Session 7 Library Trends and Key work areas


Organisation Structure of Libraries

The three divisions in the traditional structure of public libraries are:

  •  Administration
  •  Reader Services
  •  Technical Services

BUT - what is a traditional library. The library structure really depends on the type of library and its place in the organisation or community.

Administration

Administration division duties include:
  •  Management
  •  Policy decisions
  •  Budget control
  •  Staff supervision
  •  Personnel matters
  •  Staff training
  •  Liaison within organisation & with other organisations
  •  Providing advice
  •  Planning
  •  ICT support & development
Many of these duties are performed by:
  •  Professional library staff
    • Librarians
    • Library technicians
    • Library officer
  •  Professional managers
  •  Accountants
  •  IT specialists
  •  Other personnel

Reader Services

Might also be referred to as:
  •  User services
  •  Client services
Within this division:
  • Lending services/Circulation
  • Information services/Reference
  • ILL (Inter library loans - this might also fall under Technical Services division)
  • Collection development

Lending services/Circulation

Services include:
  • Registration of clients
  • Loans (generally recorded in a library management system or purpose-built database by scanning borrower’s ID then item barcode)
  • Returns
  • Reserves/Holds
  • Overdues
  • Fines
Note: some libraries don’t lend items or restrict borrowing to certain types of items or restrict loan period due to demand

Duties generally performed by:
  • Library assistant
  • Library attendant
  • Circulation officer
  • Customer experience officer
  • Library officer
  • Library technician
  • Librarian 
Services distinct to user groups
Children & Youth:
  • Storytime
  • Homework help
  • School holiday programs
  • Book week
  • Toy libraries
  • Reading clubs
Yarra Libraries

Photo by Anita Jankovic on Unsplash


People with disabilities:
  • Braille
  • Large Print
  • Talking/Audio Books
  • Captioned videos
  • Assistive and adaptive equipment

Older adults/Seniors:
  • Home library service
  • Computer training
  • Library programs/events
  • Clubs
  • Workshops



Goldfields libraries


Cultural:
  • LOTE (Languages other than English) collections
  • Conversation Clubs
  • Programs


Monash City Council - local information in your language https://www.monlib.vic.gov.au/About-Us/Community-Languages


Other Services distinct to user groups:

Other User Groups

  • Teaching staff
  • Alumni
  • Directors
  • Lawyers/Barristers
  • Doctors/Nurses/patients
  • Corporate staff
Royal Children's Hospital

Toy Libraries

YouTube: Toy Libraries Australia - What is a Toy Library 

Information Services/Reference

Includes:
  • Reference & research enquiries
  • Current affairs awareness
  • User education/Information literacy

Technical Services

Includes:
  • Acquisitions
  • Cataloguing
  • End Processing
  • Serials
  • Binding
Some libraries outsource tasks of cataloguing and processing

References:
Gosling, M & Hopgood, E 2004, ‘Chapter 7: Libraries’, Learn about information, 3rd edn, DocMatrix, Pyrmont, NSW.

Organisational Structures – some examples

Library of Congress – the largest library in the World!

University of Queensland 

Monash University 

National Library 

Within Chisholm, the library structure can be broken down into 
  • Learner Support Services; 
  • Research and Academic support; 
  • Systems Support; 
  • Acquisitions; 

Industry Trends and Challenges

USA

Here are a couple of articles that cover the trends and technology challenges facing libraries in the US. It is important to look at trends overseas as well as locally as it will give us an idea of the overall challenges facing libraries and library staff.

Read (or skim) through the Article on the State of America's Libraries 2020.

The article covers a range of different libraries that you can read by scrolling through the article using the navigation at the top of the page.

Class Discussion 1

What are some of the challenges or trends in Public Libraries mentioned in the article?

What are some of the challenges or trends in Academic libraries mentioned in the article?

What are some of the challenges or trends in School libraries mentioned in the article?

The last section is on Issues and Trends. Do you think that these are relevant for Australia or just the USA? Why?

Trends


This article is from the ALA libraries of the Future group that aims to highlight trends that are relevant for libraries and library staff. It breaks down the trends into the following categories:
  • Society
  • Technology
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Politics and Government
  • Economics
  • Demographics
Click on a few of the topics and read what the article says about them. (the important bit is the "Why it Matters").

Class Discussion 2

What Technology trends are relevant and why?

What are some of the interesting issues that relate to Demographics?

What are some of the issues that relate to Society? 

Are these relevant for us in Australia? Why?

Australian Articles



Class Discussion 3

What are the issues outlined in the first article? Are Australian public libraries looking secure?

What are some of the strategies outlines in the SAPLN report?

Victoria



Summary from above report




FROM WENDY MORRISON
Areas (groups/teams) that make up our organisation structure (for the moment) include:
ManagementExecutive TeamLeadership TeamBranch Mangers/Team Leaders
Collections, Lending and ProgrammingYouth ServicesAdult ProgramsHome Library Service/Outreach
Lending ServicesInformation ServicesDigital Ops
Collection Development
R.E.A.D. Group (reader engagement and development team)
Health Safety & ConsultationConsultative CommitteeMental Health First Aider OfficersContact OfficersHealth & Wellbeing teamOH&S
Hope this helps.






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