ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

INNOVATIONS: Introducing junior staff to the administrative process

By Margaret E. Galloway

Interim Director of Libraries North Texas State University

The Administrative Council and staff of the North Texas State University Libraries participated in two planning retreats in the early summer of 1983 and 1985. These retreats served to enhance the library’s commitment to an intensive goal and objective planning program based on input from all levels of staff. A recurring finding from the two retreats indicated that junior staff members felt alienated from the decision-making process. Staff members new to the library and junior staff without administrative exposure felt that senior administrative staff were privileged to more inside information, made decisions not based on staff input, tended to be reactive to problems instead of proactive, and did not relay information to fellow staff in an efficient manner. While these tend to be fairly common complaints to be directed toward management, the library administration decided to see if there might be some way to reduce or defuse the basis for such criticism.

The associate director suggested a project in which junior staff members, librarians and clerical staff, would participate in small study/task groups which would review and make recommendations about matters and issues usually reviewed only at the Administrative Council level. The make-up of the group would vary depending upon the topic to be reviewed, and the associate director would serve as the chairperson for each group. The intent was to have one such group active for a period of time during each academic year. The group was to serve two purposes: to inform staff members about matters that were not part of their regular job information, and to have the staff members make recommendations within the context of this new information. Side benefits would be to help staff understand the complexity of administrative decision-making when confronted with many options and/or limitations, and to encourage staff members to broaden their personal career goals.

The first group, a Budget Task Force which consisted of three junior librarians, one clerical staff member, and the associate director, worked from October 1985 to March 1986. The group was provided with confidential and sensitive information regarding all aspects of the library budget including salaries, materials budget, and general operating expenses. The main objective was to seek areas where cost savings could be made either currently or in the future. Each member was given a special assignment to gather data and present the findings to the group. The special assignments included the opportunity for savings by increasing use of work study students, centralized stack management supervision for reshelving of materials in the general collection, and reducing number of service points or desks. On several occasions, two or more of task force members collaborated on a part of the project. All ideas were considered and openly discussed within the group. The group suggested a final sixteen recommendations as being those with the most potential for acceptance due to budget and personnel restraints within the next two years.

The task force provided input into the final budget preparation, and observed the process of refinement to many of their recommendations as the recommendations were adapted to the final budget submission. This particular part of the experience brought with it some frustration when upper management made adjustments to recommendations which had been fully researched. However, the group had the opportunity to see how priorities, costs, and staffing configurations direct the underlying currents of decision-making.

The members of the task force worked diligently to provide useful and creative suggestions. Each recommendation was succinctly stated with a list of advantages, disadvantages, and suggestions for further research, where applicable. Many of the suggestions were made from personal insight and work experience with a particular area. Particular personal expertise was demonstrated in such skills as computer applications, statistical analysis, and database searching which gave the task force members new status in the eyes of their peers and notified the library administration of untapped resources.

While it is significant that ten of the sixteen recommendations were adopted in some manner in the final budget, the library gained even more from the development opportunity offered to the participating staff members. One of the librarians has since become a department head within the library system, one received a promotion to another department within the library system which was a direct result of the talents displayed during the project, one has received an excellent position with a federal agency in Washington, and the clerical staff member received an excellent position in another area of the university. All of these individuals received their opportunities for advancement based upon recommendations from the associate director regarding their ability to work discreetly and competently under considerable pressure.

The next task force in this ongoing program has just been organized to review the latest goals and objectives submitted by the library’s department heads and make recommendations regarding priority, library-wide goals, allocation of resources, compliance with the stated mission of the library, and university priority goals. This particular group is composed of four junior librarians and the associate director.

The library’s Administrative Council entered into an agreement to permit this series of training task forces with some trepidation. Many members were somewhat concerned about having confidential information placed in the hands of junior librarians and clerical staff, while others felt that too much time would have to be devoted to developing a base of common knowledge upon which recommendations could be made. However, in review of the Budget Task Force’s generally excellent results for both the library and the participating members, a negative situation is being addressed with a creative, effective program incorporating the talents of a broader range of staff.