Public Library Planning: Case Studies for Management

(Hardback)

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Public libraries must function in a time of limited funding, increasing technology and shifting demographies and client needs. To fulfill their role, libraries must manage change through effective planning. This text analyses case studies of planning at several representative libraries, illustrating how formal planning procedures are adapted to changing circumstances. The study is based primarily on interviews with staff members at each site, wherever possible drawing on their own words and on related documents and surveys. Chapters in the book draw on the above material to evaluate the planning process and its organisation, the planning documents produced, the social aspects of planning and the benefits of the process. The book examines how planning evolved at each site, the kinds of problems encountered and how they were solved, and the effects of planning on the organisation. In addition, it emphasises the complexity of planning, the variety of perspectives held by staff members, and the relationship between planning and the library's local environment.

Author Bio

BRETT SUTTON is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition to his graduate degree in library science, he has a doctorate in anthropology. His articles have appeared in journals such as Library and Information Science Research, Library Quarterly, Libraries and Culture, and Library Administration and Management.