Are librarians preoccupied with the future? There are countless books, articles, blog posts, webinars, and conference presentations filled with speculation about what libraries will become. This is understandable with the emergence of new roles for libraries and librarians as we determine our identity across the digital landscape. This essay…

In this essay, we embrace a vision of the future of academic libraries where librarians confront and creatively address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity within our profession and actively pursue a social justice agenda within our libraries and in the communities we serve. This future requires that we acknowledge that many of our current…

One of the first big shifts in how libraries manage resources was the move from print-journal purchasing models to database-subscription and electronic-journal purchasing models. Libraries found that this transition helped them scale their resources and provide better service just by thinking a bit differently about their services. Likewise,…

This article presents an excerpt of Library Journal's (LJ's) Movers & Shakers ideas on how to ensure a vital library for the future. Several identify a disconnect between what librarians and libraries do and what users think they do. Mending this gap, they say, would transform library recruitment and library support. While specific insights on…

In this article, the author talks about how to face the not knowing and offers a strategy to fill the gap of not knowing. In coping with constant change, he describes a strategy for library staff that might help in the absence of certainty. This includes: (a) guarding the data with one's life; (b) build not for longevity, but obsolescence; (c)…

Traditional budgeting starts with the previous year's budget, but zero base budgeting demands that each activity be justified from "scratch," and establishes a number of increments for each unit, in order of priority. Given the set of increments and the money available, management can determine what activities to finance. (Author)

Examination of several library legislation models developed to meet the needs of developed and developing nations reveals that our traditional notion of the library's role in society must be abandoned if we wish to reconcile its benefits to its costs. Four models currently exist: many nations, particularly Asian, have no legislation; most nations,…

Reviews major approaches to assessing library effectiveness and then proposes a systems model that conceptualizes effectiveness as a process of converting inputs to outputs. Implications for library management are discussed. (JD)

Illustrates how basic principles of marketing and strategic market planning can be applied to libraries and discusses some concepts of strategic planning (organization mission, objectives and goals, growth strategy, program portfolio plan) and marketing (opportunity analysis, target market selection, marketing mix strategy, marketing systems…

Librarians may most effectively promote library legislation needed to further the goals of libraries and library service through legislative lobbying activities. The legal basis for library legislation exists in the undisputed fact that libraries are agencies of learning and therefore merit the same legislative attention as schools. The most basic…

Information technology plays a role both in library administration and in the use of information resources. Viewed in historical perspective, the "computer era" is just beginning, and the prospect of the "electronic book" is good. Librarians must be computer-literate and lead students and the public in the use of new…

Employees are valuable. The cost of hiring, training, and retaining staff--not just librarians, but all staff--generally makes up the largest part of a library's budget. Since library support staff usually comprise 60-80 percent of the work force, it makes perfect fiscal sense to motivate this segment of employees to stay. There is an even more…

Presents five brief papers that touch on the role of the computer center, sources of conflict, and basic incompatibilities in the relationship with the library. Also discussed are developmental operating difficulties, negotiation of continuing relationships, and the need for tolerance and mutual respect. (Author/RAA)

An aspect of library legislation which is generally ignored is legislation that promotes the utilization of academic libraries to maximize the potential of a nation's resources. From the available literature it would seem that library legislation in developing nations still conforms strictly to the traditional view that library legislation should…

Proposes a systematic procedure for analyzing performance problems in the library which is intended to minimize costly misjudgments and guide the manager toward remedial steps likely to resolve the problem(s). The nature of performance discrepancies, skill deficiencies, job descriptions, and personal problems is discussed. (EJS)