Accidental Project Management in a New Library Storage Facility

Date

2018-06-01

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Timothy Hackman and Margaret Loebe. “Accidental Project Management in a New Library Storage Facility.” In Alice L. Daugherty, ed. Project Management in the Library Workplace. (Advances in Library Administration and Organization, vol. 38) Emerald, 2018. https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/S0732-067120180000038016

Rights

This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.

Subjects

Abstract

Purpose – This chapter will discuss the project to investigate, recommend, and create user-focused solutions for opening and operating Severn Library, a high-density storage facility, at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. Methodology/approach – This chapter takes the case study approach, discussing the practical application of project management techniques to various stages of a large-scale project to plan for a high-density storage facility. Findings – Although the Severn Library project began with a large project team, lack of formal project management expertise and the massive nature of the project led to its breakdown into smaller constituent projects, with the two authors filling the roles of “accidental project managers” to complete the work on time. Although this approach was ultimately successful, the overall success of the project could have been improved through more formal application of project management techniques. Research Limitations/Implications – This chapter discusses the experience of the authors at one large, public state university. The experience of other libraries and library managers may vary based on institutional context. Practical Implications – This chapter will be valuable to library managers interested in project management techniques in libraries, and/or in planning for high-density library storage facilities. Originality/value – To the authors’ knowledge this is the only writing on the application of project management techniques to construction and operation of a high-density library storage facility.