Book review: Managing change
Title of Book
Managing change: A how-to-do it manual for librarians
Author
Susan Carol Curzon
ISBN
185604601x
Publisher
Facet
Publisher Website
Reviewer Name
Amanda Wright
Title
Library Manager
Contact Details
Library & e-Learning Service
Gartnavel General Hospital
1053 Great Western Road
Glasgow
G12 0YN
amanda.wright@northglasgow.scot.nhs.uk
Review
As I write this I am anticipating the arrival of a new batch of compliments slips on my desk. They will be the proud bearers of the fourth logo I have seen in eight years of working for the NHS in Glasgow. My experience of new compliments slips is that, firstly, it will be unnecessary to order another batch (by the time I’m finished this one, a new set of headed stationery will be in circulation) and secondly, each new logo is the herald of widespread change bringing with it new challenges, hopes, and concerns. The appeal of Susan Curzon’s book is irresistible. She promises a how-to manual for librarians. In the complex and fast-paced world of 21st century health libraries, anything that can give the emotive subject of change the same regulated approach as cataloguing can only be welcome.
But does she deliver? On the whole I would say yes. The book is laid out in ten chapters that take the reader through the change process, from conceptualisation, through implementation and the problems that may arise, to evaluation of completed change. Each chapter is broken down into clear step-by-step instructions. At the end of each chapter is a checklist covering the main points. The text is refreshingly jargon-free and the book lends itself easily to being dipped into as a quick reference tool.
This newly revised edition also contains a second section of fifteen ‘Change Scenarios’, hypothetical case studies with questions designed to encourage the reader to interact with the change process and put some of the techniques of the book into practice. The scenarios cover a wide range of challenging situations, from dealing with budget cuts to dealing with an influential person attempting to foist a useless collection upon the library. The situations are varied but there is a heavy emphasis on academic and public libraries (unsurprisingly, given the author’s background in these areas). Of the 15 scenarios, 7 are set in an academic library of some kind; 6 are in the public sector. For teaching purposes the scenarios are short and self-contained. While I recognise the necessity of this, it’s hard to sympathise with the librarian contemplating how he should clear the cataloguing backlog if the change you happen to be contemplating involves something more major, like moving to a new building across town, for example. There also seems to be an implicit assumption that most librarians dealing with change will not be solo practitioners.
Despite these small points I’d say that Managing Change is an excellent tool for new managers starting out and it still manages to provide plenty of interest for a more seasoned library manager.