Publication Title: Managing in the Middle: The Librarian’s Handbook

Publisher: American Library Association (Fall 2011)

Editors: Robert Farrell and Kenneth Schlesinger (Leonard Lief Library,
Lehman College, CUNY)
Contact: inthemiddle2011@gmail.com

Scope: This “grab and go” volume for ALA’s Librarian’s Handbook series
seeks brief, real world articles of use to mid-level managers in academic
and public libraries.

Topic and Audience: Top-level library managers, responding to

contemporary trends, are increasingly delegating responsibilities to those
in the middle, demanding innovation and entrepreneurial creativity, as well
as accountability and day-to-day coordination of staff and services.
Today’s mid-level managers face a variety of new supervisory challenges.
Of the roughly 70,000 academic and public librarians, about a third find
themselves “managing in the middle:” reporting to top-level managers
while supervising teams of peers or support staff. Our target audiences
are current mid-level library managers, new librarians assuming these
roles, and library management students looking for grounded insight into
the administrative issues they’ll soon be facing.

Authors: We invite essays from those who know the realities of the job
best: those managing in the middle. We also seek perspectives from
management experts, former mid-level managers, scholars, nascent
supervisors, top-level managers, as well as librarians and
paraprofessionals who have been “middle managed.” A variety of formats
are encouraged: “how to,” interviews with practitioners, case studies,
illuminating anecdotes, brief tips, theory in practice pieces, rants and
confessionals, annotated bibliographies, etc.
Some possible themes for consideration include:
* middle manager as leader and entrepreneur
* management expectations of middle managers
* “sandwich effect” – getting it from above and below
* real world applications of leadership principles and management
techniques
* developing reflective management practices
* project management: best practices and skills, challenges and
successes
* managing the top-level manager
* supervising administrative units and empowering work teams
* risk taking and learning from failure
* both sides now: conflict resolution from the middle
* communicating and listening in the middle
* recruiting, training, retaining
* building trust and morale
* coaching, facilitating, mentoring
* goal setting and annual evaluations
* nightmare bosses and problem employees
* creative problem solving: achieving the impossible

Length, Timeline, Compensation: Proposals due November 1, 2010. First

drafts will be due by or before March 31, 2011 and any revisions requested
will be due May 30, 2011 (Memorial Day). The final manuscript is due
September 2011. Contributors will receive a free copy of the publication
and discounts on subsequent copies. Finished pieces should be between
1900 and 2500 words (longer pieces will be considered if they can be
subdivided).
Please submit a one-page proposal (multiple ideas encouraged) including a
biographical sketch by November 1, 2010 to: inthemiddle2011@gmail.com.
Brief e-mail queries or questions about the project are also welcome.