948567

research-article2020
LIS0010.1177/0961000620948567Journal of Librarianship and Information SciencePotnis et al.

Article

Journal of Librarianship and

Best practices for managing innovations Information Science

1­–13
© The Author(s) 2020
in public libraries in the USA Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0961000620948567
https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000620948567
journals.sagepub.com/home/lis

Devendra Dilip Potnis

School of Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

Joseph Winberry
College of Communication and Information, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

Bonnie Finn
Clemens Library, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, USA

Abstract
Public libraries serve as anchors for thousands of communities across the United States. Innovations are critical for the survival
and relevance of public libraries in the country. Few studies, if any, identify the best practices for managing innovations in public
libraries based on the experiential guidance shared by administrators of public libraries that are recognized for their innovations.
This empirical study fills in the gap by identifying the challenges and solutions for managing innovations in public libraries in the
USA. A thematic content analysis of qualitative responses collected through an online anonymous survey of 219 administrators
of 211 innovations in 106 urban public libraries awarded for their innovations revealed 30 unique challenges to planning and
implementing innovations and an equal number of solutions, which were then organized into five clusters: strategy, finance,
organizational behavior, human resource management, and communication. Administrators and staff in public libraries need to
develop competencies in these five areas to better manage innovations in the future. Other public libraries can learn, apply, and
benefit from these best practices. The best practices for managing innovations, if applied, can enhance the perceived and real value
of public libraries to their local communities.

Keywords
Public libraries, innovations, library administrators, USA, challenges, solutions

Introduction existence and contribution of public libraries to society is

needed more than ever in the increasingly polarized social
Public libraries serve as anchors for thousands of commu- and political landscape of the USA.
nities across the USA (Jaeger et al., 2014). For instance, Public libraries are currently facing numerous chal-
they play a key role in supporting democracy, harnessing lenges related to the political climate and technological
social cohesion, educating citizens on a range of contempo- transformation, among other factors. For instance, the pol-
rary topics (for example, nurturing curiosity and learning iticians who fund libraries often have a narrow view of
among children and lifelong learning for adults) (Winberry what public libraries should be and do (Gazo, 2011). As a
and Potnis, forthcoming), and enhancing information liter- result, since 2010, almost 800 public libraries have been
acy to help users retrieve, evaluate, and use information closed in the UK, which accounted for around 20% of pub-
independently (Cooke, 2018; Hafner and Sterling-Folker, lic libraries in the country (Flood, 2019); in the same
1993; Klinenberg, 2018). Public libraries provide a “social
infrastructure” that shapes the way people interact with
each other (Audunus et al., 2019; Klinenberg, 2018; Scott, Corresponding author:
Devendra Dilip Potnis, School of Information Sciences, University of
2011), thereby serving as public-sphere institutions under- Tennessee, Knoxville, Communications Building, Suite 451, 1345 Circle
pinning democracies and rational discourse (Audunus Park Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
et al., 2019; Widdersheim and Koizumi, 2016, 2017). The Email: dpotnis@utk.edu
2 Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 00(0)

period, the government spending on public libraries also closed since 2010, Coates suggests that libraries are not
decreased by 30% in the UK (Flood, 2019). Similarly, innovative enough to meet the changing needs of library
most of the public libraries in the USA have consistently patrons:
experienced budget cuts since 2008 (American Library
Association, 2020). Recently, and for the fourth consecu- There is no evidence anywhere that English people have lost
tive year in the USA, the president has proposed the elimi- interest in reading. They still regard the idea of public libraries
nation of all federal funding for all public libraries in the as valuable and important. They see both as essential to a
country (EveryLibrary, 2020). Against the backdrop of the good society. If libraries provided good services, they would
be well used. (Coates, 2019: 4)
growing popularity of smartphones and social media
across all age groups, public libraries in the USA have
The finding that most English people still support pub-
experienced a steady decline in physical library visits of
lic libraries despite their declining use and operation is
around 3% every year since 2013 (Albanese, 2020).
reminiscent of a 2013 report in the USA which found that
Smartphones reduce the attention span of users (Zomorodi,
while 90% of the respondents felt that the closing of the
2017), which negatively affects reading habits and serves
local library would have a negative impact on the commu-
as one of the top-10 challenges faced by public libraries
nity, just 67% of the respondents said that it would affect
(Smith, 2019). Free access to electronic resources pro-
them or their family (Pew Research Center, 2013). The
vided by libraries also does not necessarily lead to their
same study found that 80% of the respondents were not
use by patrons, leading to the underutilization of library
aware of most or any of the services offered by their public
resources and infrastructure (Potnis et al., 2018).
library, which suggests that communication with external
In order to mitigate these challenges, public libraries
stakeholders is an integral part of managing innovations. If
need to design and implement new ways of serving patrons
ignored, it could adversely affect the adoption of innova-
so that library services remain relevant to people with dif-
tions. The low uptake of innovations implemented by
ferent levels of comfort with technology (Knight, 2017;
libraries signals a failure to manage innovations and can
Potnis et al., 2016, 2018; Wójcik, 2019b). However,
lead to the low real and perceived value of public libraries
increasing technologically minded and community-spe-
for local communities.
cific services would require public libraries to innovate.
Innovation—that is, the process of implementing new
programs, collaborations, processes, or combinations of Research question
activities (Nicholson, 2019; Potnis et al., 2019)—can help
public libraries thrive by meeting the needs and expecta- In order to understand and analyze the issue of innovation
tions of local communities (Strange, 2008; Vassilakaki, management in depth and to provide structured guidance
2015; Wójcik, 2019a), government agencies, not-for-profit to public libraries, this study investigated the following
organizations, and businesses in uncertain and rapidly research question: What are the challenges and solutions
changing times (Milam, 2008; Pew Research Center, to managing innovations in public libraries in the USA?
2013). Innovations also improve the operational efficiency
of public libraries (Holt et al., 1996; Koizumi, 2014; Literature review
Koizumi and Widdersheim, 2016; Sin and Vakkari, 2015).
The survival and success of organizations like public This subsection presents research on critical factors that
libraries depends on their ability to innovate on a continual can possibly help library administrators to manage innova-
basis (Varis and Littunen, 2010). tions in libraries. A number of studies, for instance, have
Innovations are inherently risky, so “innovation cannot found that the ability of library leaders to manage innova-
just be left to chance—it needs managing” (Rowley, 2011: tions is influenced by the management process, the objects
256). Most libraries actively undertake program, process, of management (for example, human resources and organ-
partnership, and technology innovations to create new and izational culture), management techniques (for example,
greater value for their communities (Potnis et al., 2019). strategic planning and partnership), and miscellaneous
Participation, making and creating, learning, new out- factors (for example, the competence of leaders, compe-
reach, and partnerships are the key activities of innovative tence and mindset of staff, and availability of funds).
public libraries in the USA (Nicholson, 2019), which
require and/or represent processes that need to be managed
Management process
proactively. Hence, it becomes increasingly necessary for
public libraries to manage different types of innovations According to Rowley (2011), innovation should be seen as
effectively. a process rather than an end product. For instance, Wójcik
Public libraries that fail to manage innovations face (2019a) proposes the following four-stage process of man-
potentially fatal consequences. For instance, in his aging innovative services in libraries: analyzing the current
appraisal of why nearly 800 British public libraries have state of library services; selecting the type of innovation
Potnis et al. 3

needed to meet the needs of patrons; building competitive innovations are managed in other public libraries and pro-
advantage; and high-quality design for customers using the vide discernible guidance.
service. Rowley (2011) discusses innovation capabilities
and culture, innovation portfolios, innovation processes,
innovation leadership, innovative and creative teams, open Miscellaneous factors
innovation and collaboration, and user engagement in inno- Walton and Webb (2017) identify miscellaneous factors
vation as key factors in managing innovations. related to the library leadership which can affect innova-
tion management: leading by example; shaping the organi-
Objects of management zational culture and values; ensuring appropriate training
and development takes place; helping develop appropriate
The organizational culture represents the deeply rooted organizational structures; and establishing appropriate
values and beliefs shared by the employees of an organiza- reward and recognition. For instance, it is the responsibil-
tion (Jantz, 2017), and influences the management of inno- ity of library leaders to continually mold the organizational
vations in public libraries. For instance, after surveying culture so that institutional stakeholders become increas-
nine public libraries in New Zealand which implemented ingly receptive to change, and staff contribute freely,
Facebook, Neo and Calvert (2012) conclude that most actively, and effectively in managing the change triggered
public libraries are interested in adopting innovations but, by innovations.
at the same time, do not wish to associate themselves with Bitter-Rijpkema et al. (2012) describe how, over the
innovations that might negatively impact the library’s past few decades, “the job description of a public librar-
image among the public. After presenting the skills needed ian has moved from information to knowledge worker
by library authorities, Durrani and Smallwood (2008) note with a focus on innovative co-creation of meaning” (p.
that librarians would be willing to learn and apply the 39). Their realization that “learning, creativity and
skills needed for undertaking innovations only if their knowledge sharing are crucial for knowledge workers in
organizational culture nurtures and supports risk-taking. general, but even more so for public librarians” (p. 39)
demonstrates how skill-building is essential in managing
Management techniques emerging innovations.
Implementing innovations is challenging without fund-
Based on her experience, Deiss (2004) advises that inno- ing. A lack of funds is one of the most widely cited reasons
vations without strategy can lead to innovations that are for the inability of public libraries to plan and/or imple-
unusable, misleading, ill-timed, or insensitive to patrons’ ment innovative initiatives. In support of this, Rubleske
needs. After reviewing the relevant literature on managing notes:
innovations in libraries, Deiss (2004) concludes that effec-
tive innovation cannot occur without the use of strategies The argument that local public libraries are less able (or
that promote vision and planning. For instance, libraries unable) to innovate in the absence of slack resources, or when
need to develop the ability to create value-adding innova- faced with scarcely enough resources to deliver basic services,
tive services on a continuous basis; employ decision-mak- has been made with little opposition for nearly 40 years.
ing strategies about innovations; and deliver innovative (Rubleske, 2012: 16)
services to patrons (Deiss, 2004). After interviewing front-
line managers in a public library system, Leininger (2015) Based on a literature review focusing on the strategic
found that public library managers often get caught up in role of communication in managing change in libraries,
the daily work that supports the status quo, and find it dif- Kuchi (2006) suggests that communication is essential to
ficult to make time for the long-range planning required managing innovations in libraries. After analyzing five
for innovations in their libraries. scenarios of various changes introduced by implementing
Goulding et al. (2012) surveyed library students and innovative technology solutions, Conrad (2018) concludes
practitioners in academic and public libraries in the UK to that communication is critical for getting people excited
learn about their opinions of the skills needed by library about any innovation and cultivating enthusiasm for
leaders. One of their major findings was that awareness of changes introduced by innovations. The findings of a study
trends in innovations and understanding of best practices on marketing innovations in two public libraries to teenag-
for managing innovations by others can help library ers in New Zealand suggest that libraries need to compose
administrators formulate a strategy. For instance, the case effective communication messages that resonate with dif-
study of an innovative public library that created a model ferent audiences when advertising innovations (Biggs and
for generating and assessing innovations by public library Calvert, 2013). Also, since public libraries are often funded
administrators provides a valuable window into the work- by local government agencies, innovations should be co-
ings of one innovative public library (Rubleske et al., branded and placed within the context of the local govern-
2010). However, more research is needed to learn how ment’s strategic endeavors.
4 Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 00(0)

It is important to note that most of the above empirical one of the most effective strategies for eliciting response
studies focus on managing innovations and/or changes in from library administrators, since they are often busy
academic libraries. Academic libraries, which are typically (Jordan, 2015), and it would have been challenging to
housed in academic institutions, differ from public librar- schedule in-depth interviews with them. They could take
ies in terms of their business models, funding models, our survey at their convenience and at their own pace. The
patron demographics, contextual parameters, organiza- open-ended survey asked the library administrators to
tional structures, and organizational culture. Innovation report on their official job title or position in the library;
brings about change in all libraries but introducing and the state in which their library is located; the fiscal budget
managing change is a different process in academic and of the library; the degree of importance for innovations to
public libraries. Widdersheim et al. (2019: 694) note that succeed in libraries; the top-three challenges they experi-
several studies “discuss organizational change frameworks ence in planning and implementing innovations in their
utilized at large academic research libraries, but it is not library; and solutions that address the challenges. In order
clear how to apply these models in a public library set- to retain the anonymity of the survey respondents, we did
ting.” Uncertainty lingers around issues of managing inno- not require them to reveal their contact details and library
vations in public libraries. Overall, innovation in public information. We received 108 responses in total, with a
libraries is an underdeveloped topic in the literature response rate of 49.3%.
(Bieraugel, 2015; Kermani and Solhdoost, 2017).
Unlike this current study, few, if any, previous studies
Data analysis
on managing innovations are based on the challenges and
solutions reported by administrators in multiple library We applied thematic content analysis to analyze the top-
settings across the USA. Importantly, all of the administra- three challenges that the study participants experienced
tors who participated in the current study lead and manage when planning and implementing innovations, in addition
innovations that have won awards. to the solutions they had devised or planned to implement
in addressing these challenges. The inter-coder agreement
between the two coders was over 90%. The coding lasted
Methods for two months.
Context: urban public libraries
Large urban areas are at the center of the demographic Findings and discussion
shifts that are changing the composition of the USA Thirty-nine libraries from 18 states participated in this
(Kotkin, 2010). Urban public libraries serve the majority study (see Figure 1). All of them had a fiscal budget of
of library-using Americans, with patrons coming from more than US$1 million. When asked about the degree of
diverse groups and communities (Lichter and Ziliak, importance attached to innovation success in libraries,
2017). This study focuses on large urban public libraries around 67%, 30%, and 3% of the respondents reported
with the potential to provide a representative model that “extremely important,” “very important,” and “moderately
can be scaled to libraries across the country, including important,” respectively. Thus, all of the respondents real-
smaller urban and rural libraries that may not have the ized the importance of innovations in public libraries.
same resource availability. Table 1 summarizes the 30 unique challenges experi-
enced by the respondents when implementing innovations,
which we have organized into the following clusters: strat-
Data collection egy, finance, organizational behavior, human resource
This article is part of a larger study conducted with win- management, and communication. The numbers indicate
ners of the Urban Libraries Council’s Top Innovators the amount of challenges in each cluster. For instance,
Award. The Urban Libraries Council (2018: 1) is the “pre- there are seven unique challenges associated with the
mier membership organization of North America’s leading administration and staff in the organizational behavior
public library systems.” Every year, the Council recog- cluster. The administration and staff, collectively, might
nizes initiatives with the Top Innovators Award to libraries lack negotiation skills; the right attitude to embrace inno-
that demonstrate “out-of-the-box thinking and new align- vation; the ability to delegate tasks associated with innova-
ment of resources to further education for people of all tive programs; the motivation to switch existing work
ages, address race and social equity in . . . communities, practices for innovations; the ability to make decisions;
build digital inclusion and digital literacy and enhance and collaboration. A few administrators also had trouble in
civic engagement for strong democracy” (Urban Libraries getting buy-in from staff when introducing and imple-
Council, 2018). We emailed an online survey, which was menting novel ideas.
designed using Qualtrics, to 219 administrators of 211 Table 2 lists the 30 solutions proposed by the adminis-
award-winning innovations in 106 public libraries which trators for managing innovations in public libraries. A
won the Top Innovators Award from 1998 to 2018.1 It was solution such as “listening to others” was proposed as a
Potnis et al. 5

Figure 1. Geographic spread of the participating libraries.

strategic solution, but it has the potential to address the organization, the scope of the activities that will be under-
challenges associated with multiple clusters, such as taken by the organization, and the type of competitive
organizational behavior and communication. Similarly, advantage the organization should strive for in the future—
realigning staff with community aspirations is a solution which are the three key elements of any organizational
that is shared by the human resource management and strategy. The resource-based view of designing strategy
strategy clusters. Campaigning, collaboration opportuni- shows that organizations need to effectively manage their
ties, accountability, and investment in staff training are a resources—such as time, technology, space, and inven-
few other inter-cluster solutions. Transparent communica- tory—to achieve this competitive advantage over others
tion and a communication plan are the only two intra-clus- (Barney, 2001). Leaders can also better manage their
ter solutions for the communication cluster. resources by making data-driven decisions and creating an
Several solutions can address multiple types of chal- appropriate culture in the organization (Lavie, 2006).
lenges and/or are associated with multiple clusters of solu- Strategy and leadership are inextricably related to each
tions. For instance, “listening to all internal and external other. Goulding et al. (2012) recommend generic strategic
stakeholders” is a solution that was proposed by some of planning skills such as decision-making, problem-solving,
the respondents in this current study, which is related to the external awareness, and change management for library
strategy, organizational behavior, and communication administrations, since these skills are vital for public
clusters. The following subsections discuss the challenges libraries to prove their worth to funders, especially in chal-
experienced and corresponding solutions proposed by the lenging financial times.
surveyed respondents, who implemented innovations in The current study provides specific actionable solutions
their libraries. as part of a strategy to manage innovations in public librar-
ies. Sample solutions proposed by the surveyed respond-
ents include: aligning any new initiative with the library’s
Strategy vision; crafting an intentional strategy; identifying com-
Organizational strategy represents the process of creating a peting priorities and evaluating priorities so that libraries
unique and valuable position (i.e. competitive advantage) do not compete or deplete their limited resources; and
for the organization when producing, selling, or delivering identifying partners for implementing innovations. A
products or services (Peteraf, 1993). Leaders typically learning experiences manager at a public library who par-
spearhead the process of identifying the purpose of the ticipated in the current study thought that “innovation for
6 Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 00(0)

Table 1. Challenges to managing innovations.

Number Challenge Brief description

Strategy (n = 8)
1 Priorities Unable to identify, evaluate, and set priorities
2 Community-centric Not designing and/or planning innovations around the dynamic needs of local
innovations communities
3 Partnerships Not being able to identify, assess, form, and/or sustain the “right” partnerships at
the right time
4 Managing time (as a resource) Wrong timing in implementing tasks and events; unable to balance time for services
and programs
5 Managing information (as a Unable to collect, store, retrieve, and/or use information for making decisions and
resource) taking actions
6 Managing space (as a resource) Events, services, and programs competing for the limited space in libraries
7 Managing inventory (as a Inability to store and manage material needed for various events, services, and
resource) programs
8 Managing technology (as a Not selecting and using technology to carry out library operations and help patrons
resource) complete tasks
Finance (n = 2)
9 Funding Limited or no funds; finding money
10 Budgeting Limited or no budget for implementing innovations
Organizational behavior (n = 7)
11 Collaboration Not able to organize teams, delegate tasks, and/or resolve personnel issues
12 Power distribution and Lack of centralized decision-making delaying the process of making decisions;
dynamics imbalance in power introduced by innovations
13 Negotiation Unable to manage conflicts, bargaining with partners, and/or contracts with
partners
14 Buy-in Not making sure that the union is on board; not persuading staff; not convincing
staff of the changes associated with innovations
15 Motivation Not encouraging and incentivizing staff throughout the process of managing
innovations; lack of focus and enthusiasm
16 Accountability Not holding leaders and team members responsible for tasks and outcomes;
not making leaders and team members answerable for their performance and
contributions to innovations
17 Lack of diversity Assembling teams without any diversity in terms of demographic factors,
experience, and ideas, among others
Human resource management (n = 8)
18 Staff size Lack of staff to work on innovations
19 Staff time Staff with limited or no time for innovations
20 Staff skills Lack of skills and knowledge among staff for innovations
21 Staff readiness Resistance to change; lack of willingness and acceptance of innovations
22 Staff authority Responsibility without authority; allotting staff insufficient power to make decisions
23 Lack of trust Doubting staff’s ability to implement innovations
24 Lack of group brainstorming Staff or administrators cannot brainstorm to generate good ideas
25 Lack of experience Staff or administrators lacking experience of planning and implementing innovations,
including preparing requests for proposals
Communication (n = 5)
26 Data collection No or faulty methods of collecting data from stakeholders to understand their
needs
27 Language/messaging Inability of administrators to use effective language and/or frame the “right”
messages
28 Communication of methods/ Biased and/or flawed communication of evaluation methods and performance
criteria criteria to staff
29 Marketing Lack of marketing and/or advertising of innovations
30 Building an audience Unable to identify and/or build an audience through marketing

innovation’s sake is useless.” Listening to the needs of Leaders who are responsible for managing innovative
patrons and having data via surveys to demonstrate a given projects should pay attention to time, information, space,
need are useful ways of conducting an environmental scan. their inventory, and technology. These factors pose great
Potnis et al. 7

Table 2. Solutions: best practices for managing innovations.

Number Solution with brief description Strategy Finance Organizational Human resource Communication
behavior management
1 Listening to all internal and external * * *
stakeholders
2 Instilling data-driven decision-making *
practices
3 Establishing accountability in all actors * *
involved in planning and managing innovations
4 Managing time as a resource for innovations *
5 Realigning space in consultation with staff * *
6 Testing/piloting innovations before full *
implementation
7 Start small and scale rapidly (one-dollar-at-a- * *
time approach)
8 Aggressive marketing with well-crafted, clear, * *
and simple messages
9 Leveraging existing partnerships and building *
new partnerships for funding
10 Creating/pursuing novel opportunities for *
funding in the library community and library
system
11 Be creative in searching for and pursuing *
unconventional sources of funding
12 Efficient budgeting to ensure less or no *
wastage of dollars
13 Periodically refining the scope of the * *
innovative initiatives to avoid escalated
commitment and sunk cost
14 Creating an organizational culture where
failure is expected and celebrated; enhancing
the tolerance of risk of loss/damage
15 Promoting an organizational culture that *
embraces open-mindedness
16 Be inclusive in planning and implementing *
innovations
17 Work through staff resistance through * *
communication and discipline when necessary
18 Mastering negotiation skills and techniques * *
19 Setting clear expectations for staff during the * *
planning and implementation of innovations
20 Evaluating current staffing models to identify * *
opportunities for the efficient sharing of
tasks related to newly introduced innovative
initiatives
21 Hiring staff who understand the significance *
of innovations and speak the languages that
libraries need to interact positively with
patrons; using volunteers to offset full-time
staff and their skill limitations
22 Immediately filling vacant positions at all *
branches of the library system
23 Periodically realigning staff with community *
aspirations
24 Investing in in-house designs and ideas * *
proposed by staff; encouraging staff
creativity and efforts to translate ideas into
implementation plans

(Continued)
8 Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 00(0)

Table 2. (Continued)

Number Solution with brief description Strategy Finance Organizational Human resource Communication
behavior management
25 Continually exploring how to share learning *
with staff (i.e. increasing knowledge
management practices)
26 Making opportunities available for staff to * *
volunteer to self-select to join in the process
of planning and implementing innovations any
time they like; facilitating opportunities for
staff to collaborate across work units
27 Continuing to grow staff skills so that they *
can feel comfortable participating in the
process
28 Being transparent and honest with staff and * * *
partners
29 Continued communication about current *
successes to build enthusiasm and support
among staff and administrators
30 Communicating essential messages quickly *
and consistently to avoid confusion; ability
of supervisors to explain to those who work
for them

challenges for administrators who are managing innova- (Goodman, 2009), and aligning with and meeting the
tion. Information is often hard to obtain because partners needs of community stakeholders with funding dollars
are sometimes not willing to share the data needed to serve (Fried et al., 2010; Grant, 2015). The respondents of this
patrons in novel ways; space is often lacking because dif- study also suggested a few solutions, including seeking
ferent functional areas in libraries compete for space; and alternative funding sources such as internal and external
technologies can prove difficult to harness because devices grants and donors, partnering with public and private sec-
can malfunction and become dysfunctional. To meet these tor organizations with similar objectives, and financial
challenges, the administrators suggest a number of solu- planning for managing budgets.
tions, including keeping things simple; setting a time limit
for tasks; realigning space with community needs; and
testing technology solutions before launching initiatives Organizational behavior
that rely on these solutions. Organizational behavior—that is, human behavior at work
(Davis and Newstrom, 1981)—is a sub-area of the man-
Finance agement literature which covers topics related to the
onboarding of employees, motivating employees, manag-
Some of the financial hardships reported by the adminis- ing teams, collaboration, stress, and managing changes in
trators in this study were a lack of funding; a limited organizations (Steers, 1981).
budget for tinkering with new ideas; limited resources for The respondents in this study reported a series of chal-
implementing novel processes; a lack of unencumbered lenges in this area. The first set of challenges includes the
funding; costs prohibiting the scaling of innovations in inability to set priorities; the inability of librarians to col-
multiple branches of public libraries; and difficulty finding laborate with others; not having everyone needed at the
money, both before rolling out innovations and for sustain- table during planning; and a lack of authority provided to
ing them later. Although money is always a topic of discus- those librarians who are responsible for meeting goals. No
sion in the literature and in practitioner conversations, it solutions were offered to these challenges.
was not the only focal point of the survey respondents in The second set of challenges concerns the failure of
this study. For instance, a surveyed chief executive officer innovations. For these challenges, the surveyed library
of a public library noted: “I am not listing money as a hur- administrators proposed creating an organizational culture
dle. It does not get to be an excuse.” that celebrates the failures resulting from innovations. A
Past research recommends creating additional funding director of a public library commented:
opportunities for libraries, such as finding funders that will
champion innovations (Hamilton, 2004), setting up foun- I created a culture where failure is expected and celebrated.
dations and endowments for public–academic partnerships We encourage people to fail often and early. There isn’t
Potnis et al. 9

anything wrong with failed experiments, its [sic] how we The third set of challenges is related to the low confi-
learn. If someone isn’t failing enough, we talk, because I dence levels of librarians and lack of creativity among
assume they aren’t reaching high enough. librarians when working on innovations in libraries. There
was no direct solution proposed for addressing the low
The third set of challenges is related to the resistance of confidence levels of librarians, but the respondents thought
librarians, patrons, and partners to adapt to the changes that librarians should start believing in themselves when
introduced by innovations, and the lack of open-minded- working on novel ideas. Keeping up with current profes-
ness needed for innovations. The most common solutions sional trends to have a broader awareness of the wider
proposed by the respondents were motivating stakeholders world was recommended by the respondents as a solution
and getting their buy-in; maintaining focus and enthusiasm to stimulate creativity among librarians.
among staff for appropriate levels of participation; refresh-
ing the scope of innovative initiatives; and being inclusive
in planning and implementing innovations. Communication
According to the survey respondents, unclear expectations
Human resource management for achieving goals can prevent librarians from contribut-
Human resource management deals with all the issues ing meaningfully to the innovative initiatives in their
related to employees or staff in an organization. Sample libraries. Hence, it is the job of the administrators to com-
issues include, but are not limited to, recruiting a diverse municate their expectations clearly. Librarians are often
set of employees, searching for talent in the job market, the unaware of the rubric or criteria used by administrators to
professional development activities of employees, retain- evaluate their performance, which can affect the type and
ing employees, addressing personnel issues, and firing level of their participation in innovative projects.
employees (Bernardin, 2007). As the process of implementing innovations evolves,
The library administrators in the current study reported administrators need to frame effective messages and con-
three sets of challenges. The first set of challenges is the lack sistently communicate them to all concerned partners and
of adequate staff to schedule events or programs in libraries stakeholders. An executive director of a public library in
and limited staff as a constraint to expanding services. As a the current study thought that there is an art to crafting
result, despite wishing to include every staff member in the “clear and simple messages” and explaining these mes-
decision-making process, several of the administrators who sages “to those who work for the libraries,” which can
were surveyed for this study could not do so, which made it bridge the communication gap in libraries. Continued
challenging for them to have enough buy-in from staff when communication about current successes to build enthusi-
implementing innovations. Sample solutions proposed by asm and support among staff and administrators was one
the administrators were filling vacant positions at all of the most frequently reported pieces of advice offered by
branches; evaluating current staffing models and identifying the surveyed administrators.
opportunities for more efficient task-sharing; and realigning It is equally important to communicate with external
staff with community aspirations. Library administrators stakeholders, including partners, and keep them in the loop
can also benefit from past research (for example, Michnik, at all times. The strategic initiatives manager at a public
2015; Stejskal and Hajek, 2015) which suggests using tech- library, who completed our survey, shared their secret for
nology to streamline services and free up human capital, managing innovations in their library: things can be made
when possible, to manage innovations in libraries. easier for everyone with an “[e]stablished communication
The second set of challenges is associated with the ina- plan and active implementation of the plan so all groups
bility of public librarians to purchase, install, and use tech- are aware of project requirements and expectations for par-
nology to serve patrons, and the lack of experience in ticipation and success.” They added:
preparing a “request for proposal” when inviting bids from
potential partners. The solutions proposed by the surveyed Strong project plan with clear description of goals that is
communicated to all team members at the project’s outset.
administrators included offering professional development
Includes continued communication with the team as the
opportunities to librarians; giving librarians more time to
project continues to check on progress toward those goals.
learn new skills; allowing librarians to experiment with Develop strong project plans that include a clear description
new ideas; and encouraging librarians to share their expe- of goals and outcomes, a communication plan that
rience and guidance with others. One of the surveyed encompasses all partners and stakeholders, an implementation
administrators, who served as the chief executive officer plan to guide project development, and ongoing project
of a public library, saw “education, training, setting clear evaluations to adjust to changing conditions.
performance expectations and holding people accounta-
ble” as a set of solutions to enhance staff competencies. According to the survey respondents, open communica-
The supervisor of one library branch identified project tion, clear expectations, and transparency are critical for
management training as an essential skill for all staff, executing innovative projects in libraries. In relation to
regardless of their duties and responsibilities. this point, an assistant director of a public library in the
10 Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 00(0)

current study provided anecdotal evidence, which under- study finds that the inability of administrators to manage
lined the significance of communication: their human resources and strategy can lead to more than
50% of the challenges (i.e. 16 out of 30 challenges) to
I came in after all decisions had been made but before the managing innovations in public libraries (see Table 1).
systems were implemented. I believe there was pressure from Administrators need to be proficient in managing human
Administration to get the integrated library system migration and non-human resources (i.e. technology, information,
done. This pressure influenced the selection process of a space, inventories, and time).
vendor and other decisions that seriously impacted
The wide range of job titles held by the survey respond-
implementation. I believe that we must be honest and realistic
about what we are able to achieve within a given time frame
ents, who were responsible for managing innovations in
and communicate this to library staff, leaders and patrons. their public libraries, suggests that innovations are planned
and implemented across multiple functional areas in pub-
Public understanding and the subsequent adoption of lic libraries. Hence, any administrator, manager, or execu-
innovative programs in libraries are critical for their suc- tive who is responsible for leading any public library
cess. According to the survey respondents, their libraries system, branch of a public library, or functional area in a
sometimes failed to build an audience for their forthcom- public library needs to have the skills and knowledge
ing innovative programs. To avoid this problem, a public required to plan and implement innovations.
library manager surveyed for this study asked their peers Several studies present the leadership and management
to “plan and implement a wider marketing of services to competencies required to manage public libraries (Henricks
reach both library members and non-library users.” and Henricks-Lepp, 2014; Jordan, 2015). However, job
The solutions proposed by the survey respondents for advertisements recruiting managers or leaders for public
effective communication are in line with, and in fact more libraries rarely mention innovation management as a
detailed than, some previous studies (for example, Biggs desired characteristic. Considering the significance of inno-
and Calvert, 2013; Rossmann, 2019; Widdersheim and vations for public libraries, the findings from this study
Koizumi, 2017) which outline creating a sustainable and enhance the need for leaders and managers to develop the
consistent communication plan across all platforms and five competencies required to manage innovations.
venues for different audiences. This fact validates the Experiential guidance in terms of the solutions offered by
value embedded in the guidance offered by these adminis- the administrators in this study can help other public librar-
trators of award-winning public libraries. ies to better plan and implement innovations.
The small sample size is one of the limitations of this
study. All of the respondents represent urban public librar-
Conclusion, limitations, and future ies, which can also limit the generalizability of their solu-
research tions for managing innovations in small, rural public
Few studies empirically investigate ways to manage inno- libraries. In the future, we plan to interview 24 administra-
vations in the library and information management litera- tors who are willing to provide an explanation for their
ture (Rowley, 2011). This study, conducted with responses in the current survey. We would also like to
award-winning administrators of public libraries, fills in study the relationship between the types of award-winning
the gap by identifying 30 unique challenges and an equal innovations and the corresponding challenges experienced
number of solutions to managing innovations in libraries. and solutions devised by the library administrators for
We have classified these challenges and solutions into five managing these innovations.
clusters: strategy, finance, organizational behavior, human
resource management, and communication. Declaration of Conflicting Interests
These findings present the specific competencies needed The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to manage innovations in public libraries. The findings also to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
demonstrate the significance of skills and knowledge
related to management (i.e. strategy, human resource man- Funding
agement, and organizational behavior), finance, and com-
munication for enhancing the ability of public libraries to The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support
for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article:
better serve their communities. There is a need for profes-
This work was supported by the Dean of the College of
sional training programs dedicated to equipping library Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee
administrators with these competencies. Library and infor- at Knoxville.
mation science programs should also explore the possibil-
ity of teaching these skills in their academic programs.
ORCID iDs
The existing research presents a lack of funding as one
of the most widely experienced challenges faced by public Devendra Dilip Potnis https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2507-8157
libraries while managing innovations. In contrast, this Bonnie Finn https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3819-937X
Potnis et al. 11

Note Goulding A, Walton G and Stephens D (2012) The importance

of political and strategic skills for UK library leaders.
1. The list of all the award-winning libraries considered for
Australian Library Journal 61(2): 105–118.
this study can be found at: https://www.urbanlibraries.org/
Grant C (2015) Big changes needed: Where to find the money?
innovations
Public Library Quarterly 34(3): 199–211.
Hafner A and Sterling-Folker J (1993) Democratic ideals and the
References American public library. Democracy and the Public Library
Albanese A (2020) Are public libraries in decline? Publishers 9(1): 9–43.
Weekly, 3 April. Available at: https://www.publishersweekly. Hamilton V (2004) Sustainability for digital libraries. Library
com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/82925-are- Review 53(8): 392–395.
public-libraries-in-decline.html (accessed 3 June 2020). Henricks S and Henricks-Lepp G (2014) Desired characteristics
American Library Association (2020) Library funding. Available of management and leadership for public library directors
at: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/library-funding (accessed as expressed in job advertisements. Journal of Library
3 June 2020). Administration 54(4): 277–290.
Audunus R, Aabø S, Blomgren R, et al. (2019) Public libraries as Holt G, Elliott D and Dussold C (1996) A framework for evaluat-
public sphere institutions: A comparative study of percep- ing public investment in urban libraries. Bottom Line 9(4):
tions of the public library’s role in six European countries. 4–13.
Journal of Documentation 22(6): 1396–1415. Jaeger P, Gorham U, Bertot J, et al. (2014) Public Libraries,
Barney JB (2001) Resource-based theories of competitive advan- Public Policies, and Political Processes: Serving and
tage: A ten-year retrospective on the resource-based view. Transforming Communities in Times of Economic and
Journal of Management 27(6): 643–650. Political Constraint. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Bernardin HJ (2007) Human Resource Management: An Jantz R (2017) Creating the innovative library culture: Escaping
Experiential Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill. the iron cage through management innovation. New Review
Bieraugel M (2015) Managing library innovation using the lean of Academic Librarianship 23(4): 323–328.
startup method. Library Management 36(4–5): 351–361. Jordan M (2015) Competencies for public library managers:
Biggs H and Calvert P (2013) Marketing to teens: A study of Diversity in practice. Library Management 36(6–7):
two New Zealand public libraries. Library Management 462–475.
34(8–9): 705–719. Kermani Z and Solhdoost F (2017) Relationship between
Bitter-Rijpkema M, Verjans S and Bruijnzeels R (2012) The library innovation climate and innovative behavior of librarians:
school: Empowering the sustainable innovation capacity of Case study in organization of libraries, museums and doc-
new librarians. Library Management 33(1–2): 36–49. umentation center of Astan Quds Razavi. International
Coates T (2019) On the closure of English public libraries. Public Journal of Information Science and Management 15(1):
Library Quarterly 38(1): 3–18. 59–72.
Conrad S (2018) Spinning communication to get people excited Klinenberg E (2018) Palaces for the People: How Social
about technological change. Code4Lib Journal 41. Available Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and
at: https://journal.code4lib.org/articles/13641 the Decline of Civic Life. New York: Broadway Books.
Cooke N (2018) Fake News and Alternative Facts: Information Knight JA (2017) Academic librarians as change champions:
Literacy in a Post-Truth Era. Chicago: American Library A framework for managing change. Library Management
Association. 38(6–7): 294–301.
Davis K and Newstrom JW (1981) Human Behavior at Work: Koizumi M (2014) Transitions in public library management:
Organizational Behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill. From the international perspective of strategy, organi-
Deiss K (2004) Innovation and strategy: Risk and choice in shap- zational structure, and operations. Journal of Library
ing user-centered libraries. Library Trends 53(1): 17–32. Administration 54(8): 659–690.
Durrani S and Smallwood E (2008) Innovation and change: The Koizumi M and Widdersheim M (2016) Surpassing the business
QLP-Y approach to staff development. Library Management model: A public sphere approach to public library manage-
29(8–9): 671–690. ment. Library Review 65(6–7): 404–419.
EveryLibrary (2020) Press release: EveryLibrary statement on Kotkin J (2010) The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050.
proposed cuts to IMLS. Available at: https://www.everyli- New York: Penguin.
brary.org/prsaveimls (accessed 3 June 2020). Kuchi T (2006) Constant change and the strategic role of com-
Flood A (2019) Britain has closed almost 800 libraries since munication: A selective annotated bibliography. Library
2010, figures show. Guardian, 6 December. Available at: Management 27(4–5): 218–235.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/06/britain- Lavie D (2006) The competitive advantage of interconnected
has-closed-almost-800-libraries-since-2010-figures-show firms: An extension of the resource-based view. Academy of
(accessed 3 June 2020). Management Review 31(3): 638–658.
Fried S, Kochanowicz M and Chiranov M (2010) Planning Leininger M (2015) From librarian to proficient manager: The
for impact, assessing for sustainability. Performance journey of public library front-line managers. PhD Thesis,
Measurements and Metrics 11(1): 56–74. University of Pittsburgh, USA.
Gazo D (2011) City councillors and the mission of public librar- Lichter D and Ziliak J (2017) The rural–urban interface: New pat-
ies. New Library World 112(1–2): 52–66. terns of spatial interdependence and inequality in America.
Goodman J (2009) Web 2.0 and public libraries: Essential inno- Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social
vation requires a national solution. Aslib 22(3): 104–105. Science 672(1): 6–25.
12 Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 00(0)

Michnik K (2015) Public libraries digital services and sustain- Varis M and Littunen H (2010) Types of innovation, sources
ability issues. Bottom Line 28(1–2): 34–43. of information and performance in entrepreneurial SMEs.
Milam D (2008) Public library strategies for building stronger European Journal of Innovation Management 13(2):
economies and communities. National Civic Review 97(3): 128–154.
11–16. Vassilakaki E (2015) Greek public libraries in economic crisis:
Neo E and Calvert P (2012) Facebook and the diffusion of The past, the present, and the future. Bottom Line 28(1–2):
innovation in New Zealand public libraries. Journal of 77–79.
Librarianship and Information Science 44(4): 227–237. Walton G and Webb P (2017) Leading the innovative and crea-
Nicholson K (2019) Collaborative, creative, participative: Trends tive library workforce: Approaches and challenges. In:
in public library innovation. Public Library Quarterly BakerD (ed.) Innovation in Libraries and Information
38(3): 331–347. Services. Emerald Group, 257–275.
Peteraf MA (1993) The cornerstones of competitive advantage: Widdersheim M and Koizumi M (2016) Conceptual model-
A resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal ling of the public sphere in public libraries. Journal of
14(3): 179–191. Documentation 72(3): 591–610.
Pew Research Center (2013) How Americans value public Widdersheim M and Koizumi M (2017) A communication sys-
libraries in their communities. Available at: https://www. tem approach to the problem of public library legitimacy.
pewresearch.org/internet/2013/12/11/how-americans- Library and Information Science Research 39(1): 23–33.
value-public-libraries-in-their-communities-2/ Widdersheim M, Lund B and Kemboi B (2019) Change manage-
Potnis D, Deosthali K, Zhu X, et al. (2018) Factors influencing ment in public libraries: Research-based political strategies.
undergraduate use of e-books: A mixed methods study. Journal of Library Administration 59(1): 693–742.
Library and Information Science Research 40(2): 106–117. Winberry J and Potnis D (forthcoming) Social innovations in pub-
Potnis D, Regenstreif-Harms R, Deosthali K, et al. (2016) Skills lic libraries: Types and challenges. The Library Quarterly:
and knowledge needed to serve as mobile technology con- Information, Community, Policy.
sultants for information organizations. Journal of Education Wójcik M (2019a) How to design innovative information ser-
for Library and Information Science 57(2): 187–196. vices at the library? Library Hi Tech 37(2): 138–154.
Potnis D, Winberry J, Finn B, et al. (2019) What is innovative Wójcik M (2019b) Wearable computing in libraries—applica-
to public libraries in the United States? A perspective of tions that meet the needs of users and librarians. Library Hi
library administrators for classifying innovations. Journal Tech 37(4): 735–751.
of Librarianship and Information Science 52(3): 792–805. Zomorodi M (2017) Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can
Rossmann D (2019) Creating an organizationally embedded stra- Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self. New York:
tegic communication plan for libraries. Library Leadership St Martin’s Press.
and Management 22(2): 1–17.
Rowley J (2011) Should your library have an innovation strat-
egy? Library Management 32(4–5): 251–265. Author biographies
Rubleske J (2012) A temporal model of mindful interactions Devendra Potnis is an associate professor at the University of
around new service conception. PhD Thesis, Syracuse Tennessee at Knoxville. His research focuses on the adoption of
University, USA. information tools, resources, and services by students, marginal-
Rubleske J, Kaarst-Brown M and Strobel T (2010) How do pub- ized communities, libraries, microfinance, and governments. He
lic library administrators generate and evaluate ideas for has published his research in Communications of the AIS, First
new services? A proposed model based on evidence from Monday, Government Information Quarterly, Information
Cuyahoga County Public Library. Proceedings of the 73rd Development, Information Processing & Management, IT and
ASIS&T Annual Meeting on Navigating Streams in an Libraries, IT for Development, Journal of Education for Library
Information Ecosystem 47(1): 1–6. and Information Science, Journal of Library & Information
Scott R (2011) The role of public libraries in community build- Science, LIS Research, Telematics and Informatics, The
ing. Public Library Quarterly 30(3): 191–227. Information Society, The Library Quarterly, and other reputed
Sin S and Vakkari P (2015) Perceived outcomes of public librar- journals. He has received funding from the Institute of Museum
ies in the US. Library and Information Science Research and Library Services, ALISE, and OCLC.
37(1): 209–219.
Smith M (2019) Top ten challenges facing public libraries. Joseph Winberry is a PhD student at the University of Tennessee’s
Public Library Quarterly 38(3): 241–247. College of Communication and Information. His research inter-
Steers RM (1981) Introduction to Organizational Behavior. ests in community informatics, information seeking, and social
Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear. justice help guide his work towards answering a central question:
Stejskal J and Hajek P (2015) Effectiveness of digital library ser- What is the role of information and technology in bringing about
vices as a basis for decision-making in public organizations. social change? Winberry’s scholarship has been published in The
Library and Information Science Research 37(4): 346–352. International Journal of Information, Diversity, and Inclusion,
Strange H (2008) Public libraries told to innovate or die out. The Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, and The
Library Times International 24(4): 37–38. Library Quarterly (forthcoming) among other venues. He has
Urban Libraries Council (2018) Innovations Initiative. Available also received funding from the Association for Library and
at: https://www.urbanlibraries.org/innovations (accessed 3 Information Science Education and the American Library
June 2020). Association’s Social Responsibility Roundtable.
Potnis et al. 13

Bonnie Finn is the Fine Arts Librarian (Music, Theater, Art) for Master of Music in Musicology (MM) from the University of
Clemens Library, Alcuin Library, and the Benedicta Arts Center Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). She received a BA in Music with
(BAC) Music Library at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint a minor in Business/Organizational Management from Maryville
John’s University in St. Joseph/Collegeville, Minnesota. She College in Maryville, Tennessee. Her research interests include
also teaches information literacy to first-year classes. Bonnie digital humanities, electronic resources, and new technologies
holds a Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) and a for libraries.