Bill Mayer, the University Librarian at American University, has been implementing some fairly radical (for libraries) changes in how the library exists on campus and interacts with the university community:
Next Steps : Change at American University
I really don’t have much of an opinion on any particular changes, mainly because I think that any library needs to seek out the ways to best serve their community. This means hanging on to traditional ways of service, while at the same time implementing out new tools and ways to connect people with what they seek. The best results for this process will be different for different libraries and communities.
I was, however, impressed with his approach:
…one word kept coming up over and over again: trust. “Trust is the most important aspect of the work we do—without it, there can be no change, no movement, no growth,” he said. I asked him how one goes about building trust and his response was simple: listening. “You ask questions and then you listen to what others say and suggest, and then you build up together from there. That’s a key part. If an administrator doesn’t ask, or even worse, asks but doesn’t include aspects that staff suggest, then you lose trust.”
If he walks that talk, then I think he has a good chance of finding the right balance for American University.
