Are you being served? Embracing servant leadership, trusting library staff, and engendering change

Abstract

It is self-evident that academic libraries and librarianship are changing in substantive ways, ranging from the types of material we collect, the way we approach information literacy instruction, to our positions within college and university organizational charts. In response to a rapidly changing environment, library administrators may try to quickly bring about changes in library policies, structure, and more. However, in the process, library administrators may inadvertently adopt rigid top-down approaches that can disenfranchise and disengage library workers, resulting in outcomes that serve neither students or workers. A servant leadership approach to authority and influence may be a means to reverse this frustrating trajectory. Servant leadership requires that administrators focus on the existing expertise and the development potential of library workers as the means for ensuring fulfillment of the library’s mission in an environment of constant change. Furthermore, this approach requires administrators to begin by accepting library workers’ perspectives as their reality, instead of dismissing those perspectives. This approach shares the same foundations of two central practices of librarianship: reference and instruction. Librarians must believe users’ information needs, listen to their experiences and with this information, consider ways to aid the user in progressing toward their goal. A challenge to this approach is that it requires more work for library administrators and library workers through consideration of different types of information and looking closely at voices of disagreement and resistance. While servant leadership appears more complex with slower progress, the end result of sincere engagement and effort by everyone in the library has the potential to aid in achieving the changes needed to keep academic libraries thriving.

Adapting to change in academic libraries

“…Pryce-Jones (2018) reported that library professionals facing challenges where organizational restructuring has brought numerous changes an increasing demand of patrons, changes in institutional policies and mission statements (Kramer and Horstmann, 2019; Meulemans and Maltin, 2019). Grant (2018) reported that libraries need effective ways of working, a wealth of resources and innovative physical library facilities, these realities require adapting changes for survival and growth (Pryce-Jones, 2018; Popp, 2012).…”

“…Roe (2014: 294) identified that organization motivates all workers for change, according to Coghlan and Rashford (2006:69) “determining the need for change,” as Grieves (2010:287) stated, “Everyone in the organization needs to understand why change is necessary.” A change is not related to organizational issues only but there are also several internal and external factors such as structure, library staff and culture (Meulemans and Maltin, 2019) and the external environment includes policy, political issues and economic crisis that impact the change (Wong, 2019; Sanches, 2018). All stakeholders must be involved with the change process while a change greatly affects the financial issues in shrinking budget, consequently, acquisition of information resources is a challenge for academic libraries in the USA and in Germany (Kramer and Horstmann, 2019; Ippoliti et al , 2017; Harland et al , 2019).…”

“…Simultaneously, Neufeld (2014) recognized that most valuable qualities and abilities include an adaptable attitude toward change and tolerance for diversity to work in higher education. On the other hand, Meulemans and Maltin (2019) identified that leaders must have abilities the development policy and procedure, deal with internal and external issues and more significant skills recognized as abilities to manage a team and handle multiple tasks (Tam and Robertson, 2002; Fought and Misawa, 2016; Klare, 2017). Grant (2018) identified that libraries are facing several challenges because the demand of library customers and emerging trends are not over yet, so it is not easy to predict and library professionals are under pressure to make the right decisions toward resources, services and facility priorities while institutions have financial limitations (Ippoliti et al , 2017; Xia and Li, 2015; Kramer and Horstmann, 2019).…”

“…Successful leading change can be accomplished by developing the interest and eagerness of individual employees (Kesselman and Watstein, 2009; Meulemans and Maltin, 2019). Besides, Fallon et al (2011) identified in their research that successful leaders need ongoing practice to develop effective leadership skills for changing nature of organizations (Klare,2017; O’Conner, 2014), competencies development programs may prepare individuals in an organization for the future challenges (Nussbaumer and Merkley, 2010).…”

“…Most change management theorists agree that change is not an easy process and cannot achieve without complications and resistance. Library leadership needs a clear vision, strategic planning, open conversation, employees’ involvement, resources and continuous assessment (Meulemans and Maltin, 2019; Konya and Gurel, 2014). At the same time, Denda and Hunter (2016) stated that librarianship in this century is expected to be comfortable with people’s behavior, ability to collaborate effectively, engage with library patrons and be a forward thinker (Charney and Hauke, 2020).…”