the executives informed through records, research, and inspection. It can be formal
(written with detailed statistical reports) or informal (through staff meetings, memos, and so on). The report is a
means of selling the library to the officials of the university and to the students to gain support and maintain the
level of activity and funding or develop new programs.

Chapter 12 – Administration of Academic Libraries

12.1 Management Issues
Efficient and effective management of academic libraries is affected by several factors like
 administration of the library – functions and objectives
 collections
 services and use
 cooperation
 staffing and personnel
 evaluation
 finance and budget
 physical facilities
 automation and information technology
 marketing and public relations

12.2 Functions and Objectives

Several factors affect functions and objectives in managing academic libraries. These include:
 size and configuration of the parent institution (small, medium, large, single site, multi-site, etc.)
 policies on staff selection, retention, termination, training, and so on
 funding (source of funds, procedures for payment, budget transfer, policies for money earned by
the library, etc.)
 policies on selection on content
 role of the librarian and authority to which he/she reports
 attitude of officials, faculty, and students toward the library
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 presence of a library board/committee or any other similar group and its role
 relationship with administration
 technical services versus direct service to users

12.3 Collection
Since financial resource is finite in academic libraries, academic librarians have to make decisions
regarding the collection. The collection must be guided by the nature of the academic library and the mission and
vision of the parent institution. Some issues related to content are:
 collection versus services
 librarian or faculty selection
 print or online
 balance between books and journals (60:40 or 40:60)
 balance between acquisition and preservation (should binding be less than twenty percent (20%)
of combined acquisition and preservation expenditures?)
 preservation or weeding
 completeness versus resource sharing
 security
 collection development policies
 involvement of the faculty and the students in the selection of materials

12.4 Services and Use

The idea of service is essential to identify the right objectives. The academic library ideally is
customer/client-based, concerned with and for its staff, efficient in its use of resources, imaginative in its use of
technology, well managed, and visibly and demonstrably a first class service.
Services in an academic library include cataloging and classification, circulation and reserve, serials
management, and reference service to external users.
Several issues concerning different areas in library use and services must be taken onto account.
1. Cataloging and classification
 manual versus automated
 use of online facilities
 usability
 in-house creation
 quality control
 access
 presentation
2. Reference and information services
 limitation to own stock versus resource sharing
 document delivery service (DDS)
 inter-library loan (ILL)
 level of service
3. Circulation and reserve
 lending policy (category of use, lending time, number of maximum loans)
 retention of stock
 manual versus automated
 user interface
4. Services to external users
 size of stock
 existence of a memorandum of agreement (MOA)
 size of the library
12.5 Cooperation
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Because of the increase in the availability of publications, libraries cannot purchase everything in the
market. Instead, they must have policies on which materials must be available from the stock and which ones may
be borrowed from other libraries if they are members of consortia.
Certain issues exist in cooperation of libraries. They include
 cooperative versus decentralized acquisition
 electronic transmission
 ILL versus DSS
 cost
 nature an specifications in the MOA
 gift and exchange policies

12.6 Staffing and Personnel

Management of staff is a function of management style adopted by the chief librarian. In times of austerity
measures, management styles become more and more autocratic because of the need for control of resources. One
type of authoritative style of management is benevolent management . This is characterized by a tall and narrow
organization with centralized decision-making but with acknowledgement of the experience of senior professionals
who participate in forward planning. Other styles are consultative and participative.
It is important for an academic librarian to have obtained in an academic discipline followed by a
postgraduate degree in librarianship.
Issues concerning staffing and personnel management include:
 management style
 functional structure
 recruitment
 promotion
 performance evaluation
 job rotation
 job and management training
 stress
 implications of automation
 impacts of laws regulating the practice of librarianship
12.7 Evaluation
The concept of a good academic library is often difficult to define and describe. There is no absolute
perception of goodness but there are standards of goodness such as those established by accrediting associations and
organizations (e.g. PAASCU, PACOCOA, Phi Kappa Phi, ISO, and others).The rule of thumb is be oriented to
actual and potential user needs with actual users given high priority.
Performance is measured in terms of user satisfaction. Performance measurement is defined as the
systematic measurement of the extent to which a library has achieved its objectives in a certain period of time. It is
necessary for internal and external reasons.
The two aspects of goodness – quality and value can be differentiated by the following questions:
 How good is it?
 How much good does it do?
Goodness is also differentiated in terms of effectiveness (doing the right thing well) and benefit.
Evaluation process is coupled with some issues such as:
 objectives and plan
 collection
 services
 staff
 environment
 reporting
 quantitative versus qualitative
 cost-effectiveness (doing the rught bthing well within a given budget)
 level of information (top and middle management, and operational level)
 inputs, process, and outputs
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12.8 Finance and Budget

Financial management means controlling the amount of money spent and ensuring that it does not exceed
the amount of money available. Several techniques in budgeting are used by academic libraries. These are:
 line-item budgeting
 lump sum budgeting
 formula budgeting
 program budgeting
 performance budgeting
 planning programming budgeting system (PPBS)
Academic libraries should initiate projects that earn extra income for the library. The extra income provides
greater flexibility and financial independence. Resources which can be income-generating are special collections
which cannot be found in other libraries and therefore will be of great interest to external users who are willing to
pay a fee for access. The exposure to external users will also provide contacts and can expand fee-based services.
Examples of actual and potential sources of income include:
 charges to library users (fines, research fees, etc.)
 sales to library users (photocopies, DDS, microfilm copies, withdrawn books, serials, furniture,
and equipment)
 retail selling to library users (bookselling in book fairs or bookstores, stationary, refreshments,
library publications, etc.)
 services to users (bibliographies, information retrieval searches, photocopying, binding, computer
repair, consultancy, research, rentals, seminars and workshops, short courses, etc.)
 other investments (donations, endowments and bequests, sponsorship, friends of the library, etc.)
When embarking on an income-generating project, be aware of expenses that will be encountered. The
parent institution must be aware of the project and the income it will generate. Be aware also of pricing charges and
account where the income will be deposited. These depend on expenditures. Expenditure will include
 staff salaries
 consumables
 communication
 travel
 training
 marketing and publicity
 rentals and other charges
 taxes (if there are any)
 overheads
12.9 Facilities and Library Automation
Facilities are the next essential properties to collections in any library. Facilities can be grouped into the
following categories
 furniture
 lighting
 temperature control
 space
 information and communications technology
The common trend in many libraries at present is automation because it offers many benefits and
conveniences. Here are some important pointers to consider in library automation.
1. Use good quality yet reasonably-priced software applications.
2. Copy catalog materials from online databases from other libraries.
3. Acquire electronic and online reference materials.
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4. Design a web site for the library. The home page of the web site must display hyperlinks to every
online resource available from the library.
5. Train library staff and library users in using ICT equipment, facilities, and resources in the library.
6. Consider the latest developments in ICT like wireless technology.

12.10 Marketing and Public Relations

Marketing can be defined as the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating, and
satisfying customer requirements profitably. Marketing is a term used to cover those activities of firms associated
with the sales and distribution of products. Broadly speaking, it covers such activities as sales promotion,
advertising, and market research.
A library needs to market itself so that its activities will be fully utilized. It is the responsibility of the
librarian to review its services and project them as
 relevant
 good value
 high quality
 in the forefront of change
 adaptable
The marketing plan is divided into several stages. These stages are
 defining the service or product
 studying the users’ needs and demands
 analysis of the present position
 establishing detailed objectives
 producing the marketing plan
 allocating resources
 review and evaluation