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Management Review of the Library of Congress: The 1996 Booz Allen & Hamilton Report

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ABSTRACT Analyses the methodology and findings of the management view of the Library of Congress (LC), completed by Booz Allen & Hamilton in May 1996, a major document in the history of LC as well as in American libraries of our time. We are at the start of important changes in the library, and the next few years are bound to impose heavy strains on its managers and staff as LC tries to `reinvent' itself. There is a brief discussion of the library's initial response to the report, as well as of the report's relevance in Australia where the National Library is confronting its own parcel of problems by focussing on the deus ex machina technology and concepts such as the Distributed National Collection.

The author was NSW Parliamentary Librarian from 1962-1991, and is currently Visiting Associate at the School of Information, Library and Archive Studies, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052.

The Library of Congress must surely be one of the best benefits that the United States of America have conferred on the modern world. Within the United States that library has achieved canonical status; beyond the United States its status may be almost as great. Its example has been compelling throughout the 20th century. This process started when Herbert Putnam (Librarian, 1899-1939, then Librarian Emeritus), gave the library the leadership and direction which were in time to make it pre-eminent among major national libraries of the world.(1)

Incorporating so many facets of the American character with its strong idealistic strand, LC has exerted a beneficent influence in many corners of the world. It has, of course, been not merely a presence but an innovator, generous donor and provider of aid in many quarters. An account of the Library of Congress, outstanding in a land of eminent libraries and library professionals, could without difficulty fill an encyclopaedia devoted to itself. The thought is at once attractive and overwhelming.

Despite funding difficulties which have at times been quite severe, the Library of Congress has still managed to attract a high level of continuing Congressional support on a non-partisan basis. That says something about the political acumen of its outstanding heads over the decades. Its long record of achievement and leadership is excellently documented in its annual reports. There is likewise a considerable historical and anecdotal literature devoted to LC. There are also videos, film documentaries and plenty of Congressional hearings and comment which provide a rich store of further material on LC's role and reputation. Part of its fame lies in the ability to attract some of the best professional talent available in a country so strong in outstanding practitioners. The Library of Congress has also earned the lifelong dedication of capable staff. In short, it has acquired in the eyes of American government and the public a stature which makes it a virtual national treasure and a household name.

This long preamble is necessary in order to form a context, albeit inadequately skimpy, in which to consider the nature and thrust of the 1996 Booz Allen & Hamilton report, an ominous document for Lc's future direction and management. (A full description of the report's structure and contents is given in the Appendix.)

The wonderful achievements of LC in the 20th century have inevitably bred difficulties and possibly even an element of hubris. In recent times a small but rather constant stream of minor press and other reports of `incidents' at LC has caught public notice. Being number one in the field attracts, of course, the notice of the media when there is any suggestion of blemishes to be reported. The outcome of the major management review of the prestigious consultancy firm Booz Allen & Hamilton may lead us to conclude that the blemishes are signs of something far more grave.

Assessing the Assessors Management science is another major American achievement of our time: the Booz Allen report is an outstanding example of the quality of American expertise in this field. …