By Tom Shaw, Associate Director: Digital Innovation and Research Service, Lancaster University Library .

March 2022

JUST as libraries are really about people rather than books, managing and growing relationships with stakeholders is essential for any library.

"IT governance and risk management can seem frustrating, but working with them transparently is essential."

If you have positive relationships, handling challenges and embracing new opportunities becomes far easier. A key relationship for almost any library is with their organisation’s IT department. Given how central technology is for libraries, it would be a rare library that never needed any form of external IT function.

At Lancaster University we are fortunate to have a small Digital Innovation team with advanced technical skills in the Library, and we also work very closely with the University’s IT department. This allows us to lead an ambitious digital agenda for the Library, including our own system development. However, most libraries, including most I’ve worked in, don’t have this and are reliant on the IT department for technical functions. Nonetheless, whatever the situation is in your library, there are many things that I’ve found valuable and which you might also find useful to get the best out of your relationship with IT.

More in common

Firstly, remember that libraries and IT have far more in common than might appear, and the intertwined roots of computer science and library science go back a long way. Libraries and IT both provide services to a community of users, yet we’re both at our best when we go beyond providing just a service and develop partnerships beyond our own departments. It helps to think of IT as being our natural partners, particularly since the line between what is ‘library’ and what is ‘IT’ is increasingly blurred and likely to become more so.

Don’t just contact IT when you need something from them. Think about who you need to work with or who youfeel a connection with. Invite them for coffee and suggest scheduling a regular catch-up. This isn’t just forsenior managers. If your main contact with IT is with the service desk, get to know them and make them your new best friends! Think about your IT colleagues as unique individuals rather than a faceless department, and take time to learn about what resonates with them. It’s not always easy, as they might not recognise the value in relationships or feel too busy to engage. But don’t give up! Relationships are often an incremental slow build.

Learn to speak their language and reflect their terminology back to them. I’ve found this a powerful way ofconveying understanding, that has really helped to win people round. And if you don’t already feel confident, spend some time developing baseline IT knowledge. You don’t need to learn to write code (although you should absolutely do so if you want to!), but ensure you understand key concepts such as the difference between cloud and on premise hosting, or what a VM or API is.

Digitally advanced

IT colleagues may not fully appreciate how digitally advanced libraries are, so we should invite them into our world. Include them in meetings and invite them to anything that has a technical component. They can play a vital role as a ‘critical friend’. Our Library Digital Transformation Group at Lancaster includes a senior member of IT, which brings fresh thinking, better join-up with IT and demonstrates our commitment to be collaborative. And given that we have technical staff inthe library, this helps to showcase their unique roles and counters perceptions that they are just an ‘IT department in the Library’.

Understand their priorities and challenges, particularly issues such as cyber security. IT governance and risk management can seem frustrating, but working with them transparently is essential. At Lancaster, the Library is part of the IT department’s risk management structure, ensuring our technical risks are managed alongside all other IT risks. It’s also helpful to reflect on the culture of the IT department. If it’s very risk averse, reassure them that governance and risk management have top priority, so that the library isn’t a worry for them. If the culture seems more innovative, look for opportunities to collaborate. At Lancaster, some of our most successful projects have been collaborations with IT. Rather than viewing something as a library initiative that needs IT support, consider whether you can pitch it as a joint library and IT initiative, where both departments share the kudos and the positive impact.

Finally, remember that developing relationships can be challenging. Recognise and celebrate what you achieve, no matter how small!