Opinion

As academic libraries open their doors to the public, they’ll experience some of the same challenges as public libraries. Should we follow their lead when it comes to staff social workers?

When librarians move into an administrative leadership position, they may find they get fewer projects completed. That’s fine. It’s more important to contribute to subordinates’ personal growth and organizational progress.

The people of Queens can stop waiting and start using their brand new Hunters Point Community Library. And they should. The 22,000 square foot building, which opened September 24 after long delays and a cost of over $40 million, is a major investment that is likely to be intensely used and long enjoyed.

Every academic library should have a set of standards for how people are expected to conduct themselves in our facilities. If it’s nonexistent at your library, now is the time to create it. If there is one that has languished for years, it’s time for an update.

Even if you think you lead without exploiting the power and privilege of your position, the way your formal leadership or management role affects your library workers might surprise you.

Next Library 2019 in Aarhus, Denmark was just as engaging and enjoyable as the first time I attended in 2017. In fact, it has become one of my favorite learning opportunities, informing my teaching and research. A conference that demands active participation, requires outside the box thinking, and reserves “the right to alterations and surprises” is an enjoyable challenge.

I join those from the library community urging a reconsideration of Macmillan’s recent decision to limit libraries to one copy of new ebooks for the first two months of publication. This one size fits all embargo is, at best, an insensitive blockade. Libraries are key engines of book culture, and willing collaborators in the process of finding a path to access.

If the prospect of going through another change management exercise leaves you groaning and wishing for a better way to adapt to change, you may be ready for change readiness.

While many view natural disasters as levelers—events that do not differentiate based on ethnicity or economic status—this is not the case. Low-income citizens are often hit harder by extreme weather events, due to everything from poorly constructed or aging housing to housing located closer to flood plains.