Finding the Ties that Bind: Coalition Building In Loosely Coupled Academic Libraries

Abstract

Pressures are building for academic library leaders. Leaders face budget cuts, space re-purposing, staffing shortages, and expectations to meet evolving faculty and students’ research needs. Leaders must not only manage library operations, but also successfully guide and lead within a sea of unpredictable, evolving institutional forces and activities. Loosely coupled organizational theory provides library leaders insights and guidance as they organize and plan. Leaders must recognize, understand, and leverage the strengths of these systems. It is up to them to bring together appropriate coalitions to foster collaborations and cohesions not only among library staff members, but across disciplinary communities within academia. By finding and securing these ties that bind in loosely coupled libraries, leaders can successfully further goals and foster innovation.