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John M. Cohn and Ann L Kelsey.
Staffing the Modern Library: A How-To-Do-It-Manual.
New York, NY, and London, UK:: Neal-Schuman Publishers. 105p. $75.00.ISBN: 978-1-55570-511-1. (How-To-Do-It Manuals for Librarians, number 137.).
Staffing the Modern Library: A How-To-Do-It-Manual.
New York, NY, and London, UK:: Neal-Schuman Publishers. 105p. $75.00.ISBN: 978-1-55570-511-1. (How-To-Do-It Manuals for Librarians, number 137.).
Libraries are evolving rapidly from physical spaces providing on-site services and resources to providers of electronic resources and virtual services. The book, Staffing the Modern Library: A How-To-Do-It Manual, written by Cohn and Kelsey, is designed to help library administrators staff this modern organization. This is accomplished by defining competencies, outlining appropriate job descriptions, developing training programs, and exploring partnerships and outsourcing as part of the staffing solution. The book itself is brief and consists of an introduction to the increasingly complex library environment, 8 chapters on such topics as “Facilitating the Move to Competency-based Staffing,” and a conclusion discussing how to define staff in a virtual library. The layout is designed for easy reading and reference with many bulleted lists, clear definitions, and sample worksheets. Each chapter closes with an annotated bibliography. These bibliographies prove very informative, wide-ranging, and useful in terms of exploring topics discussed in more detail.
Much of the foundation of this book is derived from recent business literature with its emphasis on “lean” organizations and their flexible and adaptable staffing models. Strategic partnerships are discussed as a means of extending staffing while libraries make the transition to new roles and services. This approach facilitates reexamining the traditional library organizational model, usually drawn along functional lines, in light of alternative models that focus on skills, knowledge, and behaviors instead of tasks and functions. Several salient examples illustrate this new approach. The evolving role of the reference librarian in the electronic era is used quite effectively to highlight the creation of competency-based job descriptions.
This example is followed by a discussion of creating effective and sustainable staff training and development programs to foster continuous learning and to maximize current staff contributions in the rapidly changing library environment. However, Cohn and Kelsey argue that current staff may not always be sufficient to handle new roles and responsibilities. Library managers might need to turn to outsourcing, insourcing (i.e., outside consultants working directly with library staff), and/or co-sourcing (i.e., combining a mix of internal and external expertise and resources) to accomplish strategic goals. Two examples are used to highlight the need for these kinds of partnerships: the evolution of the library's Web page to a personalized information tool and the development of an internal digitization project. Both projects might be done entirely with internal staff or they could require outside expertise, contract staffing, and possibly off-site technological resources. The steps needed to plan the best staffing model for these projects are reviewed in the book's second half.
Overall, Staffing the Modern Library provides a good introduction to and overview of the challenges faced by library managers as their organizations adapt to the electronic era. Some thought-provoking topics are raised, especially with regard to implementing business models in the nonprofit setting, but the work as a whole lacks depth. This reviewer would like additional information on redeploying current staff, more examples of new roles for librarians, and a discussion of change management. Libraries may be expected to assume new responsibilities for electronic resources and the delivery of information, but “old” tasks such as telephone and in-person reference, print reserves, and binding have not yet faded into oblivion. How can staff be deployed to handle both new and old responsibilities? How can they be encouraged to see change as positive and not as a threat to job stability? How do libraries accomplish more and move forward within the constraints of current budget and staffing levels?
For those in health sciences libraries, this book's emphasis on partnerships may also prove a liability. Nearly all of the partnerships discussed in this book refer to consultative relationships, outsourcing with commercial entities, or consortial relationships with other libraries. In health care, the strategic partnerships most libraries build are with other departments in the parent institution, such as information technology, Web services, and medical education. Knowing how to build strong relationships with the appropriate departments, strongly supporting projects crucial to the institution's mission, and partnering with patron groups such as medical and nursing staff are essential to the successful operation of a health sciences library. These types of intra-institutional partnerships are not discussed in Staffing the Modern Library.
This book proves an enjoyable read that highlights many issues libraries face as staff struggle to rewrite job descriptions, plan for the future, and enhance staff skills and knowledge. The annotated bibliographies offer an important glimpse at some of the professional literature normally outside the range of many librarians. However, this book does not provide in-depth solutions to staffing problems faced by health sciences libraries. Staffing the Modern Library provides general planning grids for job descriptions, training plans, and decisions about outsourcing, but one would need to rely heavily on other tools for in-depth information on the repository process and the health care environment. For health sciences librarians, this book serves as an introduction to staffing issues and not as a detailed planning manual.
Articles from Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA are provided here courtesy of Medical Library Association