College and Research Libraries 'i JANE G. FLENER Staff Participation in Management In Large University Libraries A CLR Fellowship in 1971-72 enabled the author to examine staff participation in the management of large academic libraries. The re- port considers the climate of participation, prep~ration given th~ st_aff, areas of decision making, the role of the professwnal staff assocwtton, and the reaction of staff to such participation. INTRODUCTION pARTICIPATION BY LffiRARY STAFF in the management of the library basically in- volves representatives of the staff work- ing in task-oriented groups to recom- mend possible solutions of library prob- lems to the library administrators, to provide for a prescribed system of com- munication throughout the library, and to promote means for orderly change within the library system. In the last twenty years libraries in large universities have grown very rapid- ly. As more books were purchased to serve a larger student body, more li- brarians were employed; yet the organi- zation of the library remained basically the same. With the unrest on campus and the current social changes across the land in recent years, the library has not gone untouched. Librarians have shown concern for their status on the campus and an inter- est in what was going on and why. Since staff size had precluded the informal staff meeting where real discussions could take place, some better way was needed for communication and an un- Dr. Flener is associate librarian, Univer- sity of California, Berkeley. derstanding of the library operation in order to make better decisions in in- creasingly complex situations. Over the years there have been com- mittees in libraries, both standing and ad hoc, which have provided staff opin- ion on a variety of subjects. It has been only in recent years, however, that a con- scious effort has been made to include as many interested staff members as pos- sible in the decision-making process. In- formal groups have developed as li- brarians felt a need to discuss mutual problems. However, in order to best achieve the library goals and to bring the fullest use of the resources of the library to. patrons, some system must be designed to cue the staff into what prob- lems are under consideration, how the decision is to be made, and the resulting decision. Recently there has been more in li- br.ary literature related to problems of management based on theories of the behavioral sciences. Though most have been applied in the world of business, librarians have begun to study how these theories may be applied in library operations. With the aid of a Council on Library Resources Fellowship in 1971-72, the author sought to discover and understand staff-participation re- /275 276 I College & Research Libraries • July 1973 alities in the decision-making processes at ten large university libraries. 0 THE INVESTIGATION The libraries selected were chosen be- cause of staff size. It was felt that li- braries with near 100 professional li- brarians had problems of a different or- der than those of lesser size. A large building with several separate depart- ments plus branch libraries elsewhere on campus compounds the communica- tion problem. The aims of the site visits were to de- termine ( 1 ) the climate in which par- ticipation developed, ( 2) what prepara- tion was given staff before moving into this kind of organization, ( 3) what areas in decision making seemed best suited to staff participation, ( 4) what role the professional staff association plays, and finally ( 5) what portion of the staff was interested in participation and, in general, the staff reaction to the value of staff participation in the deci- sion-making process. In each library interviews were held with the chief library administrators, as well as with department heads, branch librarians, and several below the unit head level. Climate for Participation The climate out of which staff-partici- pation developed was a complex one. Communication problems were wide- spread, not only within the library sys- tem but also between the academic com- munity and the library. Lack of recog- nition of librarians for their contribu- tion to the academic community con- tributed to low morale. Discontent was prevalent due to lack of opportunity for expression on matters directly affect- ing their work. Outside the library, li- brarians seldom had a vote in the aca- 0 The libraries visited are: Columbia, MIT, Cornell, Pennsylvania State, Stanford, Univer- sity of California at Berkeley and at Los Ange- les, Washington, North Carolina, and Duke. demic council. At Cornell and Colum- bia it was not deemed desirable to re- quest faculty rank and title, or to be judged by faculty standards but by li- brarians' standards. However, at all in- stitutions a voice in the academic coun- cil seemed generally desirable. Preparation for Participation Therefore learning to work in this context must be a developmental one. Only with the acceptance of the staff can even a partial success be accom- plished. Librarians in general are not experienced in working in groups or conducting meetings. These skills must be learned and there must be constant effort to improve communication. (Cor- nell had a workshop on how to conduct a meeting.) Considerable responsibility is placed on the participating librarians. Working together in this way takes time before some people are willing to ex- press themselves freely. Libraries developing staff-participa- tion programs have the traditional py- ramidal organization charts. Plans for staff participation provide groups from various departments to work together. This is another overlay of organization providing an interdepartmental fertili- zation for staff input into decisions. There is horizontal as well as planned vertical communication through the or- ganization of the staff. Libraries have used committees for years to make recommendations for the solution of library problems, and such committees provide some background for staff participation. Some libraries had standing committees ( administra- tion-appointed) to deal with problems in broad areas such as personnel, col- lection development, technical, and pub- , . .,. lie services. Building on this experience in group work, a system can be devel- oped to give everyone interested an op- portunity to contribute to the manage- ment of the library. In all cases there was a considerable .1 I period of time during which the staff discussed and studied what seemed de- sirable in their own particular situation. Staff leadership, as well as that of the administration, plays a major role in de- termining how staff participation is es- tablished and how it functions. Only at UCLA has the system for staff participation been operating long enough for a thorough evaluation. The consensus of the Evaluation Committee was that the concept of the Library Ad- ministrative Network, the UCLA plan for staff participation, had provided wide opportunities for staff participa- tion and should be continued, with the addition of certain amendments based upon experience. At UCLA in December 1966 the li- brarians sponsored a meeting to discuss the status of librarians in the · U niver- sity of California. The librarians re- alized the need to have established pol- icy on such matters as job security, bet- ter promotion, grievance procedures, leaves of absence, access to research funds, opportunity for professional growth, salaries commensurate with fac- ulty, and a voice in university and li- brary affairs. The Staff Association, com- posed of both professional and nonpro- fessional staff members, had established in November 1964 an Ad Hoc Informa- tion Committee. In time, this committee .- ~ recommended the establishment of a nonacademic personnel advisory com- mittee. The general unrest in 1967 brought into focus recognition of the need for a study of the library's com- munication problems. Campus experts in the behavioral sciences and employee- management relations and the univer- sity librarians, with the approval of the Information Committee, employed a professional consultant to study the li- brary's problems in depth. The report focused on the library as a social system, with emphasis on the human element. There followed a series of ali-day meet- ings of the library unit heads, the ad- Staff Participation I 211 ministrative group, and two consultants with competence in team building and management, some twenty-five people, out of which developed a new structure and plans to review a number of func- tional committees with "communica- tion" the most important problem. The acceptance by the staff of the Library Administrative Network was es- tablished. Librarians learned to work in groups, to conduct meetings, and to re- cord the ideas expressed in the meetings. Inherent in this plan is the responsibil- ity of the librarians to work with other staff members on library problems and communicate their thoughts through an established line of communication. Columbia, of course, is the subject of the widely-reported Booz, Allen & Ham- ilton management study, with reorgani- zation a possible outcome which would establish ways for participation by the staff. At Cornell, as another example, a doc- toral candidate in behavioral manage- ment interviewed fifty-five members of the professional staff to learn as much as possible about organizational behav- ior in the library. Staff reaction to there- cently-established plan for staff partici- pation was noted, though the plan had barely had time to be fully understood or the impact observed from this change. Recommendations for strength- ening the staff participation included in- house workshops on management the- ory. Principal Areas for Participation Apparently the most successful task oriented group in many libraries where staff were involved was the personnel• committee. Responsibility for determin- ing criteria for promotion and recom- mending individuals who had met this criteria has worked well. In the few areas of disagreement, consensus was achieved between the committee and the library administration. Staff participated in decisions related r 278 I College & Research Libraries • July 1973 to public and technical services quite satisfactorily. Cornell used these tech- niques to reorganize the order depart- ment, taking a little over a year. Com- mittees need to have a clear charge, or much time is wasted trying to determine purpose. Those with more general charges find themselves discussing areas outside their purview, overlapping other committee responsibilities. Role of the Staff Association in Participation Staff associations composed of the professional librarians came into being in the late 1960s. Prior to then, most li- braries had a staff association composed of both professional and nonprofes- sional staff, which served primarily a so- cial function. With changes in attitudes and the search for identity by librarians in academia, the professional staff asso- ciation developed to provide an avenue for communication among the staff and a voice for the professional librarian. Through these channels many aspects of librarianship were discussed and recommendations made to library ad- ministrators, who, in turn, found this organization a way to secure staff reac- tion to many situations. Administrators have been learning ways of working with the staff associations. In some li- braries they seem to be used as an arm of the administration as well as a sound- ing board for ideas. Some staff associa- tions recommend persons for adminis- tratively appointed committees, some work at staff development and programs for orientation. In a few libraries it is not always easy to tell administrative committees from staff association com- mittees. When functioning well, there is good communication. In some li- braries the professional staff association appears to be the forerunner of an ad- ministration-established structure for staff participation in management. Task-oriented groups with carefully drawn guidelines seemed most success- ful. The areas of personnel, technical, and public services appeared best suit- ed for such a process. Budget making seemed unsuitable for the usual pattern of staff participation. Staff Interest in Participation In most libraries less than 50 percent of the staff seemed interested. Some peo- ple, after observing for a time, grew in- terested; others felt the scheme only a palliative, and considered it a waste of time. The opinion was expressed, "I like what I am doing and feel it more im- portant than sitting in committees hour after hour." As was to be expected, in no instance was there full approval of staff-participation. Supporting staff were involved where their experience was ap- propriate. Opinions ran from full sup- port of staff involvement regardless of the time it takes, to those who thought administrators were paid to make deci- sions and should do so. A number voiced the opinion that it was such a waste of time to have to educate the in- experienced in a group when .a few knowledgeable people could have ar- rived at a good decision in. a much shorter time. However, there seemed to be a por- tion of the "old line" department heads who felt this interaction had done much, not only for the morale, but for breadth of understanding and insight into the responsibilities of the library overall. Though it is sometimes tedious to have to explain a complex situation to a new member of a committee, such effort contributes to the development of the staff as a whole. Most younger librarians were reason- ably enthusiastic. Some had soon found their particular jobs easily mastered and felt involvement to be an opportunity for growth and learning about what goes on in libraries. The opportunity to meet other young librarians in the sys- tem and see what kinds of· positions they held was felt to be rewarding. By • -~ ' I \ ., having on some committees the experi- enced librarian, each can observe differ- ent viewpoints. Staff Reaction to Participation in Decision Making Quite a large portion of the staff did not participate-some for personal rea- sons, some for lack of interest, some who did not want to take the time from their duties, and some who philosophi- cally disagreed with the concept. A few administrators seemed to feel that at least a part of this unwillingness to par- ticipate was a lack of clear understand- ing of the process and that, in time, should the system prove itself, wider participation could be gained. Not being personally involved did not mean that they were not benefiting, for many of their colleagues passed along infor- mation gained through participation. For the most part, the staff members interviewed had been active participants in the process. There was some negative response in every library, but overall it was considered worth the time and the feeling that the longer they engaged in this process and learned more about working together, the more rewarding it could become. The library administra- tors generally seemed to feel the need for staff recommendations on a wide range of problems before making a de- cision. There was never a question but Staff Participation I 219 that the final decision is the responsibil- ity of the head librarian. Among the libraries whose progress will be noted with special interest will be Columbia, Cornell, and UCLA. The report of the BAH survey at Columbia could have a major impact on other li- braries. Cornell and UCLA both have been working with management con- sultants and are moving ahead seeming- ly with more direction. CoNCLUSIONS From these visits, it seems clear that staff participation will play a larger part in library administration than in the past. Staff participation is nothing new in libraries, but the effort to involve all interested staff in contributing to the management of the library is the recent development. The real impact is yet to be felt. Librarians need to learn how to work in this manner. Every library vis- ited had staff-participation to some de- gree. The degree seemed to hinge not only on the attitude and personality of the administration but also on the dy- namism and leadership within the staff. Ahead lies the challenge of how best to establish the climate and communica- tions necessary to use most effectively the talents within the staff to meet the changes ahead for libraries and their patrons.