Journey to Team Leadership: Case Study in Transforming Library Organizational Structures - Live-Streamed Presentation (Saturday, April 7, 2:30-3:45pm PST)

Robin Lockerby, Assistant Director, Library Outreach Services
Anne Marie Secord, Library Director
National University Library

Finding ways to break out of traditional department and subject area silos has been an ongoing process. This last year, teams were identified and began to shape a new, more positive work environment. A side benefit is that productivity has increased. This session identifies the growth process and the subtle organizational changes that have taken place in lean fiscal times. The teams are project-based and are created by a team leader who has overarching responsibility for tasks. One of the early teams to be organized is responsible for collection development. As a subject area is identified for the institutional program review cycle, a team is pulled together of librarians across public services, technical services, and multimedia/systems to review program needs and library collections. Not only does the report becomes part of the university assessment documents used in accreditation, it strengthens the collaborative support between faculty and librarians across all traditional structures. The newest teams include instruction and outreach. The identified projects include development of research guides, tutorials/instructional learning objects, and outreach initiatives. As faculty are drawn into discussions of content needed to support course learning outcomes, more data is produced that becomes part of program review documentation in support of the library. The role of the library in a culture of assessment can take many forms, but the opportunity to provide unique collaborations and collection of data that support institutional goals and objectives is a great use of the new teams. With the bottom line an ever present reality, the team initiatives allow for a leaner, more focused collection of library support services. Through projects tied to institutional assessment initiatives, the library has found another way of showing sustainability.