CFP: Making Values-Based Decisions in the Academic Library
Editors: Amy Tureen & Amanda Koziura

Workplace decision making inherently requires navigating layers of hierarchical policy, authority, and practice alongside potentially conflicting individual, organizational, and professional values. When faced with hard choices, how do academic library decision-makers make selections that satisfy the values of their profession, their organization, and/or themselves and how do they decide which values to privilege when priorities compete or even conflict?

Making Values-Based Decisions in the Academic Library will explore the decision-making process of librarians in formal and informal leadership roles.  Rather than focusing on identifying the ‘correct’ answer, this manuscript will recognize that often there is no right answer and instead prioritize the decision making process itself and all of the considerations that go into it.  This volume is particularly interested in exploring the tension between personal and professional values and the realities of working in academic libraries, particularly when organizational policy or practice and values (personal, professional, or organizational) may not align.

While the editors are happy to consider exceptions, we anticipate that most chapters will be practical in nature and organized as follows:

1. Overview of the situation.
2. Literature review and/or identification of the situationally relevant considerations, priorities, timelines, and values (professional and/or personal) in play.
3. Describe the process of navigating the situation, with an emphasis on how values and principles (personal and professional) impacted the process and any tensions that arose between them and other factors, and the resulting decisions.
4. Articulate the impact of the decision made (on self, organization, others, etc.).
5. Reflect on the professional/practical/moral/etc. impact of the choices made on the author’s personal leadership philosophy.  Essentially, how did navigating this situation impact you?  What did you learn, and what do you hope others learn from your experience?

Chapter authors will be highly encouraged to develop visual aids such as decision trees that either provide further insight into their own choices or can serve as a template for readers faced with the same or similar dilemmas.

We invite chapters on any topic that involves discussion of values as related to the decision making process in academic libraries.  Example topics include, but are in no way limited to:

• Learning analytics
• Data collection and use
• Digitization and making digitized materials available
• Collection development decisions
• Remote work
• Library security and safety
• COVID openings/closures/etc.
• Budget prioritization
• Starting, stopping, or reimagining services
• Surveillance
• DEIA initiatives, statements, or positions
• Limited-term (including diversity residencies) and/or grant funded positions
• Differences in stated values and applications of policy at any level of the library or between the library and institution

This book will be published through ACRL and use APA citation format.  Proposals are due May 31, 2023.  Decisions are expected to go out June 30, 2023.

Questions can be submitted to [log in to unmask].  Proposals can be submitted at: https://forms.gle/kEtciJJKYUjN4iai9