Non-librarians as managers

Abstract

This article defines non-librarians, also called accidental librarians, or non-degreed librarians, identifies their categories according to the nature of jobs, and whether they are suitable for managerial positions, particularly the high profile academic position of the Dean of Library Affairs at state university libraries in Saudi Arabia. Non-librarian deans having no library credentials face a lot of difficulties in managing libraries as efficiently as a librarian dean would have managed. The management styles of non-librarian deans are also discussed to present how much they differ from those of librarian deans. The paper also suggests that the university administration should prepare a group of highly motivated librarians and send them on scholarships to library schools famous for their doctoral programs in North America and Europe. Once they get their PhD degree, bring them back and replace all non-librarians with them as the current practice of appointing non-librarian is affecting libraries negatively.

Keywords

university libraries non-librarians library managers Saudi Arabia

Introduction

Non-librarians may be defined as those who have earned degrees in subject areas other than library and information science (LIS), and are working on various jobs in libraries. Since a significant number of them come into this field by accident and not by planning or intention, McKellar (2008) calls them “Accidental librarians”. Those, while working as student assistants or employees, who have “absorbed the skills, knowledge base and library overview that sum up librarianship” are called “non-degreed librarian” (Santamaria, 2004). For many decades, libraries have hired non-librarians with an undergraduate degree in another subject as support staff. The application of information technology in libraries, among other things, has also brought significant changes in the nature of library jobs and the qualifications and skills required for performing them. Libraries are now hiring more non-librarians in the following three job categories:

1. Paraprofessionals

The staff in this category are those who generally work under the supervision of professional librarians. They receive on-the-job training and get continuous guidance from their immediate supervisor on the spot. With some training and experience, they gradually become more independent in their jobs, but still remain under the supervision of a librarian for as long as they do not earn a Master's degree in LIS. Scherrei (2000) sees a distinct role for non-librarians as support staff. The bulk of routine work, from ordering to checkout of books, is done by paraprofessionals. Copy cataloguing, which is more than 95 percent of total cataloguing, is done by the same people. It is true that because of them, librarians are now able to concentrate more on their professional work. That is why libraries hire more paraprofessionals than professional librarians. Acknowledging the importance of support staff, Library Journal has initiated an annual award-Paraprofessional of the Year Award - for them (Paraprofessional, 2011).

2. Non-MLIS professionals

The fast developments in information technology are affecting all walks of life, including libraries. Virtual libraries have completely changed the scenario of library operations and services. The library nomenclature is changing and many new terms are replacing the old ones, such as Cataloger, now known as Metadata Librarian and Knowledge Organizer, and User Services Librarian, now known as Access Librarian. Even Librarians are called by variant titles, such as Information Professionals, Cybrarians and Knowledge Managers. Some new job titles included in the ALA job list (American Library Association 2012) are Web Librarian, Digital Initiatives Librarian and Digital Curation Librarian. Breitkopf (2011) has come up with a list of 61 jobs for librarians. Almost none of them actually has the word ‘librarian’ in the title. These changes indicate how much we have moved away from the original concept and philosophy of LIS. These modified and newly created positions require an MLIS or an equivalent degree in the related subject area, such as Information Science, Computer Science, or Management Information Systems, but those who are non-MLIS must have much longer experience of working in a library setting in lieu of the MLIS degree. This requirement may be compromised, if the applicants are very strong in information technologies, including Web designing, networking, integrated library systems, and others. But all entry-level professional positions in North America require a Master's degree in LIS from an ALA-accredited library school or equivalent. This can be verified by checking the advertisements for all types of library positions given in the ALA job list.

3. Non-MLIS managers

Gordon (2005) considers non-librarian managers those who enter a library management position from another field with no previous education and training in library science. For decades we have witnessed non-librarians becoming managers, directors and deans of libraries. They include academicians (James H. Billington), historians (Daniel J. Boorstein) or scholars from other subject fields, such as Dean John M. Unsworth from the humanities, and Barbara K. Mistick of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh from entrepreneurship and public policy. These types of appointments are still continuing, especially in research libraries with strong special and archival collections. Librarians have always been critical of the hiring of non-librarians as managers. They do not like hiring non-MLIS people for any position higher than a paraprofessional. One of the bloggers of the University of Toronto (UT) Academic Librarians Committee is critical of the move of the administration toward structuring libraries on the corporate model, hiring MBA holders and non-librarians to what has traditionally been done by academic librarians (Are 2011). O'Connor (2006) presents another case of the appointment of a non-librarian as the new State Librarian and Chief Executive Officer of the State Library of New South Wales. He complains that knowledge of the profession and its culture, traditions, tasks and ambitions have not been considered important in this case. Library Journal's columns like Digital Libraries and Movers & Shakers include lively discussions on the issue of redefining librarian, cataloger, reference librarian and other traditional titles and positions. In principle, no one should be blamed more than our library schools, that are not offering enough courses in the management of special collections, area studies, rare books and archival collections. This is one of the major factors responsible for the shortage of qualified people for certain specialized positions in research libraries. Berry III (2003) reports the initiative taken by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) to get PhD graduates who are surplus in the humanities area into libraries to work for a year and then go to library schools to get a library degree. This program, if implemented in its true spirit, will help libraries to get additional benefits from the dual-degreed library staff.

Challenges for non-librarians as managers

No matter how intelligent and genius non-librarians may be in their own fields, when they are appointed as Dean of Library Affairs they get an entirely different environment to deal with because of the lack of knowledge and experience of LIS. The minimum requirements for the library dean's position are completely different from those of the non-MLIS dean's previous jobs. The ‘required qualifications’ part of an advertisement for the post of the Dean of Library Affairs in an American university library is given below for the information of those who appoint non-librarian deans at state university libraries in Saudi Arabia:

“The ideal candidate will have, as a minimum, a graduate degree in librarianship from an American Library Association (ALA) accredited program. A PhD or other doctoral level degree is preferred. Academic and professional credentials should include an outstanding record of achievement sufficient for appointment as a full professor with tenure within the candidate's discipline. Minimum work qualifications for the position require a significant amount of administrative leadership experience. It is preferred that candidates have a minimum of 7-10 years of broad-based library experience with at least 5-7 years in a supervisory or management role within an academic library. Experience in academic administration, budget management, personnel management, and strategic planning is expected. Applicants must demonstrate the potential to engage in effective fundraising.”

The position requires two minimum qualifications for the dean: (1) at least a Master's degree in LIS, and (2) 5-7 years experience in managing an academic library. It is obvious that non-librarians do not meet the two basic requirements and therefore, do not qualify for the job at all. If the appointment of non-librarians cannot be avoided due to some compulsions, the appointees must be aware of the challenges as they take over the responsibility as director or dean (in the case of state university libraries in Saudi Arabia). They need to know about the new environment, understand the mission and goals of the library, read through the pages of the library policy manual to understand the various policies, organization chart, job descriptions of staff, develop a deep understanding of the basic functions, such as cataloging and the difference between copy and original cataloging, circulation policies, serials control, online ordering, weeding, and others. They should have knowledge about each member of their staff and what exactly they do, how much and how efficiently they do their work, visit each department and get a briefing about the departmental functions from the manager, and others.

Literature search

An advanced search of LISA and Google Scholar retrieved only a couple of full-length articles and a few citations to blog posts, flyers, web documents, columns of Library Journal, and two books, dealing with the issues related to hiring of non-librarians as support staff and managers. None of these sources has any reference to the issues related to the appointment of non-librarians as Deans of Library Affairs in state university libraries of Saudi Arabia. Websites of several university libraries were also checked in order to get the names of present and former deans, subject areas in which they got their PhD degrees, and the years they served the library. In addition, notes were taken during the author's visits to major university libraries of Saudi Arabia at different times. Of these, four were managed by non-librarian deans. The small amount of literature on the topic of non-librarians as managers suggests that it is not a common practice in the western world to appoint a non-librarian as the library director or dean, except in libraries with specialized or subject collections, for which more importance is given to scholars and subject specialists to manage them.

Non-librarians as managers in Saudi Arabia

The government of Saudi Arabia has appropriated 24 percent of the annual budget to education, including higher education (Al-Angari, 2012). Since 1957, more than 45 public and private universities (List, 2012) have been created, of which 24 are run by the Ministry of Higher Education. The Minister of Higher Education is the Chairman of the Council of Higher Education that governs all the universities of the Kingdom. For each university, a university board chaired by the Minister of Higher Education and the Rector of the University as his deputy, together with other high officials, review all academic, financial and administrative matters and approve appointments of chairmen of academic departments, deans of colleges and some other departments, including the Dean of Library Affairs. For the position of Dean of Library Affairs, preference is given to librarians with a PhD degree. However, if they find none of them is suitable or lacks motivation, they select a non-librarian from faculty.

Prior to the 1990s, the terms of office of the Rector, Vice Rectors, Deans and Chairmen were not uniform across the Kingdom’s universities. Some universities had adopted a fixed term policy and others had placed no restrictions on the time period for any positions. A good example of a university with the flexible term policy was King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), where some senior administrators were holding their positions for more than 20 years. As a result, the waiting list for promotions was getting bigger and bigger. Finally, a royal decree was issued on August 22, 1993 limiting the term of the Shura (Consultative) Council to 4 years. The decree provided impetus to the Ministry of Higher Education to also apply the fixed term policy in the institutions of higher education in Saudi Arabia. The term periods vary from 2 years to 4 years depending on the position levels. For the Rector, it is 4 years, for Vice Rectors, 3 years, and 3 years for deans and chairmen with the possibility of one extension of the same period. All incumbent top administrators, including Deans of Library Affairs, who had been holding their positions for more than 4 years were relieved immediately. Implementing the new law (The law, 1993) created the following scenarios for university libraries in the Kingdom:

At least four state universities-King Abdulaziz University (KAU), King Saud University (KSU), Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), and Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud University (IMU) have library schools offering BLS to PhD degrees in LIS. They have mostly Saudi faculty members (only Saudis can hold positions like chairmen and deans), who secured their Master's and PhD degrees from accredited library schools in North America, Europe, or Australia. If anyone of these four universities does not have a backup for the Dean in the library, such as a sitting Deputy Dean, Vice Dean or Assistant Dean, or any qualified applicant from outside, the administration may appoint one of the LIS faculty as Dean of Library Affairs.

The universities, such as KFUPM and King Faisal University (KFU) and others that do not have library schools or incumbent Deputy, Assistant or Vice Deans (KFUPM has recently created the Assistant Dean position) with a PhD degree in LIS have no choice but to appoint a non-librarian from another subject area as Dean of Library Affairs. Since 1993, four different non-librarian deans, with PhD degrees in Accounting, MIS and Computer Science, have supervised the KFUPM Library.

Following the introduction of a fixed term policy for Dean of Library Affairs, more than 50 percent of libraries are now managed by non-librarians, because the number of PhDs in LIS coming back to Saudi Arabia after completing the degree is very small. More than half of them join library schools and only one or two come to university libraries after a gap of several years. There are several universities with a concentration on Islamic and Arabic studies. These libraries are managed by Islamic scholars and Arabic linguists. They are still following the traditional practices of bibliographic control, with annotations written by subject specialists, as their collections include rare materials and a lot of manuscripts. So, the libraries of Umm al-Qura University in Makkah, Jamia Islamia in Medina, and Imam Muhammad Ibn Saudi University in Riyadh, are better off with subject specialists and scholars as their deans.

Unfortunately, there is not enough realization among the library community in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Arabian Gulf Region that non-librarians cannot be expected to administer modern university libraries the way they are run by professional deans.

To manage a modern university library, one must have knowledge of the foundations of library and information science, which Ranganathan presented in his famous five laws of library science. These laws are still valid when traditional libraries are being transformed into digital or virtual libraries. The question here to ask is whether the appointment of a non-librarian is a better solution than sending selected young and motivated librarians from all over the Kingdom on government scholarships to library schools in North America or Europe to get a PhD degree. It may take a minimum of 5 years to get the degree, but a team of qualified librarians ready to take over from incumbent non-librarian deans will be a reality and if this practice is followed regularly, there will be enough qualified librarians to fill any position of library dean that becomes vacant in the future. The paper will attempt to answer this question.

The middle managers who work directly under the Dean of Library Affairs, and if they have worked long enough to have experience of working with both librarian and non-librarian deans (this author is one of them), know exactly how non-librarians manage library affairs differently from librarian deans. For example, a librarian dean would always emphasize using standards, rules, current practices and possible implications before preparing a policy. On the other hand, non-librarians are not as familiar with them as the librarian deans. The following are three typical management styles, which non-librarian deans normally follow.

Unilateral style. Some non-librarian managers come with the mindset that they have to make some changes. They would not like to discuss them with anybody, or if discussed they would not change their opinion. Those issues may include a variety of things, including relocating his own office, moving periodicals to another location, changing policies, especially circulation policies, migration to another integrated library system (ILS), and others. When it comes to implementing these decisions, they realize that some of them are not doable. In one example, to change an ILS requires hundreds of thousands of dollars, which the administration would not approve as the current system is still one of the leading systems according to the library automation systems marketplace report. Another example was a decision to stop weeding. After a few months, there was no space left and the earlier decision to stop weeding had to be taken back. They do not understand that policies are not person-specific and should not be changed with the change in the administration unless there are strong reasons for the change.

Democratic style. Many non-MLIS deans like to consult on policy matters with their staff at different levels. The first level of consultation is the middle manager level, the second is the special groups and committees level, and the third is that of general staff. While this is the complete opposite of the unilateral style, it has some advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of consultation are that the staff do not feel alienated. Instead, they own the consensus decisions and make sure that they are fully followed or implemented. The disadvantages of consultation are the problems which emanate from the composition of the consultative group that may include qualified middle managers and those paraprofessionals who are elevated as acting managers. However, because of the differences in the levels of qualifications, experience, perceptions, skills, and competencies, difficult situations may arise, especially in dealing with highly technical issues, for example system migration, title level access to e-journals through library portals, and others. Non-librarian deans who themselves cannot take a decision or form an opinion on a technical issue find it easier to call for a vote to decide whose point of view to accept-that of an expert who understands the subject better, or those of paraprofessionals who have little or no knowledge of it. The deans would go along with the opinions of the majority, which always comprises paraprofessionals, and would not bother if the decisions taken are against the norm or not. This style of management cannot work if the levels of skills and expertise of the members of the consultative group are not equal, especially when the dean who heads the group himself is not a librarian.

Peripheral style: Some deans keep their leadership role peripheral and leave the middle managers to manage their own business. The reason for adopting this style of management is that they understand their lack of knowledge of the field and believe that the middle managers know their jobs better and therefore, they can be left alone to do their work without any interference from the dean. This is an extreme and evasive style of management, where everything is left on the shoulders of middle managers. They need directions which should come from the dean. He (all deans of library affairs are male) is the one who should set targets for the managers and their job will be to achieve them within a given time period. The followers of this style of management do not like communication meetings between the dean and his managers on a regular basis.

The management styles of all non-librarian Deans of Library Affairs of Saudi universities may belong to one of the three categories discussed above, but a majority of them follow the style that seems be between unilateral or authoritative and consultative styles, But there are cases where the deans have used the peripheral style also. In addition to their style of management, there are a few other factors which play an important role in shaping the way they manage the affairs of university libraries in Saudi Arabia.

Perception

The major problem of non-LIS deans of Saudi university libraries is that they come with a very simplistic view of the library and believe that one does not need a library science degree to run it. They also believe that whoever works in the library is a librarian. Gordon foresees problems for non-MLIS managers “[those] who are new to the library environment will face particular challenges. Although their existing managerial skills are transferable, it still takes time to understand and fit into the library world” (Gordon, 2005). When they rush into making decisions without understanding the basic library environment from library hours to library mission, goals and directions for the future, any move they make or any action they take may not bring the desired result. Each new dean wants to do something different from his predecessor. He may begin with physical changes, such as moving collections, changing furniture, relocating his office, and others. Whereas, having entered into a new territory, he should first try to learn about the subject area to which his new job is directly related by taking a few basic library courses offered by the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), or attending short courses and workshops held all over the Arabian Gulf Region throughout the year. At the same time, he may read introductory books especially prepared for non-librarians, such as the Accidental librarian (McKellar, 2008) and the Accidental library manager (Gordon, 2005). To know more about his own library, he should consult the library policy manual, which includes the library's mission, goals and vision, the organization chart and general policies. Within the first few days, he should meet with the library staff, visit each department and get briefings from the managers about the types of work they perform, try to find out any problems or difficulties they are facing and give assurance for resolving them.

Lack of understanding of library operations and services

Non-librarian deans are not familiar with technical processes of the library, such as cataloging, classification, serials control, or authority control, and the qualifications and skills required for people who perform them. By the time they get some sense of these operations, their 2-year term expires. If the incumbent dean gets an extension, the next 2 years will enable him to see things more clearly and will make him understand his staff better. Until such time, the staff suffer from the lack of recognition and appreciation of their work. One library director (Drake 1990) considers “teaching non-librarian supervisors to appreciate the library is a big part of the job.”

Lack of realization of difference in job levels and their requirements

One of the major problems of non-librarian managers is that they do not recognize the requirements and skills for various library jobs. For example, the requirements for middle managers, among other things, include a Master's degree in LIS from an accredited library school. If this requirement is ignored, then we see that a paraprofessional gets elevated to the library manager position on a vacant seat. The only difference is addition of the letter ‘A’ for ‘Acting’ to the job title, such as Manager of Acquisitions (A). While it solves one problem of filling the manager's vacant position, it creates several other problems. For example, the qualified managers may get upset by the elevation of a person to their level who does not meet the requirements for an entry-level position. A librarian dean would handle this situation differently and rationally. He would probably wait and ask one of the managers to supervise the department until a new manager is hired. Related to this issue is the problem of not differentiating between the value of degrees from accredited and non-accredited LIS schools in developing countries. There are at least two instances where an MLIS dean rejected two such PhD degrees, but his successor, who was not a librarian, accepted them. This shows very clearly how a qualified library dean and a non-degreed library dean approach things so differently. In this particular case, the position taken by the library dean was right and justified.

Lack of participation in professional activities

The KFUPM Library under its first Dean, S. Ashoor, was very active in initiating, organizing and participating in professional activities, such as organizing conferences, workshops, short courses, and seminars, publishing articles in professional journals, book writing, consulting, and others. He organized an international symposium on ‘New Technology in Libraries: Prospects and Problems for Libraries in the Gulf States’ in 1982 which was attended by Richard Boss, a renowned consultant on library automation, and Richard Cheffin from IFLA, as guest speakers. The KFUPM Library staff presented six papers which were included in the conference proceedings published by the Library. He started short courses in 1984, which are still continuing. According to a recent study conducted by the author on the contributions of Saudi authors (both local and expatriate) to foreign LIS journals, the first four most published authors belonged to the KFUPM Library. Together they published 97 (46 percent) out of 159 articles. Contributions of a single library to library and information services from local level to international level show the quality of leadership and the competency of middle managers, and their knowledge of the subject field. After the departure of Dean Ashoor, his team disintegrated and the University has not yet found replacements for them during the last 15 years. The non-librarian who succeeded Dean Ashoor had no idea about the kind of staff needed. Taking advantage of the situation, the Personnel Department took control of the selection and hiring processes. They reject excellent candidates selected by the Evaluation committee and sent names of their own candidates for approval. During the time of Dean Ashoor, the library staff were heavily involved in the Special Libraries Association-Arabian Gulf Chapter (SLA-AGC) Board, Papers Committee, Planning Committee and others. Four to five staff used to deliver papers at annual conferences ; now this number probably represents the number of presenters from the whole Kingdom.

Conclusions

The opinions of librarians are divided on the issue of hiring non-librarians for any positions higher than paraprofessional. Dean Giustini has been quoted as being critical of the Library Journal's decision to honor ‘paraprofessionals’ with Movers & Shakers awards, asserting that “they don't have the right to call themselves librarians” On the other hand, Gordon (2008) takes a strong position in favor of non-degreed librarians, saying that the “people who are doing the work of a professional librarian, who contribute to our profession, who keep up with the profession, and who are committed to the principles of the field, deserve the title of librarian-regardless of their degree status.”

In the context of university libraries in Saudi Arabia, the practice of appointing non-librarians as deans has not worked out well. On the contrary, it has contributed to lowering the level and quality of services. Too frequent change of leadership of the library is like reinventing the wheel. Because of no previous knowledge of LIS and having not enough time for proper orientation and consulting important tools, like the library policies and procedures manuals, the deans have superficial knowledge of library operations and services, which does not help them much in managing state university libraries in the way library deans have managed them. It is understandable that almost every faculty member wants to be the Dean of Library Affairs because of its high profile status and the benefits associated with the position. They are not bothered much whether they are able to fulfill the requirements for the dean's position or not and nobody can blame them. But it is the fault of those in administration who appoint them as Dean of Library Affairs. It is like appointing a political science graduate as petroleum engineer. Bringing a faculty member from another discipline to run the library just because there are not enough qualified librarians with PhD degrees is not the way to solve this problem. Instead, the Ministry of Higher Education should coordinate with library schools in the Kingdom to create a pool of LIS graduates with high GPA and select from this pool only those graduates who are motivated and are willing to go for a PhD degree on fellowships. But before going, they must work in one of the university libraries for a year with the condition that they will come back to the same university after getting the degree. Once they arrive, they can work with the incumbent non-librarian deans until their term is expired. During this time, the probable deans can familiarize themselves with the library environment, future plans, manpower requirements, policies and procedures. If this program is seriously implemented, within 5 years there will be no need to bring non-librarians to manage the state university libraries in Saudi Arabia. Once a professional librarian is in the Dean's chair, many problems will be solved and the libraries will start making progress again.

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