Library 2020 by Joseph Janes

Author:Joseph Janes [Janes, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Published: 2012-01-14T05:00:00+00:00

Leading Change and Taking Risks

The pace of change is accelerating so rapidly that we have to be willing to take risks not only when developing and transforming our services but also in redefining our roles. We cannot just hold onto the things we like to do or the things that we studied in library school years ago. We must adapt to so many changes around us in our global, digital world—demographic, economic, social, and so forth—and take the opportunity to lead our communities. A recent policy brief from the American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy, entitled “Confronting the Future: Strategic Visions for the 21st-Century Public Library,” articulates a framework for understanding areas where we must be willing to take risks. Roger E. Levien, the policy brief’s author, posits four dimensions of strategic decisions that library leaders must make. These dimensions, each viewed on a continuum, are: the physical to virtual libraries, the individual to community libraries, the collection to creation libraries, and the portal to archive library. While the policy brief focuses on public libraries, the four dimensions likely apply as well to other types of libraries. As libraries make and implement decisions about their future directions and services, the actions will have an impact on how those libraries are positioned not just in the short term but also in the medium and long term. How much do we invest in our virtual versus our physical presence, including not just buildings but also physical or virtual resources? How do we address the priorities of individuals while also focusing on the opportunities around serving different segments or our entire community? How do we build our virtual and physical places to serve individuals as well as groups within our communities? What investments should we be making in building our collections, and how can we create opportunities for our library to support knowledge creation, not just knowledge collection? What resource areas are individual libraries uniquely positioned to collect, preserve, and make accessible versus areas where we can provide access to resources hosted elsewhere without consideration of future access?

Library leaders also make strategic decisions that affect what skills and expertise are needed in their employees. Without a willingness to take risks, library leaders may find themselves stuck in a past that does not position them for the opportunities offered in transforming libraries for the future.

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