Page 31 - DLIS003_LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

Library Administration and Management

Notes Discuss the delegation of authority
Explain the State and Local library authority
Discuss the centralization and decentralization in authority

Introduction

Libraries play an important role in the academic world. They provide access to information
resources. According to Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, the father of Library Science in India, “Libraries
are not mere store houses; they are rich springs from which knowledge flows out to irrigate the
wide field of education and culture”. Libraries are a service organisation whose assets and
services are both tangible and intangible. The document resources, human resources and
infrastructure facilities like building, equipment and furniture are the tangible assets. The
intangible services comprise the services rendered by the staff.
The libraries did exist from the time when man learnt the art of recording and communicating
the ideas. The changes in all fields are inevitable. The libraries too changed from time to time to
meet customer’s demand. It is still changing and it has to change in future too. Some of the
important factors that helped the libraries to change are, the invention of ink and paper, printing
technology, information explosion, growth in publication, changing customers’ expectations,
competitors, information technologies and digital based resources.

2.1 Sources of Formal Authority

The exercise of authority is a constant and pervasive phenomenon in the human society. Human
society maintains itself because of ‘order’ and it is the authority that serves as the foundation of
social order.

It is wrong to assume that ‘authority’ is purely a political phenomenon. In fact, in all kinds of
organisations, political as well as non-political, authority appears. Every association in society
whether it is temporary or permanent, small or big, has its own structure of authority. Similarly
a library also has its own structure of authority.

According to E.A. Shills, “Authority is that form of power which orders or articulates the actions of other
actors through commands which are effective because those who are commanded regard the commands as
legitimate.”

Max Weber used the term “authority” to refer to legitimate power.
In simple words, it can be said that authority refers to power which is regarded as legitimate in
the minds of followers.

Weber’s notion of authority does not imply that power is legitimate and that illegitimate power
plays no role in society. “Weber only argued that legitimacy is a general condition for the most
effective and enduring manifestations of power. Still this legitimacy may take different forms
and different justifications.”

Different level executives in a library must be given authorities to discharge their function
efficiently. The person who is given the power to command is called supervisor and the persons
on whom such power is exercised is called subordinates. These are three types of origin of
library authorities. There are formal authority, acceptance authority and competence authority.
Formal Authority: When an executive enjoys some authority by virtue of his position in the
library, it is called formal authority. The examples of formal authority are deriving of authority
by the technical processing assistant from the library director. The authority, which originates

26 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY