Developing Academic Library Staff for Future Success

This book looks at academic libraries in higher education in the UK and explores the role of staff development in delivering strategic and operational objectives. All the authors have extensive management experience within higher education institutions (HEIs) and their biographies are impressive and this is reflected in each of the chapters, which present an authoritative analysis and discussion of the themes. Developing Academic Library Staff for Future Success is likely to appeal to new and existing library managers as it presents a clear and coherent description of current thinking, practice and issues in the field of academic librarianship in the UK. The topics flow quite logically from one to another and I found that it was a book that I wanted to read from chapter to chapter rather than dip into.

The first chapter on human resources for higher education is written by Sally Neocosmos, formerly the Chief Executive Officer of the Higher Education Staff Development Agency. This chapter presents the current context of higher education in the UK and provides a useful overview with an impressive reference list. One area that could have been explored in more detail is the rise of contract project workers and the need for their staff development. The next chapter, by Sheila Corrall, looks at the new electronic environment and outlines the shift from computerisation to networking, the learning information space, and also the scholarly knowledge system and discusses their impact on staff roles and the need to rethink staff development strategies.

In third chapter, Patrick Noon considers developing the academic library managers of the future and focuses his work on the Hybrid Information Skills for Senior Staff (HIMSS) project as well as drawing on work outside the information and library science sector. He provides a very interesting section in which he considers barriers to succeeding to senior posts and this is followed by a discussion on developing skills for the future which considers succession planning and proactive skills development. In the latter section he highlights the value of the Masters in Business Administration degree and its relations, such as the Masters in Public Administration. Biddy Fisher's chapter focuses on the staff development issues that arise from converging libraries with other support departments and she starts with a thoughtful discussion on the recent history of convergence and also de‐convergence in UK HEIs. She provides a useful overview of different approaches to training and developing staff and emphasises the importance of planned and managed staff development.

Recent developments in higher education and the rise of the virtual learning environment (VLE) has led to the development of academic librarians as learning facilitators and this shift is explored in the next chapter by Chris Powis. He clearly outlines approaches to learning and teaching in HEIs and the associated impact on academic librarians. He discusses the importance of librarians developing teaching skills and points out that the curriculum of departments of library and information studies do not appear to reflect this shift; as a result practitioners develop these skills through on‐the‐job training or by attending accredited teaching courses. He discusses the development needs of librarians in this area (as compared with academic staff) and highlights the need for joint development programmes. In sixth chapter, Jo Webb explores the development route for academic library support staff and starts off by exploring the context, and explaining the complexity of the roles, of many support staff. She then discusses different types of development opportunities including National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and other certificated programmes such as Foundation degrees and Modern Apprenticeships.

Sue White and Margaret Weaver focus on staff development for the flexible workforce and their chapter starts with an extremely useful and broad overview of different categories of flexible working. This is followed by a section on the importance of training for flexible workers, including a summary of legal obligations. The bulk of this chapter covers different approaches for ensuring staff development and training. Research in this area by the Commonwealth Higher Education Management Service (CHEMS) and the Higher Education Consultancy Group (2002) could have been referenced here as it offers research and recommendations based on the experiences of contract staff working on projects. In eighth chapter, Moira Bent offers an overview of using a VLE for delivering staff development and recommends that a blended approach (i.e. one involving both face‐to‐face and also online activities) as the most effective one. Many of the examples in this chapter focus on the use of VLEs for delivering staff training programmes using training materials. I would have welcomed a more detailed consideration of their use in supporting collaborative networked learning (for example, action learning sets) and also as a tool for mentoring and coaching.

Philippa Dolphin contributed the chapter on collaborative staff development and this focuses on local and national collaboration including partnerships and groups such as CPD25 (the staff development and training group working in association with members of the M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries in the Greater London area) and the Consortium of Academic Libraries in Manchester (CALIM) and also groups in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Her review provides a clear state‐of‐the‐art summary of current activities ending with a section on the benefits and challenges of collaborative staff development. The final chapter by the editor, Margaret Oldroyd, rounds off the book and is titled “Taking the strategic approach to staff development”. She integrates and re‐iterates many of the main ideas and themes mentioned in earlier chapters, and concludes with recommendations aimed at four levels: individuals, organisations, regions and the sector as a whole.

Overall I highly recommend this book to anyone involved in leading teams, managing or directing library and information services in HEIs in the UK. It reflects the developments in this area in the past decade and provides a sound analysis of current practice. It provides a clear message that success in staff development is critical in delivering an up‐to‐date and relevant library and information service in today's challenging environments. I consider it essential reading for aspiring, new and established library managers and directors.