Clusters: A Study of a Non-traditional Academic Library Organizational Model

Abstract

Organizational structure and culture affect all aspects of a library, from the practical daily operations to the overall effectiveness of the library to meet its users' needs. Many academic libraries have explored different organizational structures to meet changes in user needs and the information environment as well as studied their organizational culture in an effort to diagnose deficiencies or strengths. This article explores one non-traditional organizational model at a small academic library. This model - the Cluster structure - is a modified version of the traditional team structure, but tries to address some of the pitfalls inherent in a team-based organization. The article covers a case study on the formation and evolution of the cluster structure, and then turns its attention to the effect the structure has had on organizational culture using the Competing Values Framework (CVF).