Scarecrow Press The Associate University Librarian Handbook: A Resource Guide

The associate university librarian is tasked with running the various services and workflows of academic research libraries, allowing the head university librarian to focus on the acquisition of resources through fundraising and external public relations. Although the positions of assistant or associate university librarians and deans are considered a training ground for upward movement in the profession, there are surprisingly few mentoring experiences available. The Associate University Librarian Handbook: A Resource Guide looks to change that. Bradford Lee Eden has brought together a variety of helpful topics for university librarians. The first section provides a broad overview of the field and what it means to be an associate librarian. A section on managing change, a topic endemic to the academic library in these times, follows. The next section deals with the question of funding the library enterprise and managing resources, with chapters on how best to handle budget reductions, cultivating donors and donor relations, and managing a research function. The fourth section covers career management, and includes chapters on navigating the transition to university librarian. A concluding section deals with leadership and defining the future. Intended for both those in the position of associate university librarian and for those aspiring to get there, The Associate University Librarian Handbook will be a valuable tool and guide. Review Fortunately, much of the advice provided in this collection's 17 papers is equally useful for librarians in management positions in any library. The papers are written by a well-credentialed and multi-skilled group of senior university librarians, and each concludes with an extensive list of further reading options for each topic. In addition to the informative collection of papers in the handbook, Eden also directs his readers to the Taiga Forum (www.taiga-forum.org), which maintains a discussion board facilitating the exchange of views on issues relevant to managing university libraries. The Associate University Librarian Handbook is well set out - with a clear and informative contents page and a good index - easy to read and to refer to as needed. It provides invaluable career advice for those in the position of associate university librarian and those aspiring to attain the position, as well as senior librarians and library managers in any library sphere looking to move up the career ladder--Australian Library Journal Geared for current and future associate university librarians and deans, the work fills a gap in the literature for handbooks and sourcebooks for this specific position. Beginning with an introductory section that introduces the book as a whole and defines the Associate University Librarian, the work next presents two case studies on managing change as an associate university librarian, followed by five chapters on funding the library enterprise and managing resources. The fourth section presents three chapters on managing your career and development, while the fifth provides two chapters for the associate university librarian taking on an interim leadership role. This work is of use for practicing librarians in academic environments who are looking to move up to a higher position, and for those already working as associate university librarians.--American Reference Books Annual About the Author Bradford Lee Eden is Dean of Library Services at Valparaiso University. He is editor of the journals OCLC Systems & Services: Digital Library Perspectives International and The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances, and he is on the editorial boards of Library Hi Tech and The Journal of Film Music. Eden is the editor of Content Management Systems for Libraries: Case Studies (Scarecrow, 2008).