Kcls computer reserve

Th e Ele c tron i c Ha llwa y ® Case Teaching Resources FROM THE EVANS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS Box 353060 · University of Washington · Seattle WA 98195-3060 www.hallway.org IMPROVING DECISION MAKING AND PATRON SERVICE IN THE KING COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM (A) Bill Ptacek, director of the King County Library System (KCLS), picked up a copy of “The Year 2000 Plan” and glanced inside at the table of contents. His eyes scanned the headings: “Service and Collection Levels,” “Capital Projects,” “Staffing Model”, and “Revenue and Expenditures.” Since becoming the library system's director three years ago, Ptacek and his senior management team had worked long and tedious hours on all these crucial components to develop a long-range plan to guide the library system through the year 2000. The ultimate goal of the plan seemed clear: to ensure that the library system was structured so that resources were distributed equitably and were coordinated to maximize the value to the community of the library's offerings. Inherent in this goal was a major building program to address the county's 20% projected population growth and a shift in collection development targeted toward providing a more in-depth and sophisticated level of materials and services. Underlying all of these efforts was a renewed emphasis on quality service to patrons. If only there was a formal way to address the organizational culture of the library system, Ptacek thought to himself. For the past three years, he had been hearing numerous complaints from personnel throughout the library system, from line staff in the 38 community libraries to senior management at the library's headquarters, called the Service Center. Branch personnel argued that management decisions made at the Service Center often had a negative impact on line staff and patrons, while the senior management team, all quartered at the Service Center, seemed to be suffering from interdepartmental competition and complained of being overworked. Typical of the issues, one branch librarian complained that it took over a year to authorize repair to a microfiche reader. New programs and policies were initiated by the administration that branch employees found difficult to implement or which impeded service. For example, the wait list and reserve system, developed at the Service Center, was so complicated that staff were embarrassed to explain it to their patrons. The recordkeeping system was considered onerous, and in an understaffed system, any extra work was unwelcome. At the same time, “The Year 2000 Plan” called for a renewed emphasis This case study was made possible through the generous contributions of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Henry M.