Abstract
This chapter argues that libraries should sustain and increase allocations to cloud computing technologies following the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than falling back into old management styles. The power of the collaborative environment makes it possible to administratively restructure the library to improve efficiency in the virtual domain, where libraries will find themselves operating more and more. Remote work arrangements have altered the relationship between employee and employer, setting new expectations and demanding new ideas about operations. The author discusses how this “new normal” will necessitate changes in how directors govern their staff, especially in an era of reduced budgets.
TopBackground
Libraries serve an important educational function for societies. They help the underserved access critical information for research and life betterment. Additionally, in recent years as the housing crisis turned into a crisis of homelessness, public libraries have needed to design essential public services, like providing venues for job training, tax services, and places of warmth and safety (Anderson et.al., 2012, p. 178). Academic libraries provide access to digital databases, physical volumes, and rely on sharing networks to provide books and journals through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) operations.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Hours Counting: A traditional management style whereby supervisors maintain a close watch on employees by tracking their working hours on clocks.
Open Educational Resources (OERs): Online open-access resources that can be used by educators at various institutions.
Digital Nomadism: A worker’s movement and social media phenomenon that promotes the remote work lifestyle for full-time travelers.
Cloud Computing: An accessible and scalable Web-based system that exists on infrastructure outside of the organization’s local network.
Holacracy: An organizational system that empowers individuals to take part in the administration and planning of the employer, providing ways to create democratically form task-oriented teams to achieve goals.
De-Silo: To dismantle or breakdown unproductive communication boundaries or obstacles between organizational units.
Silos: The insular or self-confirming departments or units, caused when perverse incentives lead to resource hoarding and poor communication.
Alienation (Worker): The state of being disaffected and isolated from one’s working peers.
Agility: A term used to describe the speed at which an organization can change directions to meet unexpected challenges in the environment.