Developing a team management structure in a public library

Library Trends, Summer, 2004 by Betsy A. Bernfeld

My diagnosis: We needed to improve our organizational structure. We needed a system that would work for a staff size of fifty, not twenty-five, and one that was in the midst of a budget and space crunch. Serendipitously, I noticed an article in Library Journal that mentioned Shelley Phipps and the continuing development of the UA Library as a learning organization. I looked up Shelley again.

SECOND ENCOUNTER WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA MODEL

I should have called for an appointment, but it was two days after Christmas and I did not expect to find anybody at the UA Library. I had just dropped in to reacquaint myself with the facility. To my surprise, Shelley Phipps was in her office and just happened to be looking for a diversion from a paper she was writing. I reminded her of our past meeting and launched into my latest list of questions.

Before an hour was up, Shelley had offered to mentor me in an independent study through the UA School of Information Resources and Library Science. My project was to consist of a directed study of team management theory, on-site observation of UA Library teams, a literature review of articles related to organizational development at the UA Library, and a study of UA Library written policies, procedures, and training documents. It was to culminate in the articulation of a model of a team management structure for Teton County Library that might be transferable to other public libraries.

Organizational Structure Diagram

During our Christmastime meeting in December 2002, Shelley Phipps made a puzzling recommendation. "Draw up your organizational chart," she said. She promised it would be an eye-opening experience.

The UA Library organizational chart is upside down from the usual hierarchical structure of an academic library. The dean is at the bottom, not the top. Customers (students, faculty, and community) are on top. It emphasizes the library's focus on the customer and the staff support role played by administration. Dean Stoffle has claimed that the flipped organizational chart has been instrumental in her organization's success. "Because of the way we are restructured, we can change faster than we did in the past," Stoffle told Library Journal. "It has allowed us to put as many librarians as possible in direct, one-on-one work with faculty and students" (Berry, 2002, p. 42).

On the snowy 1,000 mile ride back to Wyoming, I drew many little squares looking for a way to represent the organizational structure of Teton County Library. We did have a published organizational chart, a typical hierarchical diagram with the director at the top, and there is an underlying hierarchy in our organization. All teams have leaders and every person has an assigned supervisor. The chart is helpful at new hire orientations and once a year when we are making a case to the county commissioners about the need for more staff in a particular area. However, the chart does not adequately reflect how we do our work. It does not depict cross-training, it does not show Team Leaders and how they make library-wide decisions, nor does it represent any of our work teams that accomplish special projects.