Rikki Carter- Budget Cuts, Final Assignment

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Final Assignment- Budget Cut
Student Name: Rikki Carter
Section One: Short answers using complete sentences
Question 1: Library Reorganization
1) In what ways would you change the organizational structure of the library? Why? What
problems might these changes solve? What potential problems might these changes create?
As I looked over the staff and budget, as well as the organizational structure, I saw clear places to
eliminate problem employees and poor leaders and other areas that I knew would need changes but would
take a more creative solution. I went in knowing that since I was taking the place of a director resistant to
change who played favorites, I tried to look at the organization objectively, considering what would be best
for the patrons and library system as a whole.
The first change I knew I'd make was taking the board secretary down to part time, as the
description stated she spent a lot of her day on facebook. As she also assists the director, me, I figured I
could easily get by with a part time secretary, especially considering that cuts need to be made and I
should be as effected as anyone. This would show some solidarity on my part, and not effect the public in
any conceivable way. Not having a full time assistant would require me to be on top of my duties and rise

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to complete my tasks well. Additionally, I plan to eliminate the Business Manager position occupied by
Sybil, and the clerk serving it, and instead create a combined Outreach and Business Coordinator job, thus
trimming the fat in the administrative realm and eliminating an inefficient, technophobic employee who
does not seem to be contributing much, since her duties are often duplicated elsewhere in the system.
This would reduce the budget by eliminating an overpaid employee and ensure that there is enough work
to be done to justify the full time staff and tech who would take on the duties.
As I considered reorganization, I wanted to create a strong leadership base in the system and that
would require some perhaps seemingly harsh restructuring. Based on this goal, I knew I would have to fire
Horace, the large branch manager, as he is over paid, delegates his work, and hides in his office. Why keep
a staff member who obviously does not want to be there and has no interest in bettering the community
through their work? I decided to move Samwise, the current Reference Manager, into the position, since
(with a little extrapolation on my part) he's shown through his demeanor, previous experience and skills
that he is committed and knowledgeable. I would give him a raise, but not to the inflated amount that
Horace had negotiated, since this would both save the system money on the budget without short
changing Samwise as he moves up the ladder. This move did leave my reference department in a bit of a

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scramble for good leadership though. I first eliminated Templeton as a candidate, since his position as a
Reference Librarian was contingent on his completing the MLIS and he'd not followed through. I could not
justifiably make a leader out of someone without follow through, despite their years of service. I demoted
him back to a tech, decreased his salary appropriately, and eliminated his Reference Librarian position to
streamline the department a bit. This would probably create a little hostility or feelings of unfairness in
Templeton, but I'd try to communicate to him that if he would work toward his MLIS as promised, he'd have
more opportunity to move up in the future, and point out that it would not make fiscal or logical sense for
him as a tech to make the amount he was being paid as a reference librarian. I next looked at Haymitch as
a possibility, since he's good with patrons, well liked and competent, but his poor time management,
tardiness, and personal problems deterred me from promoting him. If he can't manage his own time, I
doubted he could manage others. That left Hermione as the next option. She is young, ambitious, and
smart, and seemed potentially moldible as a good leader. Though she's not been with the system long,
that doesn't mean she doesn't have good experience or ideas to bring to the table, and she has her MLIS.
After talking with her about letting her personal problems sometimes interfering with work, she was willing
to commit to a probationary period as Reference Manager. That could potentially lead to a problem if she

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doesn't work out, but I was willing to train and give her a chance to shine. I would not back fill her position,
leaving only Hermione and Haymitch as MLIS holding reference librarians, and 4 techs including
Templeton, so this may lead to some creative scheduling and extra training to ensure that the reference
staff are capable and qualified to continue to provide the best service to the community.
Next on my quest to strengthen the leadership base, I would take Severus, who's been a strong
outreach coordinator, to Beetee's position as the small branch manager, giving him the opportunity to
stretch his wings and gain some different experience. He's proven to be competent and hard working,
which he'll need to be to tackle the new challenge of managing the large branch, but he seems up to the
challenge. I'd chat with him about his perceived difficult to work with status, since clear and open
communication would be a standard I'd implement with my direction, and work with him to cultivate good
leadership skills and eliminate the qualities that gave him this label. Now, since I'd up heaved Beetee, I
think she might be well suited to the Outreach and Business Coordinator position I'd created since she
prefers to work behind the scenes. She'd get a slight raise to account for the increase and changes in her
responsibility as she'd be expected to have a big adjustment. This would continue to be an important
position, as outreach is something I would like to pay particular attention to increasing, to ensure that

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patrons are getting the information we're trying to put out, especially about programs and services we're
working on for them!
Next up in departments needing a deep change, and a more solid leadership foundation, is the
Children's department. I've talked with Bilbo, and he agreed it was time for a change, that he was burnt
out of the leadership responsibilities, managing staff and program coordination, but still loves the
interaction and programs involved in working with children and the library environment. Instead of letting
him go or demoting him, he's been convinced to retire as supervisor, and continue to work in the
department as a part time tech, which both helps him to rejuvenate and enjoy the work again while giving
to the community until he can ease himself into full retirement from the work at his leisure. This change
also reduces the budget by half his salary and benefits, as he's opted out since he'll be receiving Medicare.
This move alleviates his stress, the strain on the children's staff he'd been micromanaging, and allows for a
new manager to enter, with bright, fresh ideas and takes on the direction the department should go. This
supervisor would be Luna. She's been with the library system for 10 years, almost has her MLIS degree,
and her aspiration is to be a Children's librarian, so now is her chance. This position is contingent on her
finishing her degree though, something she clearly understands, and is not something I am worried about

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from her. I would not replace the tech position she is vacating, since Bilbo will be staying on part time, so
she will only be supervising and working with he as a part time staff and 2 full time techs in that
department. It could be either positive or negative as Bilbo adjusts to no longer being a supervisor, and I
cannot foresee whether his micromanaging will persist even without his supervisory capacity, but that puts
the new supervisor in a position to establish her boundaries and her own functional system.
In circulation it seemed there was already a strong leader in Arwen. However, since budget cuts
mean strain on every department, it was only fair that her's was struck as well. After evaluating the
efficiency and need in the department, I cut two circulation clerks to part time, once it was determined
that they could be ass efficient under Arwen's lead with a few less staff hours clocked. It will be a challenge
for circulation to keep up with their duties with what amounts to a full staff member's worth of time lost,
but a good leader can allocate and disseminate the work to ensure that what needs to be done will.
Finally, the Systems/IT department was another I saw some tightening up was in order. The manager
of that department, though skilled, didn't produce the work output necessary to justify his full time position
and pay, especially as he mostly worked nights and weekends instead of the peak hours the library is
open, so I felt he could best serve the library's needs as a time employee, which would allow him to

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keep his benefits- something he may not have as a part time adjunct at a university, but make sure there
was not time left he was paid for that he was not performing. I also cut his tech to part time assuming the
tech would work during the times the manager was not available- if he's not needed full time, neither is his
tech. With a creative scheduling dance between the two, there should be adequate coverage to have
someone available as needed, perhaps having the manager on-call at times, just in case.

a) What position(s) would you eliminate? Why? What problems might these changes solve?
What potential problems might these changes create?
I eliminated the Business Manager position, as the description of the position and employee
indicated that the person was under educated, inefficient, technophobic, and that many of her duties were
duplicated within the system. She was obviously one of the previous director's overpaid staff, and based
on her performance and the duties she performed being better completed elsewhere, it was clear to me
her position was not entirely necessary or in the best interest of the patrons. I also eliminated the clerk
serving under her which further decreased the salary budget and benefits cost. The duties of these

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positions which are essential to library function would be absorbed by the new Outreach and Business
Coordinator position that would be created.
The next position to be eliminated would be in the Children's department. Bilbo, the current
supervisor, would step down to a part time position, thus decreasing the hours served by techs in that
area. Since I moved Luna to Children's supervisor, I'd not entirely eliminate her tech position, but instead
create a part time tech position there, to be filled at this time by Bilbo. This does not decrease the staff in
the Children's department significantly, especially considering the experience and capability Bilbo brings to
the part time position. It is yet unclear how he will adjust to no longer being a supervior though and the
potential problem here is that even as a part time tech, he'd feel the need to control or micromanage.
In Reference, by demoting Templeton to tech and promoting Hermione to supervisor, it eliminates 2
Reference librarian positions. This is the department I feel is hardest hit by the changes as Hermione will
have to step in to fill both the supervisor position as well as occupying the Reference desk. Eliminating
professional staff positions was a hard choice, as techs are not as well prepared or educated, and we may
have to open another Reference Librarian position in the future should this arrangement leave the
department in a lurch. However, the continuing education budget was not severely slashed, and those

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funds, along with Hermione's ability to manage and train her staff, will benefit this department and help
them rise to the new challenge before them.
b) What position(s) would you create (if any)? Why? What problems might these changes
solve? What potential problems might these changes create?
I would combine the Outreach Coordinator position and Business Manager position, moving the
outreach tech to serve this new combined position. I would move Beetee to this position, as she is more
comfortable working behind the scenes, thus utilizing her skills and competence to fulfill this important job.
Creating this combined position would ensure that outreach was still a priority for the system, allow Beetee
to cover the few duties left to fulfill in the business manager's shoes, and that there is plenty of work to be
done by the staff and tech employed here, as the previous business manager seemed to have to look
busy, and many of her duties were duplicated elsewhere. This would be a vital and busy position,
especially at first as the particulars were hammered out and the adjustment period powered through.

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Question 2: Budget Reallocation
2) Using the table below, provide the amounts for each of the blank spaces in the final column.
Remember that you must account for the notes column and have a total budget of no more
than $2,700,000. You will explain your individual reduction below the table.

Books
Serials
$75,000
E-Books

2015-2016 FY
(10% Cut)
Notes
Must Eliminate at least one
of the key players during
organizational restructuring
Can Reduce
(Replacing FT with PT
decreases benefits to $2500
per employee)
$385,000
$25,000
Can Reduce
$20,000

Software

$15,000

Databases

$40,000

$75,000
$20,000
$25,000
$200,000
$50,000
$50,000

Cannot Touch
Can Reduce
Can Reduce
Cannot Touch
Cannot Touch
Cannot Touch

Operating Expenditures
By Category

2014-2015 FY

Salaries and wages

$1,500,000

Employee benefits

$470,000 (@$10,000 per

employee)

Print Resources
Audio/Video materials

Electronic Resources

Contracted services
Continuing education
Public programming
Phone/Internet/Utilities
Equipment repair
Operational Supplies

Your
2015-2016 FY
Budget
$1,292,500

$400,000
Can Reduce
Can Reduce

$371,525
$23,750
$72,375

Can Reduce
Cannot Reduce more than
%10
Cannot Reduce more than
%10
$75,000
$19,400
$24,200
$200,000
$50,000
$50,000

$19,000
$14,250
$38,000

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Emergency Fund
Operating Expenditures
Total

$50,000
$3,000,000

Cannot Touch
No more than
$2,700,000

$50,000
$2,700,000

a) Explain changes in the following categories by describing how you decided to make them, how these changes may affect the
library staff and users, and the areas within each category that would absorb the changes. If no changes were made to a particular
category, type N/A.
a. Salaries & Wages:
Since I combined the Business Manager and Outreach Coordinator positions, I eliminated the $62000 salary + benefits of the Business
Manager her clerk's $21,000 + benefits. Two circulation clerks were moved to part time with reduced their salary to $10,500 + $2500 for benefits.
The board secretary was moved to part time, reducing her salary to $16,000 + $2500 for benefits. The Systems/IT Manager was reduced to time,
which lowered his salary to $39,000 with no change in benefits and his Tech was changed from full time to part time, decreasing the cost of
benefits and changed the salary to $12,500. Horace, who made $50,000 as the large branch manager was fired and Samwise took his place at a
salary of a more appropriate $46,000. This was a raise for him, but lowered the salary for that position and the budget overall. Bilbo, the Children's
Supervisor, agreed to go to part time, as he was burnt out of the duties and requirements of management, which reduced his salary to $26,000+
$2500 for benefits and Luna took his place a supervisor, at a salary of $40,000, which was an increase for her, but a decrease for the position,
which was being paid $52,000. Hermione was promoted to Reference Supervisor, which came with an increase in her salary to $39,000, but I
didn't back-fill previous her position, which eliminated a Reference Librarian position and benefits. Templeton was demoted to a reference tech,
which changed his salary to $34,000. These changes amounted to an overall decrease of $207,500 in salary and wages, leaving that line item in the
as

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b. Employee benefits:
I was able to reduce the benefits budget by $70,000 by reducing some positions to part time (PT) and eliminating others. The changes are indicated
as followsMoved the following positions to part time, cutting benefits by $7500 each
-Board Secretary
-Systems/IT Tech
-2 Circulation Clerks
Eliminated the following positions, cutting benefits by $10,000 each
-Business Manager
-Business Manager clerk
-Reference Librarian
-Children's Tech (Bilbo took retirement and though is working PT, opted out of benefits since he'll be on Medicare)
c. Print Resources:
I knew that I'd rather take funds from restructuring the organization of the management and staffing f the library than severely reducing
the resources provided by the library to the patrons. My thought was that staffing could absorb the brunt of the cuts, as many of the changes were
to tighten up departments to ensure robust and engaged workflow. I didn't want to make a lot of cuts to materials or services as not to jeopardize
future increases to the library budget in the future by the board, state, and powers that be, I wanted to show them that streamlining the management
and staff was both possible and the right choice, where materials and services were more tightly drawn and always in desperate need of funds.

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After the decided cuts and adjustments were made to the salary and benefits budget, the numbers showed that I'd need to make a $22,500 cut from
the remaining materials and programs budgets. I did the math on what a 3%, 4%, and 5% overall budget cut would look like in each materials
section and choose the best combination of numbers that would still allow each department to function well and serve the needs of the patrons with
quality, in demand materials. Seeing as the books and audio/visual sections had the highest budget, (and arguably highest circulation), I decided I
wanted to cut those sections by the lowest amount possible to allow them to continue to diversify and grow to serve the library service population's
needs. These two sections were cut by only 3.5% each.
i. Books: reduced by 3.5%
ii. Serials: reduced by 5%
d. Audio/Video Materials: reduced by 3.5%
e. Electronic Resources:
Since additional cuts needed to be made, and the electronic resources and serials were less utilized by patrons than other sections of the collection,
they were cut by 5%. A potential problem in doing this is that future collection use may change, and electronic resources, especially databases and
ebooks, may grow in popularity as the world becomes more digital. Acknowledging this potential though allows the cuts that need to be cut now to
happen, while keeping in mind a potential need to budget adjustments and reallocation in the future should the need arise.
i. E-Books: reduced by 5%
ii. Software: reduced by 5%
iii. Databases: reduced by 5%
f.

Continuing Education: reduced by 3%

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In the continuing education area, I felt that since I'd just made big changes to the organizational and management structure of the library system,
continuing education for the staff members and new supervisors and managers was going to be crucially important, and knew that this would be an
area to utilize in getting everyone on a path to where they needed to be. Thus, I only cut this budget section by 3%. By maintaining the training
and continuing education of the remaining staff members, it would keep moral up, show that I am invested in their success within the system, and
in helping them serve the community as best they could. Making continuing education a priority and choosing not to slash it's budget is an
investment in the future of the system, which, though more indirectly serves the patrons than materials, still affects the way the library functions
and in turn how the public is serviced by the individual staff members. Thus, this section of the budget only underwent a 3% cut.
g. Public Programming: reduced by 3% + $50
Along the same line of thought as not wanting to slash the continuing education budget, I could not in good faith make extreme changes in the
staffing of the library, cuts in all areas of the collection, AND slash the programming budget- reducing the number of programs offered to the
patrons. I wanted the patrons to feel that while changes were happening, all was well, and that programming would continue, and be even better.
The programs budget was important in allowing the staff members in their new positions to be creative and implement new, exciting, and useful,
programming for the patrons they serve. This area of the budget was reduced by only 3%, plus an additional $50 to make the total budget cuts
equal the required amount of $2,700,000.

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b) Looking at the changes you made when reallocating the librarys budget as a whole, what do you see as potential long-term
ramifications of a budget reduction of 10%? What steps could you take to insure that you retained staff and community support
during these reductions?

Anytime there is a significant budget decrease, and the library gets by on what it has to, there is a potential for the fund givers to see that
the library was 'fine' without those funds and continue to withhold or ever decrease the budget in the future. As the director, I would show the
board that this 10% budget reduction had a serious effect on the way the library runs, and how the collections can grow, on how the staff can be
educated and on the programming that can be offered to the patrons. Yes, there was some tightening up that needed to occur in many departments
throughout the system, and that was take in to account as the budget cuts were implemented, but that won't always be the case. The next budget cut
could hit the collection more drastically, programming could be totally eliminated or terminally reduced, or more staff could be lost than the
library system can afford.
As I cut the budget, especially in the collection, education, and programming areas, I took care to ensure that patrons and staff would be
have what they needed to do their jobs well, that though they would feel the effects of the cuts, the staff would still be able to continue gaining
valuable training and experience, that they would be in a good financial place to stretch their creativity in bringing patron's valuable programs, and
that the collection would not feel sparse or lacking in any one department or particular area. The collection cuts that were implemented were
considerably even, when taking in to consideration use and demand of various departments, as were the continuing education and programming
cuts, and this was definitely intentional. The cuts were implemented that way to ensure that no one department or area felt more favored or less

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important, nor would any be severely lacking in funds to do their jobs well, that they would feel supported, and in turn support the organization as
it goes through these changes. The same would be true for the patrons, in order to continue to have their support, they would need to feel supported
by the institution, and the particular cuts that were made would ensure that they felt this throughout.

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Section Two: Reflection Essay
Reflect upon the course materials on library organization, budgeting, human resources, this assignment and the decisions you had to
make to complete it. Using complete sentences, write at least 3 full double-spaced pages describing how you went about completing this
assignment, what materials and experiences influenced your decision-making, and the ways in which this assignment relates to what you
have learned about management in library and information agencies and your professional future.
As I proceeded to make the necessary cuts to the budget, including staff salaries and benefits, I knew there were a good principals I'd
learned through the readings and activities in this course that I wanted to keep in mind. I wanted to make sure that neither my staff, the collection,
nor the patrons were taking the brunt of the budget cut individually. I tried to take a strategic planning approach, discussed in the Gordon text and
Germano article, to this budget cut and created objectives that I knew I'd like to accomplish by making staffing cuts and noted ways in which the
library would continue to serve the community on a lower budget. I referred to the Gordon text quite a lot during this process, and think it is a text
I will come back to as I take on various management tasks, as I wanted to keep in mind many of the things discussed there, like goal setting, how
to do more with less, the importance of marketing, and the need to keep patron service as a top priority. Once I'd established goals for the
restructuring, and had an idea of the leadership foundation I would strive to achieve, I started to play around with the numbers in the budget sheet,
moving around positions and persons and changing salaries to better fit the jobs for which they were paid, making sure I had coverage in every
area I'd prioritized or marked for restructuring, and now had qualified staff members in crucial positions, taking note of where seemingly poor staff
members had been in the past and areas where only part time staff might do the trick.

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When I was making the decisions about cutting staff members and reorganizing the management, I knew I was going to need strong
leaders to make the changes necessary to get the library system back on the right track after the misleadings of the former director and some fo her
seemingly favorite staff members. It looked as though there were some good staff persons who may have been right out of library school and were
new to the library system, and I didn't want to shy away from promoting these people based on their experience, as both the Gordon and Moran
texts mentioned the possibility of new MLS graduates entering right in to a leadership position. Being right out of school can come with a feeling
of motivation and a head full of ideas, which can greatly benefit a system in need of rejuvenation. I thought about the McDevitt article about stress
management and team building, and about the Leeder article about how having fun in a work environment has team building benefits as well, and
decided that not making large cuts to the continuing education budget would allow me to implement these types of activities to decrease the stress
of my staff and create a unified team, as well as additional leadership and management training, especially since I now through the readings
understand the importance of keeping your team moral up and encouraging their feelings of support through times of drastic change. From the
Eisold and Higa articles, I considered the resistance that can come with change and the stress that accompanies a restructuring like this, and taking
hints from the case, took care to move some people up, others down, and dismiss still others who may not be willing or able to grow with the
changes being implemented. I wanted to foster a culture that embraces change, as Gordon suggest. Finally, I choose not to take much from the
programming budget and created an outreach position because I wanted to apply what was learned in this course about the importance of
marketing your library and services, as discussed in many articles including Keller and Potter. Through all the changes, marketing would be
crucial in keeping patrons engaged and abreast of services and programs available to them, especially new ones. Moving the outreach position up

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into the administrative portion of management and including them in the business aspects of the library system would allow them to have a
different understanding of the importance and nuance of marketing and branding and how it interplays in outreach situations.

This assignment was a good culmination of several concepts from the course. I don't have library experience and little management
experience, so for me, it was an opportunity to apply some of those concepts to a real world situation, one that should I be in in the future, I
would now have the tools and experience needed to process the difficult choices that come with this type of decision making. Throughout
the course, we discussed what a good manager does or does not do, so it was clear to see places in this scenario where poor managers were
doing more harm than good, and that though they'd been there several years, or had some good qualities, what was in the best interest of the
library system and what would promote the highest quality service to the patrons was going to take precedence over keeping a staff member
who needed too much improvement or worse, had shown that improvement was not in their repartee. Looking at line item budgets of other
libraries, and even writing a grant for services in the library helped me to understand how sparse funds can be for certain programs,
collection areas, and even staff development, and knowing this I attempted to keep those funds as available as possible, and choose instead
to take most of the cuts from the staff areas, which needed some better leadership and tightening up, as opposed to other areas that would
more directly be seen or felt by patrons, like the collection. Though it was not possible to get away without making cuts there as well, I tired
to disperse them evenly and took in to account which areas were highest used by patrons and thus had the highest funding. I knew that,
though the patron's might not recognize the staff changes as significant, the changes in leadership and the effect thereof would certainly be
felt in the long run, in programming and in collection development. The diversity of the library staff, at least in apparent age of staff

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members for this case, was something that was discussed in the coursework as well and though the gender, race, etc. of the staff members
was not always clear or necessary to know for these purposes, I tried to keep in mind the age of each, as indicated by notes about staff
members, as a manager would want to take those things in to consideration and be sure that choices being made were not for reasons of
agism, or discrimination of any sort of class, protected or not. It takes a diverse group to serve a diverse population best, and were I in an
actual management position, that is an area I would strive to prioritize, and that is certainly something I have grown to understand and
appreciate more as result of this management course.
By putting myself in the position of Library Director for this assignment, I was forced to think like a manager, and apply various
concepts to my decisions, think long term about how my choices would effect the organizational structure and the library's goals and
patrons. Other than being actually put into the situation, there may be no better way than an exercise of this nature to help a person
understand how to think through situations that involve library funds, programs, and staff and come up with ethical, workable solutions to
the problems at hand. This case required me to stretch my capabilities and conceptualize what a good manager would do in the scenario,
especially when it came down to difficult choices. I kept coming back to the overarching theme, that a good library or information manager
will do what is in the best interest of the community they serve, after all, they are the reason for the profession to exist in any capacity. This
is something managers in any field would do well to consider, how their choices affect those they serve in both the short and long term.