Library Management: A Practical Guide for Librarians(Practical Guides for Librarians)

Most professional librarians, even recent graduates, manage something, whether it be a project, service, department, or a whole library. This book explains the different managerial roles at libraries, looking at the levels of managers, what they do, and how they do it. The goal is to explore the unique challenges faced by different types of library managers, in order to prepare early and mid-career librarians to step into new roles, and to think about how they might progress toward upper-management in a library. The approach is practice-driven, with a particular focus on the soft skills that are needed to be successful as a manager. Library Management: A Practical Guide for Librarians features three parts: project management, middle management, and upper management. These sections cover the different kinds of challenges that face people at each level of their career, exploring how these challenges can help prepare librarians for promotion to the next level. The purpose of these sections is to show how management skills develop over the course of one’s career, and to explore how leaders changes from context to context. Though each section focuses on a particular level of authority, the lessons can be useful for and applied to all of the levels discussed. For example, the same librarian might fill different roles in different contexts. A dean might serve as a library’s executive, but also manage a university-wide project or a middle manager might step into the role of dean temporarily, or might wonder what the next level of management would require.

Table of Contents:
Dedication Preface Section I Project Management Chapter 1 The Role of the Project Manager Chapter 2 Leadership Styles Chapter 3 Group Development and Conflict Chapter 4 Project Management Frameworks Chapter 5 Assessment Basics Chapter 6 Developing Professionally through Project Management Section II Middle Management Chapter 7 The Role of a Middle Manager Chapter 8 Mentoring and Managing Employees Chapter 9 Coordinating Resources Chapter 10 Strategic Planning and Assessment Chapter 11 Promoting and Transforming Organizational Culture Chapter 12 Developing Professionally through Middle Management Section III Upper Management Chapter 13 The Role of a Director Chapter 14 Managing Managers and Managing Up Chapter 15 Crisis Leadership Chapter 16 Budgeting Chapter 17 Getting Support Chapter 18 Peer Review, Accreditation, and Assessment Chapter 19 Developing Professionally through Upper Management Bibliography

About the Author :
Bridgit McCafferty is the dean of the university library at Texas A&M University-Central Texas, and has led the library for seven years. Prior to this, she was in charge of reference and instruction services for the library. She coauthored British Postmodernism: Strategies and Sources, and has written several book chapters about library assessment and library support for nontraditional students.

Review :
Library Management: A Practical Guide for Librarians by Bridgit McCafferty brings together the theoretical and the practical side of library management in an easy-to-read guide. The chapters are brief so that they can be read at one sitting. New librarian managers will find McCafferty’s guide an excellent desk top reference guide from day one of their management careers. Leadership is an essential skill for librarians to develop, but it is often difficult to know where and how to begin. Encompassing many facets of leadership from project management to senior administrative work, this book provides models for leadership development at every career stage. McCafferty’s practical and candid approach will inspire readers to develop their own authentic leadership styles to more effectively respond to the ever-changing dynamics of today’s complex information environment. This book is written for the new or middle manager librarian who needs help dealing with the challenges and opportunities that arise as they move upwards in leadership and management. Whether by design or accident, many librarians often find themselves in the roles of manager, supervisor, and leader, and as with all volumes in this series, practicality and experience are provided by the author for those looking for advice without too much technical or complex language…. Overall, this volume is packed full of practical information for any librarian seeking understandable and usable advice on how to manage, become a manager, and how to lead and be a leader within the profession. The bibliography is thorough and up-to-date. I highly recommend this book for any librarian actively seeking to move upwards into management, or for those who have been unexpectedly surprised to find themselves in a management position.