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Unit 12: Academic Library

Academic libraries today vary in regard to the extent to which they accommodate those who Notes
are not affiliated with their parent universities. Some offer reading and borrowing privileges
to members of the public on payment of an annual fee; such fees can vary greatly. The privileges
so obtained usually do not extend to such services as computer usage, other than to search the
catalog, or Internet access. Alumni and students of cooperating local universities may be given
discounts or other consideration when arranging for borrowing privileges. On the other hand
access to the libraries of some universities is absolutely restricted to students, faculty, and
staff. Even in this case, they may make it possible for others to borrow materials through inter-
library loan programs.

Libraries of land-grant universities generally are more accessible to the public. In some cases
they are official government document repositories and so are required to be open to the
public. Still, members of the public are generally charged fees for borrowing privileges, and
usually are not allowed to access everything they would be able to as students.

12.1.2 Management and Change

The effective management of change is fundamental to a successful and productive organization.
Yet the inherent unpredictability of the change dynamics often confounds management and it
may be the greatest challenge a manager may face. It has been suggested that the changes we
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are experiencing as we reach the 21 Century are altogether more radical than those we have
been used to, so that instead of incremental change we are experiencing discontinuous change.
Handy (1991) suggests that the changes we encounter will not require just a shift in attitude,
but will demand a whole new perspective. In such a time of continuous change, development
and growing uncertainty, organizations must be receptive and responsive to their environment
if they are to transform the intrinsic threats of change into opportunities. If this is the case
now, then it will increasingly be so as we enter the next century. The openness and ability to
adapt that is necessary for such radical transformation lies not only in the nature and structure
of the organisation, but crucially, in the people who are involved. Without staff cooperation
at all levels, a manager’s attempt to initiate change will be difficult, painful, and quite probably,
futile. Indeed, “research indicates that 90 per cent of change initiatives that fail do so because
human factors were not taken adequately into account”.

Although management theories tend to be generalised, and may be applicable to any organisation,
some approaches are more appropriate for certain organisations than others. The way in which
a management structure relates to the nature and tasks of an organisation is vital in determining
the suitability of any given theory of management. Dougherty and Heinritz (1985) argue that
libraries’ work and output should be systematically quantified using scientific management
theory in order to be efficient, and to satisfy demands for accountability. Several other writers,
however, including Jones and Lynch, classify libraries as bureaucracies, resulting from the
highly structured and routine nature of much of their work, such as cataloguing, classifying
and indexing. The application of rules, regulations and codification characterize a bureaucratized
profession and “emerge from the library’s attempt to ensure its efficiency and its competency
and from its attempt to minimise the impact of outside influences”.

The problem for the present and future management of libraries, in an increasingly changing
profession, is whether libraries can adopt a more appropriate approach to deal with the consequences
of organisational change. The first step towards effective management of change in libraries
is the acknowledgement and understanding of the human element in organisations. This is
emphasised by Thapisa (1993) who suggests that “structures, by themselves, are neither efficient
nor able to create effective organizations. It is people who achieve this, and it is they who
should be more efficient and effective.” Issues surrounding the motivation, deployment and

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