Envisioning Future Academic Library Services: Initiatives, Ideas and Challenges

Tracy Robertson (La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia)

Library Management

ISSN: 0143-5124

Article publication date: 22 February 2011

427

Keywords

Citation

Robertson, T. (2011), "Envisioning Future Academic Library Services: Initiatives, Ideas and Challenges", Library Management, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 225-226. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435121111112925

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


I was particularly keen to read this book, as the title Envisioning Future Academic Library Services: Initiatives, Ideas and Challenges evoked all sorts of ideas in my mind about what might be in store for those of us working in the academic sector in the coming years. My initial thoughts included “is there something here which I might have missed?”, “does this have all the answers?”, and “how can I get a competitive advantage by reading this?”. Well, that is all probably too much to ask, but I believe I have taken a great deal from this book for my own professional development as well as that of my team.

The core message is that as librarians, we have the opportunity to make a difference on a variety of levels. The future means change, and essentially each chapter is focused on a specific aspect of that change. Web 2.0 certainly is a major theme as we would expect, but the papers are sympathetic to the fact that there is much more on the horizon.

A few chapters particularly resonated with me. McDonald looks at academic libraries as physical places. He acknowledges that the way people use space and learn has changed, and the ubiquitous “learning spaces” has entered our everyday vocabulary. He quite rightly sees space as a strategic resource ‐how many wars have been fought over the right to a piece of physical space? This space has to be carefully managed and changed in order to be retained and remain relevant.

Liz Wright's chapter on leadership is more than the usual management‐speak repackaged for libraries. It actually engages with what management means in libraries today and beyond. Wright explains that we need a leadership culture, which has a “strong vision linked to determined action” in order to progress positively. Good leaders or leadership doesn't always just happen automatically. There needs to be a focus on making sure that the right tools are provided to assist leadership learning in our specific environments for tomorrow's students.

The concept of adding value to learning and teaching is the theme of chapter 11. It also contains one of my favourite quotes: “librarians need to stop talking to librarians”, which neatly sums up the need to look outside to others, and think laterally about our offerings and client needs. McKnight suggests that the future will see consolidation of services for clients such as IT and academic support groups in the library (or learning commons) as a service interaction zone. Many libraries are starting to experiment with such a concept, and some of the ideas contained here provide much food for thought.

This publication while aiming at the academic library setting still has interest and applicability to other library sectors. The challenges and initiatives (particularly with storage, public space, use of social software) are there for all of us, and therefore I believe this book has value with a broad range of libraries. By separating the facets of future change, anyone can open this book and choose which chapters are relevant to them. It is easy for the reader make optimum use of their time by being able to identify what their “need to know” and “nice to know” chapters are. In short, there is something for everyone.

Sue McKnight has managed to bring together a group of papers, which are insightful, easily read, and perhaps most importantly stimulate the thinking of academic librarians. Anything, which might help prepare our profession for future challenges, and encourage us to be proactive in our thinking, has to be worthwhile.

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