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 university library committees, chief librarians, senior library staff groups, library councils, committees and task forces, and professional librarians in British libraries with those in Canadian libraries over a period of 2 years (1981-1983). An assessment of the management styles and environments of the institutions is included. While the decision making processes in the libraries of both countries were found to be similar in structure and operation, committees in the British institutions appeared to plan a more dominant managerial role than their Canadian counterparts. The influence of library-wide decisions by non-managerial librarians was perceived to be fairly minimal, even though a great variety of staff groups and task forces existed in the libraries of both countries. A prescription for an effective decision making structure based on the more successful processes identified in the study concludes the report. A bibliography, samples of letters used, the questionnaire, and a list of participating libraries are among the many appendices included. (Author/THC)