Library and Information Center Management, Eighth Edition

Barbara B. Moran, Robert D. Stueart, and Claudia J. Morner

Case Studies

Tips

Case Studies/ Planning

For This We Need a Master's Degree?
A group of academic librarians are upset because they have to spend a large amount of their time on the care and feeding of the library's computers and printers.
What Now, Jeanne Leforte?
A public librarian expects to get a large merit-based pay increase but instead find that she has been givn a less than satisfactory performance evaluation.
Is This a Public Library or a Refuge for the Homeless?
A public library director has a hard time balancing the demands of patrons to eject a homeless woman from the library with the rights and the needs of the homeless population in a depressed urban setting.
The Red Carnation
An applicant for the directorship of a public library is asked to explain how he would conduct a community service and plan library programs.

Case Studies/ Organizing

Mae Gets A Job
A newly appointed director confronts both the problems of centralization/decentralization and an unruly subordinate.
Nobody Ever Tells Me Anything
The Case of an Overachiever
An assistant director finds that she is being asked to take on many of the responsibilities that at least on paper belong to the director.
Inequitable Treatment?
Job descriptions do not always match what employees are asked to do on a job.
Speak No Evil
Problems arise in an organization where the the prevailing culture is to never say anyting negative about another employee.

Case Studies/Human Resources

Your Religion or Your Job
A fairly new employee asks for personal time off to attend a religious retreat, but the library's rules do not permit personal leave until an employee has worked for six months.
The Perfect Mousy Employee
An employee with a bad back gets little sympathy when she requests a special chair recommended by her chiropractor.
The Politically Incorrect Employee
What do you do when a long-time employee offends patrons by using terms that they find objectionable?
Differential Treatment?
Robert, one of the only men working in a public library, wonders if he is being treated differently from the female employees.
Library Layoffs
A manager faces a difficult situation when she must dismiss one of the library's employees as a result of a budget cutback.
What Do You Want In A Library Director?
The employees of a library are delighted that the previous director is being replaced, but now they have to indicate what qualities they want in a new director.
A Word To the Wise
The town selectman who is head of the library budget committee has asked the director to hire his daughter as a page for the summer.

Case Studies/ Leading

An Invasion of Privacy
A long standing policy that parents were to be billed for their children's overdue books is challenged by a new librarian who feels that this policy resulted in the parent knowing what the young person had checked out the library and as a result his or her right to privacy was compromised.
Porn Again
A library director faces a tough decision dealing with pornographic images on the library's computers.
Men Love It When Women Talk Dirty
A new employee thinks he is being sexually harassed by the library's personnel manager.
A Difficult Decision
A recently retired librarian asks for preferential treatment for her son.
More Meetings, Please
A library's employees realize that they really don't know what is going on. There are no staff meetings and as a result communication is poor and morale is low.
The Incredibly Bad Boss
Sometimes, when you think your boss can't get any worse, he surprises you.

Case Studies/Controlling

The Ordeal Of Zachary Taylor Ponder, Jr.
A recently appointed public library director inherits a budget which the town mnanager finds totally unrealistic and is given a week to come up with a new one.
The LIS Department
You have been asked by mayor to establish and manage a new Latino Information Services department and need to come up with a budget for the department.