Library Next: Seven Action Steps for Reinvention

A call to action that extends beyond administrators and managers to all library workers, Murray-Rust’s book will give readers a voice in creating a positive future for libraries.

After a career of more than 40 years, Murray-Rust, former Dean of Libraries at Georgia Tech and a self-proclaimed library disrupter, sees our profession’s central challenge as simply this: how to turn the library outward in order to make a difference in the lives of individuals and the community. In this book she encourages readers to look an uncertain library future square in the eye. She shares stories from her transformational years at Georgia Tech Libraries which present both inspiration and practical advice on how to stand up for values while changing the ways we act upon them.

Organized around seven action steps for change, this book offers takeaways and activities you can adapt to your work style and organizational culture. You will learn from such stories and lessons as

• the three different kinds of information you need for measuring impact;
• using new frameworks, outside fragmented, risk-adverse library structures, to get the work done;
• the limitations of trying to manage your way through major cultural change;
• embedding in the community to develop visions and strategies for improvement;
• painful and challenging times that set Murray-Rust on a path of self-learning;
• how an uncomfortable assignment led to a sought-after seat at the table for a university-wide capital construction project;
• the bold promise that got the library onto the high-priority list for renovation;
• visiting a Toyota plant to learn how to encourage employee engagement and creativity; and
• learning to listen with the "turning outward" philosophy of Harwood Institute.

Author: Catherine Murray-Rust