Leading a Library Department Through Organizational Change

Presenters
Hyun Chu Kim, Interim Director of Technical Services, Kennesaw State University
Hyun Chu Kim is a Librarian Associate Professor and serves as the Interim Director of Technical Services at Kennesaw State University. She is responsible for leading Technical Services, which encompasses the library’s metadata and discovery, acquisitions, and systems subunits. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Washington and an MLIS from Valdosta State University. Hyun Chu’s main areas of interest and research are technical services in academic libraries and immigrant families and education.


Ariel Turner, Department Chair, Kennesaw State University
Ariel Turner serves as the Chair of the Department of Library Resources at Kennesaw State University, which encompasses the library’s metadata, acquisitions, systems, institutional repository and collection development teams. She began her career in public libraries, and has experience in cataloging, systems, reference, and instruction work. Ariel holds a BA in International Studies and Art History from Oglethorpe University, a MLIS from Valdosta State University, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Higher Education Leadership and Practice from the University of North Georgia. Her current research focuses on the preparedness of university presidents in a changing higher education environment.

Description
“Prior to July 2019, the Kennesaw State University Library was considered both a college and a department within the institution, which created ambiguity when the library interacted with faculty and the institution. Following the reclassification of Kennesaw State University as an R2 institution and a system-wide comprehensive administrative review to streamline efficiencies, the library reorganized to better reflect the structure in traditional academic units, as a college with two departments. This reorganization led to the creation of two Department Chair positions, which resulted in four interim leadership positions occurring in the institution simultaneously: two interim department chairs, an Interim Director of Technical Services, and an Interim Director of Collection Development.

This presentation will discuss the experiences of the Interim Director of Technical Services and the Interim Department Chair of Library Resources. Serving as interim in this period of change required the ability to lead library faculty and staff through a massive reorganization while learning new roles and gaining expanded leadership skills. These new roles necessitated change management skills, strategic planning, and workflow assessment. A key component of the success of this process was collaboration.

In this session, participants will learn about how to deal with an atmosphere of constant change at all levels, the importance of a willingness to adapt and be flexible, and how to handle ambiguity with workflows and job responsibilities.

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