Introduction
It was in the air; the sound of the snipping of budgets.
Nada had heard the sound in her collection development department at the Hoover County Public Library for the last three years. Each year, the snips grew closer and louder; this year, she knew the snip would be audible in her department.
Nada had been at the Hoover County Public Library for over 26 years and had served in various capacities, but had been made the head of the Collections Services (CS) department 8 years ago. As far as she was concerned, the decision to put her into the CS Department was the best made by the administration. Nada had finally found a home in the library, doing what she loved: buying and processing materials. She had streamlined the ordering process and eliminated the cataloging backlog. She had brought consistency to a dysfunctional unit and did not want to see her unit changed too much now that she had established harmony. Nada thought about this as she waited to meet with the new library director and the library management team later that afternoon about the future of her department.
Mark, the new library director, brought in many needed changes when he arrived three years ago. Now, the library business was booming in Hoover County. Changes in customer service provision had begun to attract many new customers. Customer visits and circulation had both grown over 60% in the last three years. Never had the library been so used and appreciated by the community, nor had the materials Nada worked so hard to bring into the library been so welcomed and utilized.
Mark was also a statistics enthusiast and had researched the use of library materials by customers. His research indicated that the current and future use of library materials was moving away from the traditional “inside the building” use of books and the delivery of service and moving towards a new “wherever you are, we come to you” service delivery model. Indeed, one of the reasons he had been selected to be the new director was to bring this new style of service delivery to the library and move it into the 21st century, according to the Board of Trustees, who had hired him.
Mark and the library’s management team met later in the afternoon to discuss how they could address their challenges, with the most significant challenge being the cut in funding. The library was almost entirely state-funded, and there had been a severe budget crunch at the State Level for the past three years. As a result, the library had experienced a total budget reduction of over 18% in the last three years; this caused several staffing reorganizations, reduced staffing levels, and a proposed 52% decrease in this year’s materials expenditures to meet the ever-growing appetite for new library materials.
There were some tough decisions to be made by the management team in this meeting.
Nada listened to the challenges and proposed changes in service delivery offered by Mark, the director. Nada knew that all of the library’s departments had already tightened their belts, but more cuts would still need to be made. Nada also knew that because her department had become more efficient over the past few years, and with the continuing decrease in purchasing new materials, her department would be a target. Nada had already lost two positions due to retirement and not having the positions filled, and now it looked like her workload was about to be cut by 52% more. With the increased materials expenditure reductions, Nada knew she was at risk of losing her department’s harmony, staffing, or even possibly her department’s existence because of these challenges.
The other department heads seemed to sense this as well. Mark explained the budget decline and introduced his research and vision for transforming the library, its services, and the collection to meet the customers’ new demands. When Mark finished his presentation, he asked for comments and suggestions for action. All eyes looked around the table and then settled on Nada. Mark asked Nada if she had any suggestions for what her department could do to respond to these challenges. Nada took a breath; what could she say? Would she preserve what she values in her department and not be a team player, thus adding to the possibility of losing her department, or would she make changes or sacrifices to her department to help out the library?
What would you do?