Refocusing Academic Libraries through Learning and Discourse: The Idea of a Library

Organizational Transformation in Academic Libraries: Discourse, Process, Product helps inform discussions in academic libraries on organizational patterns and divisions of labor. The book gives librarians leverage to think outside traditional bureaucratic structures and re-think how libraries serve their patrons. It examines existing structures and proposes new organizational models and lays out a process for planning organizational transformation and implementing a new organization. Seven chapters offer a radical vision of library transformation, proposing a collaborative process for changing academic libraries into organizations fit for the second quarter of the twenty-first century and beyond.

Academic libraries are changing in the face of information technologies, economic pressures and globally disruptive events such as the current pandemic. As a result, practical solutions for transforming organizational and workflow structures for the future are desperately needed. The title analyzes existing organizational structures and proposes new ones that can be adapted to individual libraries. It discusses the challenges posed by virtual learning environments, digital initiatives and resources, changes to cataloging standards and succession planning, as well as changes brought about by the current pandemic.

• Presents a clear analysis of organizational patterns and divisions of labor in the future of the academic library
• Gives specific organizational models and presents a process for planning and implementing organizational transformation
• Advocates for, and supports the radical transformation of, library organization and workflow structures
• Proposes a collaborative process for transforming academic libraries into future-ready organizations
• Considers current challenges and aims to support the design of new organizations ready for the second quarter of the 21st century and beyond

Mary K. Bolin is Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL), USA. She served as Chair of Technical Services at UNL and at the University of Idaho for nearly thirty years, as well as serving as a Catalog and Metadata Librarian. She is a full-time lecturer at the School of Information at San Jose State University, and teaches both cataloging and metadata classes for MLIS students. She is the editor of the peer-reviewed e-journal Library Philosophy and Practice, which has been continuously published since 1998. She is the author of The 21st Century Academic Library: Global Patterns of Organization and Discourse, which was published the by Chandos imprint in 2017, and of numerous journal articles and book chapters, as well as conference presentations. Her research interests include library administration and organization, discourse and text analysis, and topics in the Digital Humanities.