Libraries to Student in India and China 5

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SI 626 – Management of
Libraries and Information
Services
Class One: An Introduction to
Management

Overview
• Course introduction
• The nature of management
• Historical trends in management thought
• Libraries as organizations
• Conclusion

Course Introduction
• About me
– MLIS ’94
– Coordinator, Information Services, Springtide
Resources, 1995-2000
– Director, Information Services, Canadian
AIDS Treatment Information Exchange, 2000-
2004
– PhD studies 2004-2008

Course Introduction
• Learning Objectives
– Develop an understanding of theories,
principles and techniques of contemporary
management science and organizational
behavior and their application to libraries and
information services.

Course Introduction
– Develop skills in the planning, organizing,
personnel and financial management, leading,
marketing, stakeholder management and
coordinating functions in libraries and

Course Introduction
– Promote critical thinking and reflexivity about
professional practice as managers of libraries
and information services.

Course Introduction
• In class
– Lecture
– Guest speakers
• Ellen Stross, Adult Services Librarian, Plymouth
District Library
• Josie Parker, Director, Ann Arbor District Library
• Elaine Didier, Director, Gerald R. Ford Presidential
Library
• Anne Beaubien, Director, Cooperative Access
Services, University of Michigan Library
– Activities/exercises
– Discussion (small/large group)

Course Introduction
• Assignments
– Participation (10%)
– Two short case studies (4-5 pages) (20%
each)
• Planning, Organizational Design
– One long case study (6-8 pages) (25%)
• Human Resources
– One group case study (25%)
• Budgeting

Course Introduction
• Case Study Assignments - Purpose
– To develop an understanding of theories,
principles and techniques of contemporary
management science and organizational
behavior and their application to libraries and
– To develop skills in the planning, organizing,
human resources and financial management
function in libraries and information services.

Course Introduction
• Course policies
– Academic integrity
– Accommodations for students with disabilities
– Written assignments
• 12 point font
• Letter sized paper, one inch margins
• APA citation format (available online)
• Page length, plus references

Readings
• Required/recommended
• Core text and articles/chapters (on
CTools)
• Lectures and discussions will highlight key
themes and encourage critical thinking
and reflection about readings
• Integration with assignments

Nature of management
• “…performing certain functions to obtain
the effective acquisition, function,
allocating, and utilization of human efforts
and physical resources for the purpose of
accomplishing some goal.” – Daniel Wren, 1979
• “…using organizational resources to
achieve objectives through planning,
organizing, staffing, leading and
controlling” – Stueart & Moran, 2007

• By these definitions, who are the
managers in libraries?

• Managers are….
– People who are responsible for, and facilitate,
others’ work
– People who occupy specific positions in
organizations: line managers, middle
managers, top managers
– People who perform specific functions and
roles
– People who engage in specific practices/tasks

• Functions of management
– Planning
– Organizing
– Human Resources
– Leading
– Controlling
– *Politicking

• Roles of managers
– Due to formal authority & status, managers
occupy specific interpersonal roles:
figurehead, leader and liaison.
– Interpersonal roles lead to informational roles:
monitor, disseminator and spokesperson.
– Informational roles lead to decisional roles:
entrepreneur, disturbance handler and
resource allocator and negotiator.
(Mintzberg, 1975)

• Tasks of managers
– Spend most of their time with other people, at
all levels of their organization and beyond.
– Discuss a wide range of topics with others,
including those unrelated to work.
– Ask a lot of questions in interactions with
others, and ask, cajole, persuade, etc. rather
than giving orders.
– Conversations tend to be short and disjointed,
with much of each day unfolding in unplanned
ways.
(Kotter, 1982)

• Practice of management
– Managing self - reflection
– Managing organizations - analysis
– Managing context – seeking of varied
information and experiences
– Managing relationships – collaboration,
facilitation
– Managing change – action
(Gosling & Mintzberg, 2003)

• Effective initiation and implementation of
services require use of management skills.
• Many people use management skills in
their work – including people without
formal supervisory roles.
• Hence the majority of information
professionals, regardless of their role, will
need management skills in their
professional practice.

Management thought
• Scientific Management, 1880-1927
– F.W. Taylor – “Taylorism”, Gilbreth, Gantt
– Assumption: workers are economically
motivated and naturally lazy
– Focus: maximum output and efficiency,
eliminating waste
– Standardization of methods
– Task allocation – division of smaller and
smaller tasks
– Not focused on people
– Library application: 1930s-

Management thought
• Bureaucratic organizations, 1920s
– Principles for organizing work in large
organizations.
– Characteristics:
• Clear authority and responsibility.
• Hierarchical organization.
• Hiring and promotion are based on qualifications
and competence.
• Rules are written down and uniformly applied, thus
ensuring predictability.
(Max Weber, 1922)

Management thought
• Administrative Principles, early 20th
century
– Roles of managers.
– Principles of management: division of work,
authority, discipline, unity of command, unity
of direction, subordination of individual to
collective, centralization, vertical chain of
authority, order, fair pay, equitable treatment,
stability of work force, rewards to improve
production, morale and unity.
(Fayol, 1916)

Management thought
• Humanistic approaches, 1927-
– Reaction against scientific management
approach, focus on people.
– Hawthorne studies.
– Importance of the social group is recognized.
– Emphasis on motivation and worker
participation in order to improve performance.
– Managers try to make employees happy.
– Self-actualization: Theory X and Theory Y
(McGregor, 1960)
– Libraries: 1930s-

Management thought
• Quantitative approach, 1940s-
– Models for decision making.
– Examples: operations research, deployment of MIS
systems.
– Libraries: 1960s-
• Systems Approach, 1950s-
– Interdependence of organization with its environment.
– Inputs into organization and outputs from it
– Organization is influenced by environment and gets
feedback from the environment.
– Current application in libraries.

Management thought
• Contingency theory, 1970s-
– Flexible application of management
techniques based on particular situation.
• Learning organization theory, 1990s-
– Adaptation in rapidly changing environments.
– Open communication, decentralized decision
making and flattened organizational structure.
– Team learning, shared vision, systems
thinking, personal mastery, updating ideas.

Management thought
• Libraries continue to grapple with issues
that have sparked the development of
management thought.
• Many of ideas introduced by these schools
of management thought are applied in
libraries today.

Management thought
• Exercise:
– By yourself, think back to jobs you have held
and choose one manager. Based on these
types of management thought, write about
how would you categorize their approach to
management, and why. (5 min)
– Share your insights with your neighbour.
Choose a representative to report-back your
ideas to the whole class. (5 min)
– Report-back to class. (10 min)
(Evans, Ward & Rugaas, 2000)

Libraries as organizations
• ~ 123,129 libraries in USA
– School libraries: 99,783 (81%)
– Public libraries: 9,208 (7%)
– Special libraries: 9,066 (7%)
– Academic libraries: 3,617 (3%)
– Government libraries: 1,159 (1%)
– Armed forces libraries: 296 (<1%)
(ALA, 2009)

• Employees of libraries in USA: 329,941
– Librarians: 134,355
• School libraries: 61,701 (46%)
• Public libraries: 46,185 (34%)
• Academic libraries: 26,479 (20%)
– Other paid staff: 195,586
(ALA, 2009)
• Special libraries: 11,000 SLA members
worldwide
(SLA, 2009)

• Identify 1-2 general characteristics of
libraries/information services that might
affect the ways in which they are
managed.

• Most libraries are not-for-profit, with some
exceptions.
• Most libraries/information services are
within parent organizations.
• Funding allocations are (often explicitly)
politically determined.
• Libraries may be governed by specific
public administration legislation

• Not-for-profit organizations.
– Governmental: federal, state, local with attendant
agencies, commissions and authorities
• Can include public libraries, public university libraries, school
and government libraries.
– Private, tax-exempt non-profits.
• Charitable – tax deductible donations
– ~807,421 non-profit, charitable organizations in USA
recognized as tax-exempt by IRS (2005)
» Can include academic libraries through their membership
in universities, special libraries, public library friends
groups, and some public libraries.
• Commercial and membership – donations not tax-deductible
– e.g. social clubs, labour unions, trade associations, business
associations, etc.

• Most common private, non-profit organizational
type, by Internal Revenue Code:
– Section 501(c)(3) “public benefit”: health,
educational, social service, religious, cultural and
scientific organizations
• Revenue for these types of organizations: $1.3
trillion in 2005
– Program service revenue (>67% of revenue);
contributions, gifts and grants; membership dues.

• Example:
– Ann Arbor District Library is a state
government authority, as per Michigan’s
District Library Establishment Act
– Friends of Ann Arbor District Library, tax
exempt under 501(c)(3) since organized and
operated strictly for educational purposes

• Example:
– University of Michigan is a state governmental
instrumentality and a charitable organization
under 501(c)(3)
– University of Michigan libraries are a sub-unit
of the University, with the head being a Dean
of Libraries who reports to the Provost

• Characteristics of non-profit organizations:
– Profit cannot be used as a measure of
success – need to look towards other
measures of efficiency and effectiveness
– Tax-exemption
– Not owned by shareholders
– As service organizations, tend to be labour-
intensive – difficulties with traditional
measures of quantity and quality
(Anthony & Young, 2003)

• Characteristics of non-profit organizations:
– Goals and strategies are often constrained by
government or private funder guidelines,
donor restrictions, etc.
– Some different funding sources than for-profit
businesses – such as grants and donations
– Tend to be dominated by professionals
– Governing boards tend to be less influential;
more likely to be volunteers
– Strong political influences
(Anthony & Young, 2003)

• Reflection:
– Write a “minute paper” that answers the
following question:
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of
managing a non-profit organization (as opposed to
a for-profit organization)?

Conclusion
• Management involves a range of
functions, as well as roles and activities.
• Most information professionals will use
managerial skills at some point in their
careers, regardless of their role.

Conclusion
• Management thought has evolved
considerably since the late 19th
century,
with many historical ideas still influencing
libraries and information services.
• Most libraries are non-profit entities
embedded in larger organizations. Thus
libraries have unique management
challenges that require special
consideration.

Libraries to Student in India and China 5

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