Bill Matthews, American Libraries; Next Steps: Change at American University: Managing for change and continuous improvement:
"Bill Mayer imagines a library without librarians. The way he sees it, his campus is filled with activity and he wants his librarians to be a part of the action. “Their role isn’t to simply go out and generate more visibility” he explains, “but to become more involved with everything that is going on around us.”
This vision opens up the library for new types of programming spaces. “I’d really like to see the library transformed into a series of living rooms and kitchens,” Mayer suggests. This metaphor builds on the idea that at parties, people congregate around the food and comfortable sitting areas. Libraries in this manner would become a natural place for learners to mix and mingle.
Mayer has been the university librarian at American University in Washington D. C. for two and a half years and is crafting a bold agenda for the future. This is evident in the library’s new mission statement: we enable success. Reading like a call to action, this simple statement pushes forward a powerful charge that reframes the library as an integral part of campus. “I’m not really a fan of build-it-and-they-will-come,” Mayer says. “We need to constantly scan for opportunities and fill any voids that we see.”
And just how does one make radical change happen? Mayer provides an analogy: “Change is like water on brick, with a steady stream over a long period of time, changes will occur.” Altering work culture isn’t something that can happen overnight; it is an ongoing and constant process."
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/next-steps-change-american-university
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