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MODULE - 5A, , Library System and Management, , MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , 15, Notes, , LIBRARY SYSTEM AND, MANAGEMENT, , 15.1 INTRODUCTION, Let us understand library as a ‘system’. You must have seen various existing, systems, like political system, economic system, social system, education, system, etc. We, the human beings, are a biological system which has many, sub-systems, like, digestive system, blood circulatory system, respiratory, system, etc., A system is a set of connected parts/components forming a complex whole. It, contains entities, namely, men, machines and materials. These entities are, integrated to serve definite purpose and objectives. The system components are, inter-related, inter-dependent and have effect on each other as a whole. Thus, a library is also a system and its various sections/divisions are its components., The primary objective of any library system is to collect, store, organize, retrieve, and make available the information sources to the information users. A library,, as a system, is a subsystem of some super-system (an organization in any field,, whether education, research or social service). It has its own subsystems, such, as, acquisition system, circulation system, administration system, etc., In this lesson, you will learn library management and the role of library as a, system., , 15.2 OBJECTIVES, After studying this lesson, you will be able to –, , , 264, , define library management;, , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

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Library System and Management, , , , identify functions of library management;, , , , list various structural components of a library system; and, , , , explain functioning of various sections of a library, viz. Acquisition Section,, Technical Processing Section, Circulation Section, Reference Section,, Periodicals Section, Maintenance Section, and Administration & Finance, Section, , MODULE - 5A, MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , Notes, , 15.3 LIBRARY MANAGEMENT, Library Management is the adaptation of the principles and techniques of, management to the library situation. It includes decision making and getting, the work done by others. The five fundamental management functions are:, Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Leading and Controlling., 15.3.1 Definition, Libraries have an important role to play in facilitating access to information, for learning, education and training. It is a known fact that a well-managed, library is a successful library. The library management means efficient and, effective management of material (information sources), machinery, men, (human resource), technology and money to meet the objectives of the library., Thus, librarian as manager performs all the functions of manager/administrator., 15.3.2 Functions, Henry Fayol (1841-1925) expounded the principles and practices of management, in their modern context. Fayol devoted his attention to the study of managerial, activities, and identified the basic and universally applicable five functions, (applicable to library management also), such as,, a) Planning, b) Organizing, c) Commanding, d) Coordinating, e) Controlling, Planning: Planning includes formulation of goals, objectives, decision making, for future, strategies, policies, and effective planning., Organizing: Organizing includes departmentation, line and staff functions,, decentralization, committees and group decisions, and effective organizing., , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, , 265

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MODULE - 5A, MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , Notes, , Library System and Management, , Staffing (Commanding): It includes selection, job description, appointing, personnel, appraisal, developing library managers and organizational, development., Leading (Coordinating): It deals with human factor, motivation, leadership,, and communication., Controlling: It includes system and process of controlling, control techniques,, control of overall performance, and effective managing., 15.3.3 Elements of Management, In 1937, social scientists Luther Gulick and L. Urwick described seven “major, activities and duties of any chief executive”. Since then, the acronym POSDCORB, is used to describe the 7 functions of managers referred to as the ‘Elements of, Management’. The acronym POSDCORB stands for: Planning, Organizing,, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting., Planning, Planning is working out in broad outline the activities that need to be done and, the methods for doing them to accomplish the purpose set for the organisation., Organizing, Organizing is the establishment of the formal structure of authority through, which various sections or divisions of the organisation are arranged, defined, and coordinated for the defined objective., Staffing, Staffing is the whole personnel function of bringing in and training the staff, and maintaining favorable conditions of work., Directing, Directing is the continuous task of making decisions and embodying them in, specific and general order. It involves giving instructions by the top personnel, and serving as the leader of the library., Coordinating, Coordinating is the all-important duty of interrelating the various aspects of, work in an organisation., , 266, , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

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MODULE - 5A, , Library System and Management, , MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , Reporting, Reporting is keeping those to whom the librarian is responsible informed as, to what is going on. It, thus, includes keeping authorities, subordinates and users, informed through records, reports, etc., Budgeting, , Notes, , Budgeting refers to work related to budgeting in the form of fiscal planning,, accounting and control., The above mentioned seven elements of management are considered to be the, core of management process. These essentially refer to the various steps or, stages involved in running a typical information organisation., , INTEXT QUESTIONS 15.1, 1. Explain library as a system., 2. What are the fundamental functions of management?, , 15.4 COMPONENTS OF A LIBRARY SYSTEM, Ranganathan visualized library as a trinity of:, (a) Readers, (b) Books, and, (c) Staff, Here, the books are the knowledge containers, readers are the knowledge, seekers, and staff means the facilitators or providers of various library services, to the users, the knowledge seekers. Whenever and wherever this Trinity exists,, a library is born. A library exists when the three components of its trinity –, the readers, the books and the staff – are in purposive contact with each, another., c, , a, , b, , Fig. 15. 1: Illustration of the trinity, , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, , 267

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MODULE - 5A, MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , Library System and Management, , In the above Triangle,, angle ‘a’ refers to Universe of Knowledge Seekers,, angle ‘b’ is Universe of Knowledge Containers, and, , Notes, , angle ‘c’ at the top is Universe of Facilitators, A library is referred to as a ‘social institution’ and a ‘service institution’, which, serves the current as well as life-long learning needs of the society. In the Trinity,, (1) The universe of knowledge containers include information sources in, various formats (print, non-print and electronic media),, (2) The universe of knowledge seekers include various groups in society, (children, women, students, teachers, researchers, patients in hospitals,, prisoners in jails, and others), and, (3) The universe of facilitators (library staff) include providers of various library, services (technical services, users services, and others)., The library provides ‘perpetual self-education,’ ‘life-long self-education’ and, ‘universal self-education’. Education and learning is a life-long process. The, schools/class rooms provide the initial momentum. Thereafter, it is the library, system which serves the necessary aids to perpetuate self-education for all., , INTEXT QUESTIONS 15.2, 1. Explain the components of library system., 2. ‘Library provides perpetual self-education’. Explain., , 15.5 SECTIONS IN A LIBRARY, A library performs a number of specialized activities. Based on each specialization,, the library work is divided into various sections. Let us know about the functions, of the sections in a library. Library jobs performed in various sections are also, presented in Fig. 15.5 in the form of an organizational chart., 15.5.1 Acquisition Section, Every library has to build up a collection of information sources (knowledge, containers). These may be in print or non-print or electronic formats. Functions, of Acquisition Section include selection, ordering, receiving supplies, making, record entries in the stock register (Accessioning) and processing the bills for, payment., , 268, , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

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Library System and Management, , Acquisition of library material has three main check-controls, namely, (1), Availability of library fund, (2) use of reading material, and (3) need of library, users., , MODULE - 5A, MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , Notes, , Fig.15.2: Sample pages of an Accession Register, , 15.5.2 Technical Processing Section, The newly acquired books are prepared for library use. For this purpose, these, are classified, catalogued, entries filed in library catalogue and books shelved, on display racks or in the stacks. As a visitor to library, you may not be familiar, of such functions in a library, because these are performed behind the scene., 15.5.3 Circulation Section, This Section deals with membership work, issue and return work and work, related to users’ requirements. Generally, a specially designed circulation, counter is used for doing circulation work. You are very much familiar with, this section, as you use the services of circulation section frequently for, borrowing and returning of the books. Fig. 15.3 shows the circulation counter, of a library., , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, , 269

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MODULE - 5A, , Library System and Management, , MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , Notes, , Fig.15. 3: A Circulation Counter, , 15.5.4 Reference Section, Reference Section collects and organizes a number of reference books., Reference book is one which is not read like text book from beginning to end., You refer to a reference book to know the answer of your specific query. This, may pertain to a word, term, person, place, concept or subject. You need to, consult a dictionary, thesaurus, directory, year book, encyclopedia, or such other, type. The reference librarian is expected to provide right information to the right, person at the right time., 15.5.5 Periodicals Section, Periodicals Section collects and organizes a number of periodical publications, (such as, a journal, magazine, newspaper). A book is one-time publication,, published once whether in its first edition or revised and subsequent editions., Whereas, a periodical publication (serial publication) is published in continuity, and with predefined periodicity (such as, daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly,, etc.). A library first receives the current issues of the volume of a periodical, publication. Later on, the completed volumes may be got bound and shelved, in the Periodicals Section. The current issues are displayed in specially designed, Periodical Racks as given in Fig. 15.4., , 270, , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

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Library System and Management, , MODULE - 5A, MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , Notes, , Fig.15.4: A Periodical Display Rack, , 15.5.6 Maintenance Section, Maintenance work is the backbone of any object, structure, organization,, institution and so much so, in a library also. You already know that after buying, books or stationery or computer, you have to take special care of your, possessions for their proper and prolonged use. In a library, Maintenance, Section is responsible for jobs such as organization of collection, shelving and, re-shelving, dusting and cleaning, mending and binding, weeding and stock, verification. Much of the work done in Maintenance Section is behind the, scenes which helps to keep the collection live and presentable for maximum, use. These activities are described in brief as follows:, Organization of Collection: A library takes into consideration the nature of, material and its use, and accordingly it organizes its collection, such as, Main, (General) Collection, Periodicals Collection, Reference Collection, Non-Print, Material, including electronic material, etc. Books in all such collections,, besides the Main Collection, are allotted a symbol for the type of collection,, which is put at the top of the call number of the item., Shelving and Re-shelving: All the items as reading material are arranged on, shelves in a helpful order. The items used by users are to be re-stored (reshelved) in their proper position on the shelf., Dusting and Cleaning: Dust and dirt, which accumulates on the items on, shelves, are to be removed regularly at periodical gaps. Dust-free and well, maintained library material not only attracts the users, but also enhances its, use., Mending and Binding: At times, the items in the collection suffer minor or, major damages. These are to be repaired. Mending is done for minor damages, LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, , 271

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MODULE - 5A, MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , Library System and Management, , and binding is done for major damages to the documents. With the help of, mending and binding the damaged items get renewed life., Weeding: Weeding is required for all such items which can no longer be put, to use due to damage beyond repair or have become outdated., , Notes, , Stock Verification: When the library collection is put to maximum use,, particularly in open access, some items are lost. These lost items create a great, amount of problems for the users and the staff. An item lost shows its presence, in the library catalogue and other records, but is not found on shelves. To, identify the lost items, stock verification of library materials required. Stock, verification helps in finding out ‘what is’ as against ‘what it was’ in the library, collections. After such findings, the library records are to be updated in view, of the records of lost items. This helps smooth flow of library use and library, services., 15.5.7 Administration & Finance Section, The purpose of the Administration Section is to promote those activities which, relate to library administration and management issues in general. The section, is intended to serve the needs of library staff especially whose who supervise, other staff. It helps manage operations of other sections of the library. In large, libraries, the administration and finance section are two different sections. But, in small and medium sized libraries, these are handled within one section., The Administration and Finance Section maintains the record of policy, decisions, rules and regulations, guidelines and norms for working. This section, maintains the records of office files, diary and dispatch, library budget, proposals, budgetary allocations, accounts of library expenditure, stock registers,, and such other purposeful records. It helps in taking care of library building,, furniture, equipments, water and electricity fittings, and such sundry matters, 15.5.8 Important Observation, It may be kept in mind that in a big library (university library, research library,, state central library) functioning of all such sections, as described above, are, visible. A big library may have some additional sections (e.g., children section,, audio-visual section, computer section, etc.) as per some specialized library, work or services. But, in a small library (school library, small public library), such sections are not visible, though these functions are perfomed by a librarian, single-handedly., An organizational chart showing the activities of different section is given in, Fig. 15.5, , 272, , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

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MODULE - 5A, , Library System and Management, , MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , LIBRARY, ADMINISTRATION ACQUISITION, AND FINANCE Selection, , Records & Files, Keeping, Diary &, Dispatch, Allocation &, Expenditure, Stock Registers, Caretaking of, Library Property, , Ordering, Receiving, Supply, Accessioning, Processing, Bills, , TECHNICAL, PROCESSING, Classification, Cataloguing, Card Filing, Shelving, , CIRCULATION, Membership, Work, Issuing, (Charging), Returning, Discharging, , REFERENCE, Collection, Formation, Answering, queries, , PERIODICALS, Recording, Receipts, Display, Preparation of, Volume for, Binding, , MAINTENANCE, , Notes, , Formation of, Collections, Shelving/Reshelving, Dusting &, Cleaning, Mending &, Binding, Weeding &, Stock, Verification, , Fig.15.5: An Organisational chart of a Library showing activities of each section, , INTEXT QUESTIONS 15.3, 1. List the various sections of a library., 2. Explain the need for circulation system in a library., , WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT, In this lesson you have learnt:, , , Definition and examples of ‘system’, which is complex whole with entities, to serve a purpose and has inter-related and inter-dependent components., , , , Library works as system, is a sub-system of some super-system and is, having its own sub-systems., , , , In library management, all principles and techniques of management are, applied. Library Manager performs all the five basic functions of Manager., , , , Components of library system are described. Library is a Trinity of (1), Universe of Knowledge Seekers, (2) Universe of Knowledge Containers,, and (3) Universe of Service Providers. It provides perpetual and life- long, education., , , , Sections in a library are: Acquisition, Technical Processing, Circulation,, Reference, Periodicals, Maintenance, and Administration & Finance. Each, Section performs specialized library activities., , , , Main jobs are done by professional library staff in different sections in a, big library, and by a single librarian in a small library., , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, , 273

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MODULE - 5A, , Library System and Management, , MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , TERMINAL QUESTIONS, 1. Define library as a system, giving its objective and set of entities., Notes, , 2. Elucidate the concept of library as a ‘trinity’. Give suitable examples., 3. Define library management. Enumerate various fundamental functions of, library management., 4. State in brief, the jobs being done in different sections of a library., , ANSWERS TO INTEXT QUESTIONS, 15.1, 1. Library is a sub-system of some super-system. Its primary objective is to, collect, organize, retrieve, and serve the information needs of knowledge, seekers., , 2. The five fundamental functions of management are planning, organizing,, staffing, leading and controlling., 15.2, 1. A library is a trinity of books, readers and staff. A library system aims at, serving the information needs of knowledge seekers by performing various, library activities., 2. Man learns throughout his life, from birth to death. Other educational, institutions provide education for a limited period, but the library perpetually, helps the learner and thus provides life- long education., 15.3, 1. A library has many sections, such as, Acquisition, Technical Processing,, Circulation, Reference, Periodicals, Maintenance, Administration & Finance., Each section performs a set of specialized library activities., 2. The Circulation Section deals with membership work, issue and return, work, reservation of documents and such related jobs. Generally, a specially, designed circulation counter is used for doing circulation work., , 274, , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

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Library System and Management, , GLOSSARY, , MODULE - 5A, MANAGEMENT OF, LIBRARIES, , Accessioning: Items purchased are recorded in Accession Register (Stock, Register) and the activity is referred to as accessioning., Call Number:It is the combination of Class number, Book number, Collection, code and Copy number for deciding unique position of each and every document, on the shelf., , Notes, , Collection Formation:A library organizing its resources in to different collections, as per the use or nature of the material., Facilitators/providers:The staff working in the library facilitates and provides, library services to users., Information source:Information sources in print or non-print media, also, known as Knowledge Containers., Life-long self-education:Learning and teaching (education) process essentially, attached with human life., Mending: Repairing a slightly damaged printed resource., Reservation work: To reserve a book in circulation for a new user needing, it., Re-shelving: Restoring a used item back on shelf in its proper position., Technical processing: It includes, classifying, cataloguing and arranging items, in a helpful order., Trinity: Combined form of three elements, Books, Readers and Staff combined, together make Trinity of Library., Weeding: In this process the unserviceable items are sifted from live collection., , LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, , 275