Organisation of Academic Library

Learning Contents Summary

The Organisation of Academic Library learning resource provides a detailed understanding of how academic libraries are structured and managed. It covers the essential aspects of the library's organizational chart, highlighting the roles and responsibilities of different departments and units. Learners will learn about the significance of effective library organization in supporting day-to-day operations and improving service delivery to library users. The resource explores the functions of various divisions within the academic library, such as admin, reader's service, circulation, reference, technical service, collection development, and reprography units. Additionally, the learning content addresses the staffing structure of academic libraries, including professional staff, para-professional staff, non-professional staff, and specialist staff.

Goals

At the end of this study, learners should be able to:

1. Understand the importance of effective organization in academic libraries for efficient day-to-day operations and service delivery.
2. Describe the typical organizational structure of an academic library, including various departments, units, and their functions.
3. Identify the roles and responsibilities of different divisions within the academic library, such as reader's service, circulation, reference, technical service, collection development, and reprography units.
4. Explain the staffing structure of academic libraries, including professional staff, para-professional staff, non-professional staff, and specialist staff, and their respective roles in library operations.

Definition of Organisation of Academic Library

Academic Library organization is essential for day-to-day operations under the financial and policy oversight of the Board of Trustees. Academic Library activities have been classified and divided into manageable jobs and allocated to staff through established salary classifications and position descriptions.  The organizational chart of an academic library documents the organization of positions among various service areas with clear lines of authority and communication delineated for each position (Aliyu, 2012).

Generally, the organizational structure of any library is its compartmentalization. It is the way of placing library facilities, resources and services at the disposal of the library users and how its functions will affect its immediate patrons. If this were to be made effective, especially in an academic environment, the library system is to be organized into various departments or units by grouping related activities together logically so as to hasten effectiveness and efficiency of work flow, (Shakerlibrary.org, 2022).

In a typical academic library set-up like the university library, the organizational structure takes the form of the library categorized or divided into several departments, units or sections. Due to its size, the academic library has numerous division all of which are under the leadership control of the University Librarian. Within the library set up, some departments such as acquisition, cataloguing, classification, serials, media, circulation, reference and reserve could be found. Aside from these, there are departmental and branch libraries which make up the university library complex. In each of the department, a qualified professional librarian is in control. There are departmental or unit heads under which there are a number of staff working. The branch and departmental libraries are also headed by qualified professionals.

Functions of Academic Library Organisational Structure

According to (laspotechlibrary.net 2022) and (library.unn.edu.ng, 2022), the following divisions and units perform the following functions:

1. Admin: Usually, all heads of departments or units in the library are responsible to the deputy university librarian(s). The deputy himself is in turn responsible to the University librarian who is also responsible to the Vice Chancellor.
2. Reader’s Service: This department offers direct services to library users. It provides books and space for users just like the reference section. It is the point where users come in contact with library materials to meet their information needs. This department is charged with the responsibility of registering library users, keeping the overall statistics of registered users, and keeping records of all borrowed and overdue books in the library. The section also takes statistics of users every two hours.
3. Circulation Unit: Circulation unit provides efficient service for customers through the charging and discharging of materials, assisting patrons with their library card accounts, coordinating inter-branch and external circulation of library materials, and returning library materials to the shelves. This unit is often the initial contact with library users and staff are often responsible for interpreting many of their policies and procedures.  The functions of this department include:
   • registration of library users;
   • keeping records of books borrowed or returned;
   • taking library stock and keeping library statistics;
   • sending overdue notices to defaulters and collection of fines,
   • taking care of inter-library lending;
   • shelving and shelf-reading of books; and
   • weeding outdated library resources.
4. Reference unit: As the name implies, the reference comes from the verb “refer” which means to turn for aid or information. Reference, therefore, means ‘recourse to’ or consulting a particular source of information with a view to finding out, locating and verifying a specific item. This is the unit that preserves reference resources and gives personal assistance to users who may need them. They handle both directional and non-directional queries from users and direct them to sources from where information can be obtained. This unit houses reference materials which can only be consulted in the library.  Their activities include:
   • Shelving and shelf reading of reference materials.
   • Taking statistics of users and consulting materials.
   • Answering users’ queries.
   • Referral services
   • Recording Issuance of a referral letter to library patrons
   • User education: educating users on how to make use of the library and its resources.
   • Handling of reserve materials.
5. Special collection and Serial unit: They house journals, newspapers, magazines, and related serial materials that come into the library. This is also one of the readers’ services departments of the library where materials with current information can be accessed. Serials, according to Prytherch (1995), are publications issued in successive parts, appearing at regular or irregular intervals and as a rule are intended to be continued indefinitely. This section catalogues and classifies serial materials to make them available to library users. Other activities carried out in this section include:
   • Sorting and arrangement of journals
   • Serials display new journals to avail our clientele latest journals.
   • Records serial materials acquired by the library.
   • Stamping of Serial Materials Acquired into the Library.
   • Put serials on the shelves based on their discipline for easy retrieval by a library user.
   • Keeps statistics of serial use.
   • Shelving and shelf reading.
   • Indexing and abstracting of newspapers.
6. Technical Service Section: The role of this department is to process library materials acquired by the director and the acquisition committee to be made available for the use of library users. Staff assigned to this department will be responsible for the ordering and processing of library materials and for maintaining the budgetary records of the library’s materials collection. This will include directing and coordinating all functions related to the purchasing and processing of library materials for the system.  This department also maintains and troubleshoots issues with the catalogue, liaising with Library where necessary. This department is further divided into different sections:
7. Bindery Unit: This is an example of the units under the technical service division. Their services include;
   • General book binding for the library department, other departments, offices of the university, institutes and individuals of the university community and beyond
   • Cutting of catalogue cards, for both the library and its clients’ use.
   • Training of students of library and information sciences on industrial training (it) under the SIWES programme to update their practical knowledge in the area of book-binding and preservation.
   • Lamination of paper and documents like certificates, identity cards etc. For the individual within the university community and beyond.
   • Daily shelving of books in the library department.
   • Other essential and emergency services may be assigned to the section. Like the binding of accreditation papers and other services.
8. Collection Development Division: The Division liaises with the Departments and faculties to ascertain their needs. It sources funds from the University Bursary to procure needed stock. It appeals to Donor Agencies, Publishers, Foreign Embassies and friends of the University for Solicited Gifts and Donations. The Division engages in the exchange of publications with, local and foreign partners. Resources thus acquired are added to the existing Library stock to rejuvenate her holdings in all fields of study to assist the University in promoting her core values. They maintain a registrar called the accession registrar, this registrar is used for keeping information of the books such as date, the accession number, author’s name, title, publication, year of publication, cost, source, and no of copies. Therefore, the acquisition section assigns accession number to new materials and also apply the appropriate stamp on books examples of stamps in the section are; the Ownership stamp, Legal deposit stamp, Donation stamp, and Accession stamp. The section thereafter forwards the materials to the cataloguing and classification section for processing.
9. Cataloguing and Classification Unit: The cataloguing section carries out the bibliographic description of new books that are being brought from the acquisition section. The section is guided and abides by AACR (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules). The classification unit classifies the print and non-print materials, inputting the records into the database of the library. Cataloguing and Classification covers the analysis and representation of methods used in describing, organizing and providing access to library resources so that users can find out whether or not the information resources are relevant to them and available. The essence of cataloguing and classification is to make resources easily accessible. An academic Library uses the Library of Congress Classification (LC) scheme, as a guide to arrange all library materials due to its large collections.
10. Reprography Unit: The Reprography Section, through the operation of divisional satellites, provides the university community with typesetting, printing, duplicating and photocopying services. Through its contract coordinating services, the Reprography Section coordinates negotiated contracts for typesetting, large-scale photocopying, stationery, and printing, so as to ensure that the University's graphic standards are met and that suppliers meet the requirements of contracts negotiated in accordance with its Policy.

Staffing in Academic Library

According to Aliyu (2012) and Bakare (2022), the staff structure can be divided into four (4) categories:

1. The Professional Staff: professional staff in academic libraries, are also referred to librarians. They are those who have earned a degree or completed a post-graduate programme in librarianship or information studies. Professional staff are in charge of designing, planning, organising, implementing, managing, and evaluating library resources and services to meet users' information needs. Their responsibilities also include collection development, resource organisation and exploitation, assisting users in locating and using information, and developing systems to make the library's resources more accessible. Professional staff must interact with members of the community on a regular basis in order to better serve them.
2. Para-professional staff: In academic libraries, a paraprofessional is formally known as a library officer. They are members of the library support staff who usually have a diploma or Higher National Diploma in library science. Paraprofessionals have been taught specific procedures and how to apply them under normal conditions according to established guidelines without using professional judgement. Technical support activities such as cataloguing and serials management are typically assigned to library paraprofessionals.
3. Non-professional staff: This group of employees is primarily responsible for routine circulation functions and operational library duties such as shelving, shelf-checking, processing library materials, data entry, filing, and basic reader assistance. They are the people with whom the general public will have the most frequent contact. As a result, it is essential that they receive adequate fundamental training to help them develop excellent interpersonal and communication skills. They hold regular or advanced certificates in fields other than library and information science. They work as library assistants, attendants, and porters.
4. Specialist staff: Specialists handle specific tasks such as computer system administration, administrative work, financial accounting, and marketing. Specialist workers have a degree in their field other than a librarianship degree. Cleaners, security officer, gardeners, typists, binders, accountants, and drivers are also included in this classification of employees. This set of people have no background in librarianship.

Question for practice

1. What is the significance of organizing an academic library effectively, and how does it impact day-to-day operations and service delivery?
2. Describe the typical organizational structure of an academic library, and provide examples of various departments or units that can be found in such a structure.
3. What are the main functions of the reader's service department in an academic library, and how does it support library users?
4. Explain the role of the circulation unit in an academic library, including the tasks they perform and their importance in the library's overall functioning.
5. Discuss the different categories of staff in an academic library, including professional staff, para-professional staff, non-professional staff, and specialist staff, and outline their respective responsibilities and contributions to library operations.