Library Management for the Digital Age: A New Paradigm

This revolutionary introduction to library management is the first conceived in and written for a digital age. Julie Todaro, one of America’s leading management experts, posits a new paradigm for planning, administering, and assessing library services. She explains each facet of administering both “old” (physical) and “new” (virtual) libraries. Library Management for the Digital Age covers ·hierarchies, ·policies, ·communication, ·working relationships, ·facilities, ·human resources, ·settings, ·customer services, ·budgeting, ·emergency management, ·appendixes including model positions descriptions, interview questions, evaluation forms, and other necessary management tools. Each chapter concludes with an illustration of the old-to-new paradigm shift in that particular aspect of management as well as concise case studies that illustrate the real-world nature of the shift and discussion questions to facilitate active learning. A platinum-quality editorial board comprised of both LIS faculty and expert library managers has reviewed this book in order to ensure authority.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments Introduction PART I. Twenty-First Century Management in Libraries Chapter 1. Classic Management vs. New Management Chapter 2. Preparing and Maintaining the New Manager Chapter 3. “Managing” New Employees/Staff/Human Resources/Stakeholders Chapter 4. New Management of Change Chapter 5. New Managers Designing New Organizations Chapter 6. Management Infrastructure Documents in New Organizations Chapter 7. Managing New Services and Resources Chapter 8. Managing Those Outside the “Sphere” Chapter 9. New Management “in Action” Communication Chapter 10. New Managers within Classic and New Organizations Chapter 11. New Managers in Classic and New Facilities and Environments Chapter 12. New “Landscapes” for Library and Information Settings Chapter 13. Managing the Balance to Meet New Constituent/Customer Expectations Chapter 14. Accountability, Measurement, and Assessment in New Management Organizations Chapter 15. New Budgeting with (Mostly) Classic Budgeting Issues Chapter 16. Emergency Management Roles and Responsibilities of New Managers PART II: The Cases Introduction to the Case Method Case 1. A Difficult Path of Moving Up and Out Case 2. Building Your Own Management Training Program Case 3. Rumor Has It Case 4. Do You Have Any Change On You? Case 5. Racking Up the Library Pool Table Case 6. Manuals, Handbooks, Policies, Procedures, Budgets, Minutes and Plans, Oh My! Case 7. What’s Old is New – if the Money is There Case 8. But Enough About Me, What Do YOU Think About Me? Case 9. Suffering from Past Mistakes Case 10. What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You Case 11. A Fixer Upper Case 12. Penny’s Partners Proliferate due to Punctual, Prioritized, and Positive Planning Case 13. Keeping Up With the “Joneses” Case 14. Torture the Data Case 15. Matching Data to Data Requests Case 16. Building Tomorrow’s Future on Today’s Expertise Appendices Appendix A. Annotated Master List of “Indispensable” Resources Appendix B. Examples of Paradigms Appendix C. Additional Paradigm Shifts Index About the Author

About the Author :
Julie Todaro, a librarian for over 35 years, has worked in public and academic libraries and has been a children’s and community college librarian, a community college dean, library educator, consultant, and trainer and has mentored librarians in all types of libraries.

Review :
This book would be an excellent resource for library school students as well as a good refresher for library managers and directors.  It contains useful case studies and a comparison of paradigms. The author illustrates the difference between past management methods and those that will apply to libraries in the future.  It also shows that more leadership skills need to be incorporated into library management training and that the path for new librarians to become the next managers and leaders of the profession is always growing more complex.  Flexibility is very important as new services continue to pop up and old services are dropped.  Switching from old paradigms to newer, constantly changing paradigms is never easy, but this source provides help through a variety of comparisons of old and new, highlighting budgeting, policies, communication, facilities, human resources, customer services, emergency management, and many other issues vital to the management of a library.  In addition, planning, administering, and assessing services for both physical and virtual libraries are covered. Library Management for the Digital Age: A New Paradigm will make experienced managers rethink the traditional role of management within new and emerging organizational structures and technology. New managers will benefit from a fresh perspective on strategic planning with a focus on efficiency, accountability and problem solving. Those who teach management for non-profit organizations will be able to reflect on and communicate new paradigms within historic and pragmatic contexts and examples. In total the book provokes the reader to consider and challenge old models for learning how to manage and to embrace innovative strategies and techniques for examining and dealing with contemporary management issues. Julie Todaro offers new insights to perennial issues through systematic thinking. Through case studies, scenarios and many examples, she illuminates the complexity of "new management" for "new librarians" transitioning to tomorrow's leaders. Foundations for rich classroom discussion are provided together with scaffolding for deeper understanding. This is the most thorough discussion of management issues that I have read. This textbook addresses management skills and techniques needed in 21st century libraries and information centers. The strength of the manuscript is in the structure. The comparison of new and recommended management skills and methods with classic techniques and traditions is excellent. With Library Management for the Digital Age: A New Paradigm, Julie Todaro adds to her impressive bibliography of monographs that deal with management, staffing, and training in 21st-century libraries. Writing with a variety of audiences in mind, Todaro makes the case that library administration has entered a different age that is defined by a variety of new requirements that deviate so significantly from previous practices as to constitute a new paradigm of leadership. The book is organized around the most substantial issues that managers, new and old, are likely to encounter. . . .Library Management for the Digital Age is useful for those new to library administration as well as those established in the profession who are grappling with the changes that the digital age continues to force on libraries.While the book is a dense treatment of its subject, the pick-and-choose organizational system makes it a handy reference for those hoping to address specific areas of library management through either individual reading or focused group discussion. With its emphasis on distinguishing between past and present managerial characteristics, Todaro’s contribution is unique in the field of library management in charting a finely granulated map of the new landscape of library administration in the second decade of the 21st century. Its usefulness extends beyond process to encapsulate a snapshot of where the larger profession is and, above all, where it might be going as evidenced by the well differentiated and myriad management techniques it offers.