Call for Proposals
Reorganization of the Library: Investigating the Consequences
Edited by: Tim Ribaric
Library services are steeped in tradition and are built upon decades of past practice that have shaped the way patrons envision the library. These services also reinforce the mission of the library as a stalwart to the academic mission of the institution. However the library is not immune to change and this is being demonstrated in numerous contemporary library reorganizations that are occurring across academic institutions in North America and beyond. Quite often these exercises involve reorganizing staff and reporting lines in an attempt to find efficiencies and to provide new services. However, these reorganization exercises often create conflicts with established workflows, upend professional trajectories, and sometimes create labour issues. In addition, motivations and precipitating reasons for these exercises are often opaque and not clearly constructed. This work will investigate the current trend of library reorganization exercises, analyze the impacts, and investigate motivated factors.
Suggested Topics Include:
- Case studies
- Reorganization frameworks/methodologies
- Organizational studies perspectives
- Interrogation of 'change management' discourse
- Bloat in quantity, and purview in administration positions
- Deprofessionalization
- Upskilling, changing roles, and continuing education
- Equity, diversity, and inclusion perspectives
- The effect of management trends and fads
- Vocabularies and taxonomies (e.g. use of terminology such as "teams")
- Autonomy, professional identity and power-shifts
- Longitudinal studies of effectiveness and effects
- Exploration of rhetoric, "fear of change" dialog
- Comparative studies of techniques and outcomes
- The transition from liaison/subject librarianship to functional librarianship
- Modeling library services on 'market needs'
- Discussions on neoliberalism in the academy and ramifications to Library services
- Investigations of what is driving the neoliberal restructuring exercise
- Strategic grievance filing
- Self-governance mechanisms utilized in reorganization exercises
Estimated final submission length is between 5000 and 8000 words. The work will be published by Library Juice Press. Interested authors should provide a 500 word abstract to Tim Ribaric <tribaric@brocku.ca> before January 1, 2020. Notice of acceptance February 1. Submissions due: July 1. Anticipated publication date is Fall 2020.
