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Fundamentals of
Library Supervision
AL A FUNDAMENTALS SERIES
F undamentals of R eference
by Carolyn M. Mulac
Fundamentals of
Library Supervision
THIRD EDITION
Beth McNeil
Chicago 2017
BETH McNEIL is professor and dean of the library at Iowa State University. Prior
to joining Iowa State in 2015, McNeil served in associate dean roles at Purdue Uni-
versity and at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She received a PhD in human
sciences with a leadership focus from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and an
MS degree in library and information science and an AB degree in English from
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her publications include previous
editions of Library Supervision, Patron Behavior in Libraries (1996), and Human
Resource Management in Today’s Academic Library (2004).
Extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of the information in this book;
however, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material
contained herein.
ISBNs
978-0-8389-1554-7 (paper)
978-0-8389-1570-7 (PDF)
978-0-8389-1571-4 (ePub)
978-0-8389-1572-1 (Kindle)
Cover Alejandra Diaz. Image © Julie/Adobe Stock. Text composition in the Melior and Din
typefaces by Dianne M. Rooney.
21 20 19 18 17 5 4 3 2 1
ALA Neal-Schuman purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for
library professionals worldwide.
Contents
Preface ix
4 Managing Performance 43
5 Managing Rewards 57
v
vi CONTENTS
Index 227
Figures
vii
viii FIGURES
D o you enjoy bringing people together and helping them to do their best? If
you do, then you are ready to think about supervision and management.
Today’s managers, supervisors, team leaders, project managers, unit
heads, and organization leaders face a more complex and rapidly changing
environment. Roles vary. Depending on one’s position and the organization,
in just one day, an individual may need to lead, manage, and supervise, and
all before noon. All three are roles that today’s supervisors need to play, and
the setting changes constantly. Today’s workplace and workforce are differ-
ent from those of even just a few years ago. Managers may find themselves
overseeing four to five generations of staff, each with its own characteristics
and needs. Each individual and each group may respond best to a specific
supervisor’s or manager’s different style.
The legal environment is also more complex, with laws addressing dis-
crimination, sexual harassment, health issues, accommodation requirements,
restroom facilities, and other personnel issues. Today’s supervisor needs to
keep up with legal changes and evolving cultural norms if he or she is to lead
in a culturally competent organization, not to mention avoid legal challenges.
Supervisors must take a leadership role in providing support for their
staff and ensuring the library can meet its goals and objectives. Poor super-
visory skills will only compound the morale problems that arise during dif-
ficult times. Excellent supervisory skills can lead to departments and units
that not only cope with the challenges they face but also are able to move
forward and become excellent organizations.
ix
x PREFACE
When you excel at supervision and management and become adept at these
skills and attributes, you will be a leader in your organization. Best wishes
and enjoy!
NOTE
1. Shorette Ammons-Stephens, Holly J. Cole, Catherine Fraser Riehle, and William
H. Weare, “Developing Core Leadership Competencies for the Library Profession,”
Library Leadership and Management 23, no. 2 (2009): 63–74; Peter Hernon, Ronald
R. Powell, and Arthur P. Young, “University Library Directors in the Association of
Research Libraries: The Next Generation, Part One,” College and Research Libraries,
62, no. 2 (2001): 116–46.
PART ONE
Supervising
Individuals
1
Today’s Workplace
• Trends
• Changing Roles of Managers
T oday’s workplace is significantly
different from the one that existed
even a few years ago. Change is a way of
and Supervisors
life. Organizations face new competition,
• Changing Competencies
changing technology, mergers and acqui-
• Leadership Skills sitions, bankruptcies, changing consumer
• Summary expectations, and economic instability in
the normal course of events. We work in
a global environment, with potential sup-
pliers and customers located anywhere.
Jobs are outsourced. Multinational com-
panies are learning how to blend cultures
and develop management structures that
can be successful in multiple environ-
ments. Technological changes impact
all aspects of business, from financial
systems to human resources and knowl-
edge-base systems. Furthermore, man-
agers face the instability that can result
from mergers and acquisitions as well as
3
4 PART ONE l SUPERVISING INDIVIDUALS
from the blending of different types of organizations within the same indus-
try. Managing becomes more challenging when you are not sure if the top
management of the company is arranging a restructuring or planning to sell
the company to another owner. Long-range plans quickly become short-range
strategies for survival if you do not think you have a long time frame to pro-
tect your own career. To compound this uncertainty, today’s managers also
face an uncertain economic environment, with budget reductions, downsiz-
ing, and restructuring of financial plans having become facts of life. Exter-
nally, organizations face the challenge of new expectations from customers
who seek to customize anything they can, including restaurant meals, and
want everything quickly. Satisfying customer demands when those demands
are always changing compounds the challenges of planning and organizing
work for effectiveness and efficiency. The changing political landscape also
makes planning more challenging. With the 2008 election of Barack Obama,
the first African American president, came changes to federal regulations on
information infrastructure and policies around open research and data. Don-
ald Trump’s election and the new Republican administration’s directives to
federal agencies during its first month in office signal significant changes to
the communication practices of these taxpayer-supported agencies. Librar-
ians must be familiar with the national, state, and local environments to
assess the impact of any changes on their libraries and larger organizations.
Trends
Libraries are not immune to these different forces, and library managers need
to understand how these forces and other trends impact their organizations.
Competition. Libraries face competition from a variety of sources. Today’s
students, citizens, or company employees are more likely to try search
engines—Google, for example—first for information than they are to check
with a librarian. People of all ages can also be found studying in bookstores
with cafés and comfortable seating rather than in libraries. Understanding the
context in which the library is situated is crucial. Managers and other leaders
must tie library initiatives to the larger organization’s strategic plan for vision
and mission. Library managers need to understand this world of competition
if they are to position their libraries to remain a vital part of their communi-
ties or organizations.
CHAPTER 1 l Today’s Workplace 5
staff members feel a part of the overall unit or department. The use of tech-
nology also brings ergonomic concerns to the workplace, with supervisors
needing to address issues of safe workplaces and workstation arrangements
that will decrease the chances of employees developing health problems,
such as carpal tunnel syndrome. While previously any table or chair might
do, today’s workers who spend all day working at computers need a work
space that can be adjusted to meet their individual needs. Furthermore, ubiq-
uitous network options and handheld devices mean that employees can be
connected at any time to their workplace and their e-mail, no matter where
they may be located physically. Work time can expand to include any time
of the day or night. Supervisors and managers now need to address the issue
of staff who may work too many hours, complicating the discussion of what
constitutes work and work-related activities.
Technology also impacts how decisions can be made. Supervisors may
now have access to a variety of data on workload, productivity, and cus-
tomer satisfaction not available previously. They can use computer systems
to monitor productivity measures, such as how long it takes to catalog or pro-
cess items or to download records and add metadata, and to gauge how long
someone takes to answer a question on a chat reference service as well as the
accuracy of the answer. Data can make decision making more transparent, but
it also can be used to obscure how decisions are actually made.
Mergers and acquisitions. Changes in organizational structures are occur-
ring as public and school libraries are being blended in the same space, cor-
porations are centralizing information services by eliminating smaller local
collections and services, and academic libraries are closing branches and
building virtual libraries instead of physical collections in order to serve dis-
persed populations. These types of changes have occurred at various times in
the history of libraries, but today, with the ever-changing information world,
managers may face situations that they never thought would impact their
institutions.
Customer expectations. Customers want access to a wide variety of infor-
mation resources and services at times and from locations and on devices
that are convenient for them. Libraries that are not customer focused will not
be supported and sustainability will become an issue.
Economic uncertainty. Libraries are all too familiar with the problems
of budget and staffing reductions. In tough economic times, libraries may
CHAPTER 1 l Today’s Workplace 7
FIGURE 1.1
POSDCoRB: Supervisory Roles in the Twentieth Century
ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
employees easier than they can teach someone to be talented. Without the
key talents and abilities needed to do a job, a staff member is unlikely to
excel. In today’s market, where recruiting is very competitive, it is important
to recruit the best staff possible so the unit can succeed and grow.
Promoting learning. Staff today want a job that provides personal satis-
faction, one where they can control their own destinies and where they have
a voice in what happens.3 In organizations that promote learning and encour-
age staff development, staff are more likely to find the satisfaction they seek.
Supervisors who promote a partnership approach to the management of the
unit are more likely to create an environment where staff have input in the
unit and feel appreciated for their efforts.
Organizational culture. Successful supervisors understand the organi-
zational culture in which they operate. Supervisors need to know how the
organization measures success, how rewards are determined, how mistakes
are handled, how decisions are made, and how risk is tolerated. They also
understand the time frame in which the organization operates. For example,
some libraries work on a semester system, some on the school year, and some
on the fiscal year. These time frames impact how objectives are measured and
how the pace of the work is likely to be set.
Supervisors can learn their organization’s culture by carefully listening
to others, observing how things are done, keeping an open mind about work-
flow and processes, observing who succeeds and why, and remembering to
look at the big picture beyond their own units. Setting aside time to reflect on
organizational activities and keeping notes on what works and what does not
work will help identify the key elements in the culture.
Organizational power. Power is a natural part of an organization. New
supervisors should study the organizational chart to see how their units fit
into the overall structure and with each other, and then they should periodi-
cally review their units’ work within the overall organizational structure. It
also helps to identify what activities are not reflected on the organizational
chart and then learn how these functions are dispersed in the organization.
Understanding relationships will also help in identifying organizational poli-
tics. It helps, for example, to know how colleagues are connected and the
history of relationships. Questions to consider and possibly ask of a trusted
colleague might include these: Do they belong to the same groups? Do these
people form an alliance in the organization? How does the distribution of
power in the organization relate to the political relationships? Thinking
explicitly about the organization and reflecting upon what goes on will give
10 PART ONE l SUPERVISING INDIVIDUALS
Changing Competencies
With these new roles and responsibilities, managers and supervisors need to
develop a variety of competencies beyond technical expertise to succeed in
their jobs. Skills of human resources management, team building, and leader-
ship are the foundation of successful management at all levels of the organi-
zation. To be a good leader, one must be a good supervisor and manager.4 Plan
on putting the following competencies to work daily as you develop your
skills as a manager:
Leadership Skills
Leadership skills are no longer solely the purview of upper management.
Today, all librarians need to understand, practice, and demonstrate good
leadership skills regardless of their formal roles in their libraries. These skills
or strategies help when leading committees in their libraries, communities,
or professional associations and enable managers to keep up with change
as they prepare their employees for new roles and new challenges. Many
books describe what is needed for successful leadership. Max De Pree, in his
book Leadership Is an Art, about Herman Miller, Inc., notes three leadership
themes as essential to artful leadership: integrity, knack for relationships,
and community building.6 In the book Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense
Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney, Lee Cockerell describes the ten
leadership strategies that the Disney corporation found to be most effective.7
These strategies, discussed in the remainder of this section, are particularly
applicable to service industries, such as libraries, where customer or patron
satisfaction is a key success factor.
STRATEGY ONE
STRATEGY TWO
STRATEGY THREE
STRATEGY FOUR
Training Is Key
Providing regular and ongoing training for your unit is essential. If your insti-
tution has a staff development program, be sure your staff are taking advan-
tage of training opportunities. If your organization does not provide this type
of support, look for training opportunities you can bring to your unit and talk
to colleagues about implementing a staff development program. Is there a
webinar available on a particular process or challenge your unit is facing? Is
there someone in your community who can help with skill building? Be cre-
ative as you look for opportunities to coach your staff to excel.
STRATEGY FIVE
Eliminate Hassles
Look for ways that you can make processes and procedures more streamlined
and effective for your patrons and your staff. Try being a customer in your
own library. Can you easily fill out an online form for a service? Can you find
CHAPTER 1 l Today’s Workplace 13
the information you need to answer a reference question? You may also want
to borrow ideas from other service organizations. Have you experienced great
service? What made the experience so successful? Are there elements of the
service that you can bring to your unit?
STRATEGY SIX
STRATEGY SEVEN
STRATEGY EIGHT
Keep Learning
In a world of change, supervisors and managers need to keep an open mind
and seek new ideas and innovations if they are to be successful. You need
to stay current on trends, learn what others in the field are doing to meet
the challenges of the day, and seek to implement best practices. As Cocker-
ell notes, “it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned . . . live in a
world that no longer exists.”11 To avoid trying to manage the past, become an
active learner.
14 PART ONE l SUPERVISING INDIVIDUALS
STRATEGY NINE
STRATEGY TEN
Be An Ethical Manager
Leading with integrity is important if you want your staff to commit to the
unit and to support you. You are also responsible for demonstrating positive
values to your unit and creating a culture of inclusiveness.
Summary
Change is simply a way of life for the field of library and information sci-
ence. While the core functions of libraries—providing access to an organized
collection of materials and providing assistance in using those materials—
remain the same, how libraries fulfill those functions has changed and will
continue to change at faster and faster speeds. Technological advances make
it possible for libraries to provide access to a wide range and different types
of materials that no single library owns. Libraries can serve customers from
around the world as easily as they serve the people who walk into their build-
ings. The library is truly a global enterprise.
In such a world, managers in today’s libraries must embrace change. The
management strategies that worked many years ago are not successful in
today’s volatile environment. For success, managers and supervisors need to
stay aware of the many trends that impact the field of library and information
science and learn how to bring the best of these changes into their units and
organizations.
CHAPTER 1 l Today’s Workplace 15
NOTES
1. Andrew Sullivan, “I Used to Be a Human Being,” New York (September 19, 2016), 35.
2. University of Nebraska Public Policy Center, “Priority Lincoln: Budgeting for
Outcomes” (Final report, May 29, 2008), 32, http://ppc.unl.edu/wp-content/
uploads/2008/05/PriorityLincolnFinalReport.pdf.
3. Gary McClain and Deborah S. Romaine, The Everything Managing People Book (Avon,
MA: Adams Media, 2002), 11.
4. Cliff Goodwin, Supervisor’s Survival Guide, 10th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education, 2006), 38.
5. William A. Salmon, The New Supervisor’s Survival Manual (New York: AMACOM,
1999), 5–7.
6. Max De Pree, Leadership Is an Art (New York: Crown Business, 2004), ix–xi.
7. Lee Cockerell, Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at
Disney (New York: Doubleday, 2008), 54–55.
8. Ibid.
9. Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, The New One Minute Manager (New York:
HarperCollins, 2015), 49.
10. Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s
Greatest Managers Do Differently (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999), 67.
11. Cockerell, Creating Magic, 208.
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CIVICS
Split up by sexes these figures show that 42.2 per cent of the girls
were found in the group whose wages were unknown or zero, while
only 28.4 per cent of the boys were in that group. For both boys and
girls the largest number of those whose wages is known is found in
the group which receive $4.00 to $4.50. The detailed comparison is
here given: