A structured questionnaire was mailed to the directors (n=124) of all of the academic libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to obtain information on the status of participative management for support staff groups in major research libraries. Thirty of the 69 library administrators responding to the survey report that…

This study describes and analyzes the involvement of library and university groups and individuals in arriving at major library decisions concerning budgeting, automation, policy making, and operational issues in 12 selected university libraries. Site visits, interviews, and questionnaires were used to compare the decision making roles of…

Advocates of participative management in academic libraries point to increased job satisfaction and performance as benefits, while opponents favor less participative means such as consultive management, with librarians having input and the directors making the decisions. A survey of reference librarians in the Texas community colleges was…