Streamlining Library Services: What We Do, How Much Time It Takes, What It Costs, and How We Can Do It Better

Abstract

While the title and much of the text are new, Richard Dougherty's Streamlining Library Services is in fact an updated edition of another book. Together with coauthor Fred John Heinritz, Dougherty first published this book in 1966 under the title Scientific Management of Library Operations, with a second edition published in 1982. That book has been used in teaching library management courses for many years. However, with so many external and internal changes in library operations over the last two decades, it is safe to say that this update is welcome to the field. Dougherty cites these dramatic transformations in the library workplace as his reason for a shift in the priorities and methods outlined in the book. In particular, while previous editions assumed that process analysis should be part of the librarian's job description, Streamlining Library Services claims to adopt a “point-of-need” approach. Instructional text on the tools of process analysis, including diagramming and flowcharting, still constitutes a substantial portion of the book. Dougherty has introduced a new chapter on managing organizational change to provide insight into how library staff responds to change and how to manage people in tumultuous times. As the subtitle indicates, this text examines the relationship of library operations and staff productivity very carefully. The introductory chapter provides a historical context for scientific management, examining the work of Frederick Taylor, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and W. Edward Deming. Deming's work in total quality management (TQM) is of particular interest to Dougherty, who strongly suggests that while TQM may have moved out of the limelight, as a methodology, it provides useful tools for the library manager and should not be discounted. The majority of the book is devoted to the scientific management process as it applies to library work. The second section of the book gives a “laundry list” of potential targets of opportunity: library operations and services that can be problematic and may benefit from streamlining. Accompanying this exhaustive list are descriptions of simple diagnostic methods to help identify the root problems in these targets, including focus groups, brainstorming methods, Pareto charts, and cause-and-effect diagrams, among others. A more thorough discussion of study design and preparation follows. The lengthiest section of the book examines the basic tools of scientific management. Several highly detailed chapters examine block diagrams, check sheets, work-flow diagrams, flow process charts, and general flow charting methodologies. Tools for unusual or special circumstances—including control charts, operations charts, motion economy studies, and usability testing—are also carefully examined. Time analysis tools constitute the next major section of the book, including chapters on tracking systems, diary studies, work sampling, and direct time studies, or time observation studies as they are sometimes called. The final two sections of the book examine cost-benefit studies and analysis, and review post-study activities such as assessing, streamlining, and implementing new services. Overall, the book offers a great deal of information, much of it very practical. For every technique or tool, at least one very clear example is presented, and the book is full of figures, charts, and illustrations to accompany and illuminate the text. References and footnotes are complete and quite valuable. For library management courses, this textbook offers a great deal. It delivers a large amount of valuable information and ideas in a very readable and usable format. Dougherty is to be commended for his writing. Unfortunately, the book's systematic approach does not mesh well with the concept of point-of-need intervention, one of the author's objectives mentioned earlier. Ultimately, the only way for the book to work at point of need is to design a study around the need, collect data, analyze and assess the results, and then streamline the operation according to the assessment. The scientific method is a valuable addition to any library manager's arsenal, but as this book illustrates, it is not a method that really lends itself to “quick fixes.” For that reason, it is difficult to recommend this book as a vital addition to the personal collections of library managers and directors. The book will have outstanding value to many librarians who are not already familiar with the principles of scientific management, however. Streamlining Library Services will serve the greatest need in library management courses, where library school faculty and students sometimes struggle to understand the “real world” of library management. This book effortlessly blends theory and practice, with examples torn from the pages of many library directors' playbooks, and should do a fine job of making management theory have real application in the classroom.