Case
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Keywords

Case

In a resort town, employers hire large numbers of foreign students as summer workers. These students use the local library's computers to write home. The library is crowded with these students, particularly in the morning. The library staff notices a change in the attitudes of year-round patrons after September 11th. Several remark loudly about the numbers of "foreigners" using the computers. The staff informs these patrons that the students have purchased library cards and are entitled to use them, just as any out-of-state visitor might do.

This attitude changes again after reading of the controversy about the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act. Where some patrons wondered about what the students might be doing on the computers, they are now worried about the government's intrusion into their own library records and computer usage.

Several patrons discuss this with the circulation staff. The staff shows them that the automation system does not keep track of any books they return. Only the materials currently checked out can be displayed. This is only partially true. Any material returned overdue or lost remain on a patron's "block history" record. Internet use requires a valid library card. Usage could possibly be tracked. None of these patrons realize that the PATRIOT Act mandates that a library remain silent if visited by officials.

The library administration has issued guidelines to follow if a government agency wants a library's records or computers. While the staff cannot refuse the request, they are instructed to contact the administration's lawyer before handing anything over to the government. No mention is made of what to do if the lawyer is unavailable.

One staff member wonders how far to go in discussing the Act's provisions. Nobody wants to appear un-patriotic and few have the time, knowledge or authority to explain the problems with the Act or the extent to which the automated system tracks information. The administration's silence on the issue speaks volumes.

References

A.J. (2002). One year later: examining the Patriot Act's impact. American Libraries, 33, 10, 20. Retrieved January 23, 2003 from EbscoHost database.

Berry III, John N. (2002). Questioning authority. Library Journal, 127, 16, 8. Retrieved January 23, 2003 from EbscoHost database.

Gelsey, Zara. (2002). Who's reading over your shoulder? Humanist, 62, 5, 38-39. Retrieved January 23, 2003 from EbscoHost database.

Sanders, Bernie. (2003, January 19). What are you reading? The Sun, p. 5C.

Sapphire

Year before last, the Friends of Spencer Public Library decided they would like to donate a new bookmobile to the library. The old one was on its last legs, and some members felt it was a poor symbol of the library as a whole, projecting an image of a creaky, unattractive, and barely functioning institution.

The library director was thrilled, and committed a modest amount of library funds to research options and oversee the selection and acquisition of the new vehicle. The City required the Friends to follow City policy and procedures for such major purchases, but otherwise gave them considerable freedom as long as the library director had veto power. The acting Extension Services director was assigned to serve as staff liaison to the group, but she wasn't able to spend much time on it because she was still working a full schedule as a reference librarian. A Friends committee worked for over two years on the project.

After selecting a supplier, the committee discovered that any lettering, logos, or graphic elements of any kind would have to be applied once the vehicle arrived in Spencer. So a sub-committee went to work on figuring out what the bookmobile should look like, and committed an additional large donation to cover these costs. An RFP went out, artists submitted ideas, and a young local artist was chosen to blanket the bookmobile in colorful, whimsical, cartoon-like illustrations that would reflect a lively and appealing view of the library. Ideas included larger-than-life-size images of someone reading a book to a small group of children, a child prowling the stacks on the hunt for a particular dewey decimal number, a hip young man surfing the Internet, and an elderly couple walking out with a bulging totebag of books.

After months of meetings and revisions (Should the artist take the dog out of the story time image since we don't allow dogs in the library? Do we really want to include that young woman talking on her cell phone? Can the artist easily remove the coffee cup shown next to the Internet terminal?), and several additional months of waiting for the vehicle to arrive and the illustrations to be applied, the Friends proudly rolled out their new "baby" for the whole world to see.

At a Saturday open house, community members strolled through and around the bookmobile, commenting on everything from its size to its appearance. It seemed everyone had an opinion on the graphics, with some loving the childlike innocence of the design, others proclaiming it undignified. But the day went smoothly and with the big event over, staff could finally concentrate on beginning service.

On Monday morning, the library director called the Extension Services supervisor into her office. There was a problem. The mayor had been contacted by a group of citizens on Sunday objecting to one element of the bookmobile illustrations, the book in the story time image. The mayor hadn't noticed it himself, but evidently on the page of the book being shown to the children in the picture, there was a picture of a fish ... with legs ... clearly, according to the callers, a pro-evolution statement intended to mock their creationist beliefs. The citizens demanded an explanation from the mayor, an apology for the provocative act, and the removal of the legs from the fish, or they would contact the local newspaper for an inquiry.

The director had calmed the mayor temporarily by reminding him that the illustrations were selected by a group of community volunteers who she was certain had no ulterior motives of any kind, but now she was looking to the Extension supervisor for an explanation and a plan to keep the situation from getting out of hand.

REFERENCES:

Caywood, C. A. (2001). Working with staff to convey a uniform message, in Managing the Internet Controversy. New York: Neal-Schuman, pp. 141 - 158.

Fitchett, C. T. (2002, April). Monet, Manet, mayonnaise: is the art worth the controversy? Virginia Libraries, 48:2, 10 - 13.

Perry, N. (2002, October 8). Free speech set in stone: Controversy halts sale of tiles outside Redmond library. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134550649_tilewars08e.ht ml.

Rainey

Dayshore Public Library is one of four in Dawson County's public library system. Each branch in the system records circulation and reference statistics, and reports their numbers in the monthly report to the director. Jill is the branch manager at Dayshore. Her director has just called and told her that Jill's branch's reference question statistics are low compared to last year's at this time. No other branch has showed a reference statistic decline. The circulation statistics are still high. The director reminds her that these numbers are very important because funding is in part based on these statistics. After Jill hangs up the phone, she decides to address this issue with her staff at their next branch staff meeting this Friday. She adds this to her meeting agenda along side mentioning that she is finding other branchs' books on their shelves.

References

Bittel, L. R., & Newstrom, J. W. (1992). What every supervisor should know: complete guide to supervisory management (pp. 412-413). NewYork: McGraw-Hill.

Bruce, A., & Pepitone, J. S. (1999). Linking motivation to performance. In Motivating employees (pp. 38-59). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hunsaker, P. L., & Alessandra, A. J. (1980). Developing action plans. In Art of managing people (pp. 233-243). New York: Simon & Schuster.

Nelson, B., (1997). Soliciting suggestions. In 1001 ways to energize employees (pp. 46-52). New York: Workman Publishers.

Ramundo, M., & Shelly, S. (2000). Keeping motivation high when things are just ho-hum. In Complete idiot's guide to motivating people (pp. 321-330). Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books.

East Coast

Donna is the Public Relations Manager for the Big Blue County Public Library System. She's also the team leader for the system's new Promotions Team. A staff member from each branch is represented on the team. The team is to review the upcoming events and promotional stategies. At one point during one of their meetings, Donna suggests that she'd like to see circulation staff market the programs to patrons as they are checking out books since studies suggest one-on-one promotion is more effective than flyers alone. While she's talking she notices two circulation staff team members exchange glances, and one rolls her eyes. Donna pauses and asks lightly, "What do you think?"

The circulation assistant replies,"It's just that the staff at the circ desk is already expected to remember so much. We make sure each item is put on the patron's card, make sure the correct due dates are stamped, remind patrons of their fines, give them their books that are on hold, put patrons on request lists for items, and tell them about new books coming out. So now we are going to be expected to market programs to patrons there too? It seems like we are constantly asked to add more and more to our workload. What about the people waiting in line who will be getting impatient? People will not want to come to the library if they think they are going to have to deal with pushy sales people."

References

Heller, R. (Ed.), (2002). Change and innovation. In Manager's handbook: Everything you need to know about how business and management work (pp. 201-215). New York: DK Publishing.

Perry, P. M., (1997, October). Turn sourpuss staffers into positive performers. Health Facilities Management 10(10), 76,78. Retrieved January 20, 2003, from OCLC FirstSearch database.

Rogers, M., (2002, December). How do you manage? Library Journal 127, 82-83. Retrieved January 19, 2003, from EBSCOhost MasterFILE Premier database.

East Coast

Library Director, Jane Connors, arrives at Edgewood Public Library, an east coast shoreline town library, after a long town administration meeting. Jane has been director for only six months. Waiting outside her office door is a person unknown to her but her administrative assistant seems to know who he is and is sending her eye signals to keep cool. The Director greets her assistant and waits to be introduced to the visitor. The visitor, Joe Hudson, is a well-dressed middle-aged man with a very serious expression on his face. He is the director of a local adult day car facility and after the introduction requests an ?few minutes of her time.? He is invited into Jane?s office and is asked to make himself comfortable while Jane puts her things away. Jane then closes the office door and then asks, ?What can I do for you?? Joe explains that he has a concern and has hesitated to approach Jane because she has not been in the position for long but the problem is growing. He tells Jane that he did not call because he felt that to complain to a stranger was unfair and that a personal visit was necessary. He also mentioned that he did not make an appointment because he did not want a particular staff member to know that he was coming. His concern was that the Margaret Fenner, children?s librarian has been going weekly to the daycare to read stories to the visiting child daycare and the adults daycare residents has not been there is several weeks and that she has not notified them that she would not be there. Joe went on to explain that when he had his staff call to inquire as to the reason for the absence they were put off with the explanation from the children?s librarian ?something came up.? Joe gives Jane a list of dates that Margaret has not appeared. Joe also related that the last few times that Margaret was there that she made a remarks to different daycare staff about ?how can they stands working with these people.? Joe explained that the program was important to the daycare and if Margaret is not going to return then he has to look elsewhere. Jane was unaware that Margaret was not arriving at the daycare but she knows that Margaret has left the building because she has seen her leave. After she reassures Joe that she will look into it, she sits in her office and tries to determine the first step.

References

Denhardt, Robert B., Denhardt, Janet Vinzant, & Aristigueta, Maria P. (2002). Managing conflict. In Managing human behavior in public & nonprofit organizations (pp.327-353). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Grossman, Jack H. and Parkinson, J. Robertson. ((2002). Resolving conflicts. In Becoming a successful manager (pp. 103-112). New York, NY: Contemporary Books.

Stueart, Robert D. & Moran Barbara B. (2002). Discipline. In Library and information center management (pp. 261-268). Greenwood Village, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Walters, Suzanne. (1994). Problem solving and complaint management. In Customer service (pp. 49-60). New York, NY: Neal Schuman

Weingand, Darlene E. (2001). Disciplinary action. In Administration of the Small Public library (p. 130-131). Chicago, IL: American Library Association

Action

Ever since the library opened in February,2000, the Friends of the Library have been very active. At first the staff was enthusiastic about the enthusiasm they saw in the volunteeers. These people seemed willing to give up their time and sometimes money to help out the library. As time went on, the Friends did not seem satisfied with their role of shelving and shelf reading. They wanted to learn to work the front desk. The library was understaffed , so additional help was welcomed. There were training sessions and the Friends put in a few hours a week at the desk. However, putting in only a few hours each week was not enough for most of them. They could not remember how to check-in or out or put a book on hold. Full-time staff had to stand behind them and give directions. This was not working because it took two people to do one job-not too efficient! Staff decided to try to use only the Friends that could handle the job. This created jealousy among those not asked to work the desk. At that point it was declared that only paid staff could work the front desk.

From that point on things plumeted downhill. Day to day relations between the staff and the FRiends became hostile. The Friends demanded that staff stop what they were doing and unlock a door or make copies. There was no regard for the fact that there may have been a patron ahead of them. It seems like something is backwards. The Friends are there to help the library, not antagonize.

The director now brings in a mediator. Staff is not looking forward to this because they feel put upon. They do not feel that the Friends have the right to negotiate with staff.

References

Montana,Patrick J and Charnov,Bruce H (2000) Management Hauppauge,NewYork Business Review Books p.375-387

Jer

Maria and her team of editors work for a publishing company which features quality reference books that will be used and targeted to be used in educational settings. Upon completion of past projects that have been targeted to an educational audience, the books have failed to sell as well as expected. This failure to sell resulted even though Maria and her team had researched the market and found a demand for this particular type of resource.

The typical procedure for a completed book is that Maria and her team will Œhand it over² to the team in charge of marketing. In past circumstances, each time Maria made a suggestion or tried to communicate suggestions for marketing a book, it seemed to go unnoticed. Maria, while trying to communicate with the marketing team, felt frustrated that the communication was not being heard.

The current project that Maria and her team have recently completed is a reference /textbook featuring French history. In an effort to ensure that this book would sell better than past books, Maria developed a plan to present to the marketing team. This plan was designed to provide enough information about the book so that it could be marketed effectively, ensuring that more copies would be sold. Maria and her staff spent extra time making presentations to the marketing team about the book, including information about its content and its distinctive features. In addition to presentations, Maria and her team compiled a list of different organizations that had an interest in French history, including French language teachers. This technique was one way that the book could be marketed to its intended target audience.

As a result to Mariaıs teamıs efforts, sending brochures and information about the book to French language teachers did result in some copies of the book being sold to high school French teachers across the country. However, in the end not all of the suggestions were heeded and the number of books sold was still disappointing.

Relevant References:

Ali, M., Brookson, S., Bruce, A., Eaton, J., Heller, R. et al (2001). Selling successfully (pp. 558-608). Managing for excellence. New York, New York: DK.

Anderson, A.H. and Kleiner, D. (1995). Effective Marketing Communications: A Skills and Activity-Based Approach (Effective Management). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

Holpp, L. (1998) Managing teams. (Briefcase Books Series) London: McGraw Hill Trade.

Rotondo, J and Rotondo, M. (2001). Presentation skills for managers.(Briefcase Books Series). London: McGraw Hill Trade.

Acadia

The Flagstaff Public Library System is preparing to celebrate the acquisition of two new small bookmobiles. In order to effectively promote the bookmobiles, the library director, Mr. Williams, has developed a comprehensive public relations package. The promotion of the bookmobile includes planning and designing brochures, posters, public service announcements and press releases, an exhibit for the library, several public appearances, as well as a special ceremony to unveil the bookmobiles.

Jan is the new part-time staff person that has been recently hired to be part of the bookmobile staff, as well as the person responsible for finalizing details and implementing the public relations tools. In addition, Jan is also responsible for finalizing the schedule of stops that the bookmobiles will make. (The other members of the bookmobile staff will primarily be volunteers). Since the bookmobiles are not scheduled to begin service for several more weeks, Jan has been ³filling in the gaps² around the library as often as possible. (This has been per Mr. Williamıs request.) Her duties have been scattered about the library, including assisting at the information and circulation desks, assisting with shelving, as well as performing countless other tasks that are given to her throughout the day.

At last weekıs staff meeting, Jan was asked to discuss what progress has been made with promoting the bookmobiles, as well as to provide an outline of a schedule of stops for the bookmobile. Jan seemed frazzled, and her response was short and vague. Rather than make a big issue of it at the staff meeting, Mr. Williams scheduled a private appointment with her to discuss concerns and progress. At the meeting, Jan disclosed that there are many details that have not been finalized, since she had been spending much of her recent time performing tasks around the library. ³While I appreciate your assistance around the library, you were hired for this bookmobile project. Please focus your efforts on the bookmobile project from this point forward. Now, what can I do to help you?² Mr. Williams asked.

As a result to this meeting, Jan and Mr. Williams worked together on this project until it was completed. They each put in a lot of extra effort and time until the unveiling of the bookmobiles.

Relevant References:

Ali, M. Brookson, S., Bruce, A., Eaton, J., Heller, R., Johnson, R. et al (2001). Managing projects. Managing for excellence (pp. 286-340). New York, New York: DK.

Austin, E.W. and Pinkleton, B.E. (2000). Strategic public relations management: Planning and managing effective communication programs (Lea's Communication Series.) Lawrence Erlbaum Association.

Goldratt, E M. (2000). The goal. (Second revision edition). Highbridge Publishing Company.

Lewis, J.P. (2000). Project planning, scheduling & control. (Third edition). London: McGraw Hill Trade.

Maxwell, J.C. (2003) The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork Workbook: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

Acadia