From Collection Development to Content Development: Organization and Staffing for the 21st Century

Abstract

The University of Kansas (KU) Libraries has a new organizational structure that resulted in the creation of the Content Development Department, with fewer librarians dedicated to stewardship of the Libraries’ collections. The impending retirement of three long‐standing and knowledgeable librarians prompted a review of the responsibilities of the new department and identification of the human resources needed to meet the collection demands of a user‐centered library. In an effort to determine how the Libraries can proceed, we completed an environmental scan of current activities and identified, through the literature and contacts with academic colleagues, how collecting practices and formats will develop. Based on evidence gained through a survey of faculty and graduates students at KU, there is a strong sentiment that library resources need to be carefully managed to support the teaching and research needs of the university. This paper will discuss efforts to make a case to continue to support deep subject expertise for collection development, particularly in the arts and humanities. By clearly identifying collection development responsibilities (it’s not just buying books!), KU librarians were successful in transitioning into the new organizational structure with the staffing needed to make knowledgeable collection development decisions. KU Campus Environment Analyzing existing structures and making adjustments to make KU a stronger institution of higher learning have become the new normal. In 2009, a new chancellor arrived on campus, replacing her predecessor, who had served in this capacity for fourteen years. The next year, a new provost joined the leadership team. Together, these new administrators established lofty goals to raise KU’s research output and reputation and streamline operations to improve stewardship of KU’s precious dollars. The two most consequential of these efforts were “Changing for Excellence” and “Bold Aspirations.” In the summer of 2010 “Changing for Excellence” began evaluating business practices to increase institutional efficiencies and decreasing expenditures (University of Kansas, 2013). KU’s strategic planning efforts, which started in the fall of 2010 resulted in the plan “Bold Aspirations” which framed KU’s short‐term goals into six areas (University of Kansas, 2012):  Energizing the educational environment.  Elevating doctoral education.  Driving discovery and innovation.  Engaging scholarship for public impact.  Developing infrastructure and resources.  Developing infrastructure and resources. Since KU adopted these two programs, they have become the foundation for decisions of all types on campus, and the KU transformation began with the Libraries leading the way. KU Libraries’ Strategic Planning The campus strategic plan, “Bold Aspirations,” was released in October 2011. By November, the KU Libraries had not only pledged to be the first campus unit to undergo a strategic planning process based on KU’s plan, but had already established a steering committee for strategic planning. This group of appointed individuals worked quickly to identify and determine the goals for the strategic plan. By the spring various working groups were establishing outcomes and strategies for each goal. When the final plan was released, the libraries “Strategic Directions” put forth the following goals (University of Kansas Libraries, 2012): Copyright of this contribution remains in the name of the author(s). http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315594 Management and Administration 415  Integrate information literacy, research skills, and information resources into the curriculum to enhance critical thinking, academic success, and lifelong learning.  Advance scholarship through proactive engagement in research and scholarly communication.  Strengthen KU Libraries’ position as an agile responsive organization capable of continual improvement and change.  Stabilize and grow existing funding sources, secure new funding opportunities, and enhance public accountability. Shortly after the release of the KU Libraries’ strategic plan, the dean of libraries created the Organizational Review Team (ORT). The dean charged ORT to review all aspects of the organization and to make recommendations for a library structure that embraced the objectives put forth in “Bold Aspirations” and “Strategic Directions.” ORT’s report went directly to the dean of libraries who utilized their findings, along with her own knowledge of trends in research libraries, to create the new structure. She proclaimed the new organization a “User‐Focused Organizational Structure.”