The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can't See, by the widely-acknowledged gurus on the subject, Chris Sherman and Gary Price ISBN 0-910965-51-X. Regular Price—$29.95 • Sale Price—$23.95
For order information, go to http://infotoday.com/catalog/books.htm
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CREATING AN US: INCLUDING LIBRARY STAFF IN DECISION-MAKING
by Marylaine Block
One of the least-acknowledged issues in librarianship is the caste system that operates in far too many libraries, between management and staff, and between professionals and non-professionals. Mind you, I'm not talking about hierarchy or differing levels of responsibility; I'm talking about the lack of respect for the contributions made by those at the bottom of the hierarchy, and the failure to solicit their participation in establishing policies and job routines.
I object to this on a philosophical basis, to be sure -- it doesn't seem fitting that libraries, which exist to serve all citizens from all walks of life, should treat any of their own staff like second-class citizens. But mostly I object to it because it's counter-productive.
Any large organization will tend to fragment into US and THEM -- technical services vs. reference, professionals vs. non-professionals, "suits" vs. "the people who actually do the work." The challenge of management is to do away with the THEMs and create just an US, where everybody is working toward the same goal.
I've been lucky enough to work in a library that worked well because of its USness, created by directors who understood and valued the contributions of every member of the staff. For one thing, people who are drawn to library work despite its low pay are bright and often well-educated; many of them are creative; many of them are extremely service-oriented. The odds are excellent that as they perform their job routines, they will think of ways to do those jobs better, especially if they understand and share the overall service goals behind the routines.
It's also true that the people at the circulation desk, who answer the phones, chat with patrons while checking out materials, and field questions first before steering some to the reference desk, probably know better than anybody else what patrons want, what they find frustrating, and what they don't understand at all about the library. They know what kinds of materials are in constant demand, and what kinds of materials accumulate dust on the shelves. It's an appalling waste of resources if library managers don't ask for that information.
Since support staff are often the people who have to enforce the rules, it's important for them to understand what the rules are and why the rules exist. They are often the first to deal with outraged patrons complaining about smut on the Internet, or inappropriate books and videos, which means it's important for them to not just mouth the principles of the Library Bill of Rights but understand the rationale behind it. This was clearly not the case in the Minneapolis Public Library, where support staff sued the library for sexual harassment; it appears they felt the internet use policy was formulated without any regard to their feelings or even their personal safety.
Non-professional staff may well resent it when librarians get significant privileges unavailable to them, like better working hours, or travel expenses to conferences, or longer vacations (as in universities where librarians with faculty status get school breaks and summers off). Where there's a significant difference in privileges, it's especially important to the teamwork of the library operation that non-professional staff understand the rationale for those privileges. It's even more important that managers demand that librarians treat non-professional staff respectfully.
People do better work when they feel it's excellence is acknowledged and valued by their superiors. Though some jobs may be "professional" and others "clerical," a smoothly-functioning library requires that all those jobs be done well. Putting spine labels on books and shelving them may be lowly operations, but if they aren't done correctly and promptly, our users won't find what they're looking for. Checking out materials to patrons may seem intellectually undemanding, but it requires a level of social skill that is often insufficiently appreciated; for many patrons it's often the only place in the library where they interact on a human level, and it matters that they walk away feeling good about those transactions. Library managers need to publicly acknowledge and honor the accomplishments of professional and non-professional staff alike, in staff meetings or staff-wide e-mail messages or library newsletters.
Library managers who value good teamwork will also show their respect by soliciting the opinions of all staff on policy issues. Indeed, it would be short-sighted not to, since those on the front service lines often have the best information about whether current policies are working, or whether proposed changes might antagonize library users.
I'm not proposing decision-making by majority rule, by any means; since it's the director's head that will roll if a decision is wrong, the director needs to make the final decisions. But those decisions need to be informed by the best available information and ideas. I believe that managerial decisions are better when all staff members are encouraged to offer their ideas and information. In the best libraries I know of, everybody enjoys going to work because they know they are all valued parts of an US.
So, what's your library like? One great big US, or full of THEMs? Are some more equal than others? If so, maybe a printout of this article should just sort of mysteriously appear on the staff bulletin board?
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COOL QUOTE
The closest you will ever come in this life to an orderly universe is a good library.
Ashleigh Brilliant
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You are welcome to copy and distribute or e-mail any of my own articles for noncommercial purposes (but not those by my guest writers) as long as you retain this copyright statement:
Ex Libris: an E-Zine for Librarians and Other Information Junkies.
http://marylaine.com/exlibris/
Copyright, Marylaine Block, 2000.
[Publishers may license the content for a reasonable fee.]
