Total Quality Management In Libraries

Fully expecting to get as much useful information here as I would receive nutritional value from a Hostess Ding Dong, I was pleasantly surprised to find helpful particulars mixed in amongst the generalities. Presented by Connie Merrit, Total Quality Management in Libraries looks at the subject of TQM (one of the current buzz-acronyms in the business world) as it relates to libraries. Six areas are covered: 1) management commitment from the top down, 2) partnering, 3) meeting customer expectations, 4) prevention of problems, 5) shucking tradition, and 6) empowering staff. Using brief and to-the-point skits, as well as interviews with members of the Gwinett-Forsyth Regional Library in Georgia and the Anne Arundel County Public Library in Maryland, the video offers a fair amount of food for thought. In the segment on partnering, for example, Merrit says that your "objective is to let patrons know as much about library services as you do," which--when you stop to think about it--is an excellent goal (which few of us meet). In another section, librarians talk about the success of "Homework Centers" in reaching youth. While the idea of helping kids with homework has traditionally been treated with disdain, one of the central tenets of TQM is that one adapts to meet changes in the marketplace. A good discussion starter. Recommended. (R. Pitman)