toc Editorial 297 297 Editorial A Commitment to Making the Library a Learning Organization If everything is under control, you are going too slow.—Mario Andretti Only a few years ago, it was common to think of rapid change in academic li- braries as not being suited for their cul- tural framework and potentially fraught with great difficulties and hazards. Well, how things have changed! The library now may be witnessing more change than any other unit on our campuses. And the velocity of this transformation certainly will continue and likely be- come greater. No longer can we exer- cise the option of letting change develop over a long period of time. Many of the revolutionary and forcible changes are being driven by enabling technology. Users’ Expectations The more new and expanded services we give our users, the more they want. We simply have to run faster to pro- vide the minimal level of service ex- pected by our users. First-year students in institutions of higher education are bringing, among other skills, a highly so- phisticated level of expertise in the online environment. Many of them have been using the Internet/World Wide Web for several years. Some claim to know more about online intellectual re- sources than their professors. And some believe they no longer need ac- cess to the campus libraries. Librarians are faced with doing more with less, trying to keep up with the tech- nological changes, and struggling to un- derstand the multifarious dimensions of change. In order for librarians to meet or exceed users’ expectations, we can- not continue to rely on tra- ditional methods for the de- livery of service. There now is an ur- gency of rad i c a l a d a p t a t i o n t o t h e online environment. We have to ac- cept the fact that we now are operat- ing in a global networked environ- ment. Users’ expectations will con- tinue to rise, and we have to dramati- cally improve our skills to meet our responsibilities to the users. What Is a Learning Organization? There are several definitions of learn- ing organizations; however, David Garvin offers one of the most succinct descriptions in defining a learning orga- nization as an organization skilled at cre- ating, acquiring, and transferring knowl- edge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. This type of organization recognizes that continuous improvement requires a demonstrated commitment to learn- ing.1 The concept of the academic library as a learning organization is not new; library staff have depended on one an- other and the collective learning envi- ronment of the library and its closely associated constituencies for many years. What is different today is the enlarged emphasis given to the impor- tance of the library as a learning orga- nization. And, quite naturally, the dra- matic acceleration of change is making it necessary for libraries to perceive themselves as an oasis for continuous learning. Peter Senge places a large amount of attention on the role of innovation in learning organizations. He presents five 298 College & Research Libraries March 1997 components that lead to innovation in the learning organization: 1. systems thinking, a conceptual framework developed over several years to make organizational patterns clearer; 2. personal mastery, proficiency, and commitment by the individual to one’s own lifelong learning; 3. mental models, strongly held as- sumptions or generalizations that shape how we understand the world and our actions, sometimes without our even being conscious of them; 4. building shared vision, the ability to maintain a collective picture of a fu- ture that is sought; 5. team learning, a group discipline that begins with dialogue—the ability of team members to suspend assumptions and think together.2 Notwithstanding the abstractness of Senge’s work, it does take the concept of the learning organization to a refresh- ing level. He believes that systems thinking is indeed the fifth discipline be- cause its purpose is to unite all parties concerned. Who Is Responsible for Commitment? When one initially thinks of who is re- sponsible for some endeavor in the li- brary, it is normal to think of the adminis- tration. However, in a library purporting to be a learning organization, the com- mitment and responsibility for continu- ous learning activities rest on the shoul- ders of nearly all library employees. The library administration is responsible for setting the stage, providing leadership, and making the necessary resources available for the learning organization. “Walking the talk” also is expected of li- brary administrators. Planning for the implementation and evaluation of the bulk of learning activities also is within the purview of administrators. Without these elements of commitment, the learning organization is doomed to fail- ure. It is believed that organizational learning occurs best when the library staff act as learning agents for the li- brary—that is, when they are respond- ing to changes in the internal and exter- nal environments of the library. In short, much of the responsibility for making a library truly a learning orga- nization depends on the library staff. Teamwork has prompted an important interchange among staff from different areas in the library. Because boundaries are collapsing within libraries, there is a sense of urgency for staff to know as much as possible about all areas in the library. We are witnessing more people working among various units in the li- brary; thus, we have a greater interde- pendence among library staff. How- ever, this type of symbiosis requires a larger spectrum of learning activities, thus fitting nicely with the concepts of a learning organization. Conclusion Undoubtedly, reeducation will remain at the heart of the learning organization. Goals and objectives of libraries will need to be reexamined. Time will have to be available to reflect on what one is doing. Important values must be sus- tained despite monumental change. The library has to become more nimble, expand its capacity, and create its fu- ture. The learning organization concept offers a wonderful and compelling chal- lenge to improve our library staffs, which will subsequently strengthen the services provided for our users. Cer- tainly, a win-win situation! DONALD E. RIGGS Notes 1. David A. Garvin, “Building a Learning Organization,” Harvard Business Review 71 (July-Aug. 1993): 78–91. 2. Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (New York: Double Currency, 1990), 14. << /ASCII85EncodePages false /AllowTransparency false /AutoPositionEPSFiles true /AutoRotatePages /All /Binding /Left /CalGrayProfile (Dot Gain 20%) /CalRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CalCMYKProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2) /sRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CannotEmbedFontPolicy /Warning /CompatibilityLevel 1.3 /CompressObjects /Tags /CompressPages true /ConvertImagesToIndexed true /PassThroughJPEGImages true /CreateJobTicket false /DefaultRenderingIntent /Default /DetectBlends true /DetectCurves 0.0000 /ColorConversionStrategy /CMYK /DoThumbnails false /EmbedAllFonts true /EmbedOpenType false /ParseICCProfilesInComments true /EmbedJobOptions true /DSCReportingLevel 0 /EmitDSCWarnings false /EndPage -1 /ImageMemory 1048576 /LockDistillerParams false /MaxSubsetPct 1 /Optimize true /OPM 1 /ParseDSCComments true /ParseDSCCommentsForDocInfo true /PreserveCopyPage true /PreserveDICMYKValues true /PreserveEPSInfo true /PreserveFlatness false /PreserveHalftoneInfo true /PreserveOPIComments false /PreserveOverprintSettings true /StartPage 1 /SubsetFonts false /TransferFunctionInfo /Apply /UCRandBGInfo /Preserve /UsePrologue false /ColorSettingsFile () /AlwaysEmbed [ true ] /NeverEmbed [ true ] /AntiAliasColorImages false /CropColorImages false /ColorImageMinResolution 151 /ColorImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleColorImages true /ColorImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /ColorImageResolution 300 /ColorImageDepth -1 /ColorImageMinDownsampleDepth 1 /ColorImageDownsampleThreshold 1.10000 /EncodeColorImages true /ColorImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterColorImages true /ColorImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /ColorACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /ColorImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000ColorImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasGrayImages false /CropGrayImages false /GrayImageMinResolution 151 /GrayImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 300 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageMinDownsampleDepth 2 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.10000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /GrayImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000GrayImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasMonoImages false /CropMonoImages false /MonoImageMinResolution 600 /MonoImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 1200 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.16667 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict << /K -1 >> /AllowPSXObjects false /CheckCompliance [ /None ] /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile () /PDFXOutputConditionIdentifier () /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName () /PDFXTrapped /False /CreateJDFFile false /Description << /ENU (IPC Print Services, Inc. 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