Making Values-Based Decisions in the Academic Library

Library decision-makers confront dilemmas that require weighing competing values at personal, institutional, and professional levels. Exploring reflective processes and real-life examples, this work offers strategies for harmonizing priorities, guiding thoughtful choices, and fostering intentional change.
When faced with difficult decisions, how do academic library decision makers, at any level of positional authority, make choices that satisfy the values of their profession, their institution, and themselves? How do you decide which values to privilege when priorities compete or even conflict? How can you ensure decisions are thoughtful and rooted in core values, rather than reflective only of the most immediate conditions and priorities?

Making Values-Based Decisions in the Academic Library explores the decision-making process of librarians in both formal and informal leadership roles. Rather than trying to identify a singular “correct” answer, authors offer an exploration of their own processes and the tools they used to arrive at conclusions that fit their contexts and institutions. Their examples show how values can be central considerations in assessment, inform collection development, shape our spaces and services, influence policy, and be foundational for seeking a better way forward.

We have more power than we think to create change, and our values can be a touchstone for the decisions we make at every level. The strategies in Making Values-Based Decisions in the Academic Library can help you holistically consider available options and make choices that consider your personal, institutional, and professional values amid challenging and changing circumstances.

Contributor: Amanda Koziura (Edited by), Amy Tureen (Edited by)

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