Leveraging Leadership Theory for Access Services: Applications for Change, Management, and Planning

Abstract

Busy on the ground with service provision, staff management, and constant technology and workflow changes, we may rarely look to theory to improve our practice in Access Services. Many of us instead rely on past practice or best practices as established by colleagues in other libraries., , Access Services departments handle various aspects of high-profile library services and internal workflow matters including customer service points, circulation, interlibrary loan, course reserves, collaboration, marketing, technology, building security, space management, stacks maintenance, student worker management, operation and workflow, staff development, performance management. Because of these varied responsibilities, Access Services departments provide unique opportunities for leadership not always available in other units of the library, both with regards to managing staff and in terms of implementing public-side change that impacts our users and our colleagues. , , Leadership theory offers some insight into how to best approach uncertainty, changing environments, poor performance, and management situations - all of which we face daily in our work in Access Services. This session addresses path-goal leadership theory, situational leadership theory, and leader-member exchange theory, and focuses on how these theories can directly inform our everyday practice in terms of managing change, workflows, staff performance, and planning for the future. Real-world examples from circulation, interlibrary loan, course reserves, building security and more will be used to illustrate how you can leverage leadership theory not only for yourself, but to help your staff and colleagues excel.,