Managing 21st Century Libraries

It seems that being in a state of uncertainty is the overwhelming characteristic of library organizations today, but there are ways in which this can be used to improve our organizations. The power of negative capability is that it supports reflection and measured thinking, and in the right sort of organization, it will release creative energy. This book presents the characteristics of those organizations. Managing 21st Century Libraries is primarily concerned with creating the circumstances in which people can maximize the use of their talents and generating the opportunities for people to work with others in ways that engage all of the abilities of everyone involved. It is about developing an organization that is an interesting, stimulating, provocative, and effective place to work. Above all, the book is about the ways in which library managers and staff can develop systems for managing contemporary library services, and thus take advantage of the unique combination of circumstances that provide the potential for innovative organization development in the library services of today. It relates important issues in people management to the characteristics of libraries that deal significantly with both digital and printed material.

Lyndon Pugh has served as Head of Learning Resources at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff. He currently teaches management in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Wales Aberystwyth.