Leading Libraries: How To Create a Service Culture

In their latest publication, coauthors vanDuinkerken (director, Joint Library Storage Facility, Texas A&M Univ.) and Kaspar (policy sciences & economics librarian, Texas A&M Univ.) discuss creating a service culture in libraries from a leadership perspective. Others have argued that we need to move away from a service approach in favor of a collaborative one, but the authors believe collaboration is part of service culture. They present five elements of service leadership and expand upon each one to lay the groundwork for creating or maintaining a service culture in libraries: conscientiousness, rapport building, encouragement and accountability, innovation, and sustainability. Each chapter also contains helpful reflection exercises. Service leadership doesn't just focus on the patron side; most attention is paid to change within the organization. How do leaders instill service values in their library and its workers, from students to staff and librarians? This is where strategic planning and mentoring can play huge roles. Significant work must be done inside the library in order to provide the best service to patrons.