This document discusses the organizational structure of libraries. It begins by defining organization and explaining its importance for libraries to achieve goals and objectives in a systematic way. It then describes the typical functional departments of a library, including acquisition, technical processing, circulation, reference, and maintenance. Principles of structuring an organizational chart are also outlined, such as span of management, lines of authority, and centralization vs decentralization of activities. The document provides examples of organizational charts and their role in visually presenting the relationships within a library's structure.
2. Created By:
Mubassira Mahmuda Supty
The student of Information Science and Library Management,
University of Dhaka.
BA Hons, 3rd year, 5th semester
2017
3. Name of the contents:
1. What do you mean by organization
2. Functions of organizing
3. Organizational Form
4. Principles of structuring
5. Some special activates of organization
6. Organizational chart
7. Aspects of the organizational chart
8. Conclusion
4. What do you mean by organization?
In general organization means the act or process of something that
has been organized or created in an ordered way. In our daily life
organizing is very important and essential to lead our life in a
systematic way.
At the point of view of Library Science the organization is very
important for any library or any information institutions because
the library is a kind of social institution. It needs a simple and
systematic organizational structure to achieve its goals and
objectives. The librarians should be adopt various suitable criteria
structure necessary programs and activities of a library.
5. Functions of organizing:
The following characteristics are used for creating sections or units of a library:
1. Number
2. Functions
3. Territory (geographical contiguity)
4. Product
5. Customers (users)
6. Process of Equipment
7. Subjects
8. Materials (books, periodicals, microfilms, maps etc.)
For organizing the functions of a library its activities is relating to each
function have to be divided into works and jobs and group and arranged to form a
structure. So it is a practice to divide and group the activities of a library into
desirable units for getting the best management results.
6. Organizational Form:
The most common form of the information institution’s design is
the functional structure. This structure divided the whole library
into eight functional departments. This departments are-
1. Acquisition
2. Technical
3. Processing
4. Circulation
5. Reference
6. Documentation
7. Extension
8. Maintenance
7. Organizational Form (Cont.):
The academic libraries use the Subject form to organize
their materials. The subject form provides more and
depth reference and information services, requiring a
higher degree of subject specialization on the part of the
staff.
In academic libraries subject departments are usually
broad in scope to include all related subjects.
8. Principals of structuring:
In the process of designing the organizational structure of a
library, the dividing and grouping various library activities
produce a number of horizontal and vertical units at different
levels. So these units need to be structured relating them
approximately, to produce a desirable organizational structure
for effective administration and efficient management. This
structure is essentially an establishment of appropriate
relationship between various groups of persons working at
vertical and horizontal positions of a library. Therefore, it is
necessary to adopt some useful principles for creating
organizational structure.
9. Principals of structuring (Cont.):
1. Span of Management
2. Scalar Principle and the Vertical Hierarchy
3. Unit of Command
4. Delegation of authority and responsibility
5. Line and Staff Positions
6. Functional Authority
7. Co-ordination and Integration
8. Centralization and Decentralization
10. Principals of structuring:
The principles of structuring are elaborated below:
1. Span of management:
It refers to the number of activities which a manger
can effectively manage. This mainly emphasize on the
information officer or the librarian who has the power
to supervise, control and manage. This emphasizes on
the limit to which a librarian or information officer
would be able to supervise, control and manage a
number of activities efficiently.
11. Principals of structuring (Cont.):
2. Scalar principle and vertical hierarchy:
It needs there should be final utilize authority and the
lines of authority should clear extended downward to every
subordinate position in a library.
3. Unit of command:
It emphasizes that each employee is supervised by only
one supervisor who should make assignments and asses the
employee’s performance.
12. Principals of structuring (Cont.):
4.Delegation of authority and responsibility :
It states that responsibility can not be delegated without
accompanying authority. The process of delegation should
consider certain facts such as:
a) assignment of tasks
b) the determination of the results expected
c) degree of delegation of authority for performing the
tasks
d) exact fixation or responsibility for future or success in
performing the tasks of an employee in a library.
13. Principals of structuring (Cont.):
5. Line and staff positions:
Line positions or managers are responsible and
accountable for the tasks assigned to them in the
achievement of organization's aims and objectives. Staff
positions are those that provide advice, support and
service to line positions out their tasks. Usually staff
positions are created in big libraries to streamline
operations on the basis of advise give to make the right
choice from different alternatives.
14. Principals of structuring (Cont.):
6. Functional authority:
It relates to supervisory power exercised on a
section/unit by a position/manager/specialist outside
the organizational section/unit. In libraries, often
functional authority is given to specialists who complete
a particular project work within specific time.
Sometimes, they are known as coordinators because
they have to work with employees involved in their type
of specialty.
15. Principals of structuring (Cont.):
7. Co-ordination and Integration: The employees of a library
work in different positions to accomplish the desired result but
these positions are not to be operated in isolation. So they have
to operate in close cooperation and coordination with various
units of a library.
8. Centralization and Decentralization: In a library, certain
activities need to be centralized and certain others
decentralized. But a judicious combination would ensure best
results in most economical way. Therefore, in big libraries,
housekeeping operations may be centralized and specific services
may be decentralized.
16. Some special activates for organization:
Some specific activities are necessary to organize an institutions. These are-
1. Planned a goal
2. Assigning the activities to specific positions
3. People
4. Providing a means of coordinating the efforts of individuals and groups.
Organizing thus divides activates into manageable units and makes each unit’s
work to compatible with all the others.
One of the most important aspects of organization is choosing the design of
the enterprise. The two key concepts in organizing are specialization and
coordination. Each organization must decide how it wants to divide its tasks or
specialize.
17. Organizational chart:
It is a good practice to create a chart or drawing before
making something. An organizational chart is very useful
visual aid for including the horizontal and vertical structure
of an organization.
It is a graphic presentation of organizational structure
showing different positions, span of control, relationships
between line and staff positions, flow of authority and
responsibility, relationships with advisory committees and
such others.
18. Aspects of the organizational chart:
This chart is very important for each type of library. While
preparing the organizational chart the following steps should be
taken into consideration:
1. Size of an organization
2. Flow of the authority and responsibility
3. Horizontal and vertical positions
4. Span of control
5. Functional and conditional aspects
6. Lines of communication
19. The organizational charts revel that a library, its staff and
the external environment exist in a complex and interwoven
relationship. Organizing provides techniques for structuring
these relationships in a meaningful manner, that is for
establishing relationships that provide the best flow a
activities, ideas, authority and responsibility. Order and
clarity arise from organizing.
20. Conclusion
Organization serve the public, providing a wide range of
services to improve the life of individuals or
communities.
It can be stated that organization use management
control system in order to influence employees behavior
in the right direction with aim of achieving
organizational goal nevertheless employs behavior can
be difficult to direct ‘in a desired way, especially if
individual goal are not aligned with the organizational
goals.