Academic Library Management

In a rapidly changing educational environment, academic libraries need more time and staff resources to meet the needs of faculty and students. They are also looking for tools that shine a light on their vital contributions toward the success of their academic institutions. A contemporary approach to learning claims that learning takes place not only in classroom settings, but wherever learners have an access to information sources or means and use them for solving problems or constructing a new meaning. Learning can occur outside the formal institution: in a workplace, family, museums, libraries, clubs and via mass media. An academic library plays a significant role in the context of this new learning paradigm. According to this new understanding of learning, a university library as a subsystem of university organization has not been a division only providing services for studies and research any longer. Instead, it has become an important unit of universitys information infrastructure and an active participant in the learning process of the particular study program. Together with the university departments and teaching staff, the academic library strives to realize the study aims. The library becomes one of the potential learning environments that function at the university. It is characterized by the abundance of information sources. The modern information and communication technologies (ICT) help the library to become not only the traditionally perceived learning environment as a physical space, but also the virtual learning environment. The possibilities of such a virtual learning environment expand the flexibility of learning environment, because it allows choosing where and when to study. The abundance of information sources and the provision with ICT are the conditions for creating the librarys educational environment and, respectively, its learning environments. The academic library learning environment is an individualized learning space and it is comprised of the library educational environment that is identified by an individual learner according to his/her experience, competence and personal learning goals. The physical and virtual librarys learning environment contains the information related to learners goal(s), the ways information is being received and perceived, the subjects (peers, librarians, etc.) and tools. Therefore, every learner identifies a learning environment of the academic library in a different way. The perception of a library as a learning environment depends at least on two factors: the educational environment that is being created by the library in accordance with study programs educational environment and student competence which enables him/her to recognize and use learning environment, created by the library. The development of education requires the establishment of a network of supporting libraries to provide the necessary information service. Libraries as an ally of education can play a vital role in character building and formation, in the development of abilities as well as providing necessary weapons for combating social and economic problems.