Comments on Library Talk: Who Makes the Decisions where You Work?

I want to express sympathy for your situation, we ...

2007-08-24T18:23:47.088-04:00

I want to express sympathy for your situation, we lacked a library head for quite a long time and I recognized the feeling of despair. Of course this person should have listened to you! And to the users.

Personally I think that there are both formal and informal structures in play. The head do not have to be a librarian but should be engaged in the issues.

In my university library I feel that I am being listened to and that many of my ideas about methods and customer orientation are contributions that matters - after a long period of stagnation. But I still have no formal position.

In my library, it all depends on the department. ...

2007-07-20T23:44:53.003-04:00

In my library, it all depends on the department. There is some librarian vs. non-librarian friction in the library (and I think this is somewhat salary-driven). Because of that, in departments with a lot of staff, the staff often have more say than the librarians in management decisions (to try to equalize the power to keep people happy, if that makes sense). While I think all opinions should be valued, it sometimes irks me that I get paid more because of my MLS, but then they don't utilize the knowledge I have because of that degree!

So to answer your question, while one person may have ultimate decision-making authority, any well-run library should have open discussions about policy and policy decisions should always involve librarians. After all, if librarians aren't experts about libraries, their services, and their users, who is?

Cost isn't really an issue. My library switched to...

2007-07-20T15:57:57.226-04:00

Cost isn't really an issue. My library switched to using both the big card and keychain card. It was actually MORE expensive to stick with our ugly cards than the new cards. Patrons LOVE it! Plus there is no excuse for not having your library card. When we issue the card we say, "Now you can't leave home without it."

It sounds like your issue is that no one wants to make a major change or decision until there is a head honcho. It is not unusual for that to happen. We went through an 8 month period without a manager. However, as acting, I still made changes and decisions but authorization came from a non-library person :)

We've been through the key card route (and failed)...

2007-07-19T22:27:31.869-04:00

We've been through the key card route (and failed), but we have savvy patron's who just cut up their cards and put a hold in it.

I'll say kudos that our new self checks will let you enter the number without having your card handy, which is a bonus for my since my barcode is wearing out and I don't want to memorize a new number.

As for the decisions, it depends on the project. If we decide to patch the LMS (nearly yearly at least), then the head rep from each department gets a vote in the yay or nay after testing.

Cards? I think it boiled down to cost. But, which is more expensive? The card, or the time it takes to look someone up by another form of ID?