Library Management and Administration
What the domain covers
Management coordinates people, money, materials and services; administration sets policy. The exam tests functions, POSDCORB, budgeting, collection development and routine operations.
Core rules and concepts
- POSDCORB (Luther Gulick): Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting, Budgeting.
- Sections: acquisition, technical processing, circulation, reference, periodicals, maintenance.
- Collection development: selection, acquisition, weeding, stock verification.
- Budgeting: line-item, lump-sum, formula, PPBS; prepare estimates with justification.
- Committees: library committee advises on policy and users' needs.
- Records: accession register, catalogue, issue records, statistics.
Worked example
Prepare a one-year budget for a college library. Reasoning: estimate book prices and titles, journal subscriptions, e-database fees, binding, stationery and staff training; add 10% contingency; align with curriculum and NAAC requirements. Present as line items with last year's expenditure and this year's justification. Do not lump everything under "miscellaneous".
Traps that cost marks
Do not equate administration with budgeting only; do not skip stock verification-it detects loss and informs weeding; do not ignore user statistics when planning. A library committee is advisory, not a substitute for the librarian's professional decisions.