Flexible working in libraries: profit and potential pitfalls
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435129610108225 |
| Date | 01 March 1996 |
| Published date | 01 March 1996 |
| Pages | 8-16 |
| Author | Anne Goulding,Evelyn Kerslake |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Introduction
A battalion of new working patterns have been
unleashed on managers of library and infor-
mation services: annualized hours, home-
working, job sharing, fixed-term contracts,
term-time working, the list goes on and on.
Flexible working patterns offer opportunity
but also require careful planning if both
employer and employee are to profit. The
benefits of flexible working must be balanced
against the new responses and skills demand-
ed of managers. A less than adequate response
from managers of library and information
services may stem from a lack of up-to-date
information about the nature of these
changes: where and why they are occurring,
and their full implications for individual
organizations.
This report draws on the results of a study
of 475 library and information services (LIS)
with a total staff of 38,008 individuals to
attempt to redress that lack of information.
Data were obtained via a questionnaire survey
(response rate 57 per cent) with library/infor-
mation services in colleges of higher educa-
tion, and old and new universities; public
library services in English county, metropoli-
tan and London borough councils; Scottish,
Welsh and Northern Ireland councils and
library boards; and special and corporate
libraries.
In-depth case study interviews were also
conducted with the aim of achieving a geo-
graphic and sectoral spread. However, inter-
views with interesting or “critical” cases
identified from the questionnaire returns were
also undertaken with the result that the fol-
lowing organizations were subjects of case
studies:
• Case study 1 – old university, defined here
as established before the binary divide was
dismantled.
• Case study 2 – new university, defined here
as established after the binary divide was
dismantled.
• Case study 3 – English county council
public library service.
• Case study 4 – metropolitan borough
public library service.
• Case study 5 – outer London borough
public library service.
• Case study 6 – Welsh public library service.
• Case study 7 – Scottish public library
service.
8
Library Management
Volume 17 · Number 2 · 1996 · pp. 8–16
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0143-5124
Flexible working in
libraries: profit and
potential pitfalls
Anne Goulding
and Evelyn Kerslake
The authors
Anne Goulding is Lecturer and Evelyn Kerslake is
Research Assistant, both in the Department of Information
and Library Studies at Loughborough University, Loughbor-
ough, UK.
Abstract
Flexible workers are a growing part of the library and
information sector, as they are in the service sector gener-
ally. Yet their specific needs and requirements have been
greatly ignored. Outlines increasing flexibility in the labour
market generally and discusses flexibility in library and
information services. Discusses the incidence of estab-
lished flexible working patterns such as part-time, job-
share, temporary and flexi-time working, and also of
newer work forms such as homeworking and annualized
hours. Uses data from a survey of 475 library and informa-
tion services with a staff of 38,008 individuals. Examines
the advantages and disadvantages of flexible working,
and outlines the solutions worked out by case study
organizations and managers. Suggests that effective use
of flexible workers in library and information services
necessitates the updating of management techniques and
organizational strategy.
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