Managing the Small College Library

About this book

This book helps small college library directors to plan, staff, and organize their facilities and make the right decisions to effectively contribute to their college's mission. It's an often overlooked fact: Small four-year and community colleges are very different from larger institutions. The patrons' objectives and priorities are different, and the monetary resources and staffing available are certainly more restricted than at bigger academic libraries. Librarians at smaller college libraries have specific needs and face unique challenges. The purpose of this book is to provide the director of a small college library -- typically defined as a facility managed by one to seven librarians -- with information on every important managerial function specific to their facilities. This content will be much more useful for these library specialists than that of management books covering generic library management or targeted towards large academic settings. Managing the Small College Library covers the key responsibilities of the small college library director: personnel, planning, budgeting, and serving key constituencies. The author draws upon her in-depth knowledge of bureaucratic, political, and human resources managerial theory to explain how librarians can advance the mission of their library. It also includes an in-depth discussion of tenure and academic status for librarians, and examines the effects of both public and religious affiliation. - Publisher.