Case Title

Brief Summary

1. Prasad’s predicament in book acquisition

Mr. Prasad thinks he has rationalized budget

allocations for all departments. Dr. Arora comes asking that some books need to be acquired urgently for his project in which the Director of the institute is also associated.

2 . A transfer for Ms. Sujatha

Ms. Sujatha has acquired a professional degree and wants a change from her circulation duties. Rajan accommodates the request but ends up with a new problem

3 . Dr.Gupta suspects computerised circulation records

Dr.Gupta has returned a book much after it is due. He refuses to pay overdue charges. He blames the computerized circulation system.

4 . Embarrassment about a misplaced book

The Director requests to see a book in the library that he has earlier consulted. That title is not in its appointed place on the shelf. This causes an embarrassment to Mr. Naidu. He calls a meeting of his staff to avoid such problems in the future.

5 . Computer section in-charge acts one up

Mr. Srinivas takes the initiative in setting up a demo of library software as a prerequisite for selection. The Computer section in-charge of the Centre proves to be a hurdle

6 . “Help me tide over my budget problem, please”

Mr. Rao is facing a budget crunch. He seeks help from Prof. Gidwani of Bio-Science department who has secured a huge grant, a major portion of which is for developing an information resource base

7 . Raman’s anxiety about library software

Raman, the young librarian, initiating library

automation selects the best software out of the ones demonstrated. He is disappointed that he did not have a say in the selection process

8 . Mr.Murthy selects the best candidate

Dr.Murthy is full of appreciation for Ms.Sudha, the youngest among the professional assistants. He thinks she is the best candidate for a higher position. But her colleagues think otherwise.

9 . Two more books for Dr. Krishna

Dr. Krishna, a faculty member, wants to borrow two more books than allowed by circulation rules.Mr.Swamy the librarian is not eager to break the rules.

10 . Prakash wants to rationalize xerox charges

Prakash, the young librarian, wants to rationalize charges for photocopies. The faculty member who is in-charge of the Library is a hurdle.

11 . Auditor’s objection on book loss

Ms.Laxmi, Librarian of a public library branch, conducts stock verification in advance to identify missing books. The auditor holds her responsible for the losses.

12 . “It is institution’s work after all, Mr.

Ramchander”

Mr. Ramchander, the new librarian of a special library is asked to share stores purchases responsibility.

13. “You have signed the letter, it is your

Responsibility”

The library has over spent its journal budget due to certain last minute changes. The section in-charge of the Journals section does not want to take responsibility. Instead, he asks the librarian to own up the responsibility, since he has signed the payment letters.

14. Interlibrary loan dilemma

Mr. Raju, Librarian of a well managed academic library, feels that his library is over exploited by other librarians in the Consortium.

15. Faculty rivalry affects library acquisition

Sudhir, Assistant Librarian, in-charge of a

Departmental library faces the brunt of intra-faculty rivalry in the Department.

16. Ms. Vijaya’s sickness of convenience

Ms. Vijaya has faked sick leave. Her supervisor wonders whether to record that in her evaluation.

17. Appointment to fill quotas

The Registrar forces the appointment of a reserved category candidate to fulfill quotas. This leaves the Librarian in a difficult situation.

18. Enthusiastic public librarian extends library services.

Mr. Patil experiments with extending public library services beyond the traditional services. His reference assistant has difficulty on the very first day.

19. College faculty’s resistance to return books

Mr. Shende, the young college librarian, has tried his best to get faculty to return books which are long overdue but in vain. Soon he finds students agitating about the issue.

20. Book mutilator caught red handed

A library user is caught mutilating a book. Dr.Murthy wonders what action to initiate.

21. Seetharam wants to publish than practice

Seetharam, Assistant Librarian, is known to spend most of his official time writing articles. The Librarian, Mrs. Reddy, does not take action against him. And now she has to decide on a time scale promotion for him.

22. “Please excuse my late coming “

Mr.Latif, a habitual late-comer, pleads that he

cannot come on time for lack of conveyance. The Librarian transfers Latif to a more responsible position. This is seen in as a retrograde step by his colleagues.

23. Unoccupied carrels tease Dr.Patil

The University Librarian has expanded the private reading without estimating actual needs. He finds that it is an unnecessary investment. This eventually leads to other space management problems.

24. A Deputy Librarian for Hindu College

Mr. Kumar has a few years left for his retirement in the college library. The Principal decides to give him a promotion. The librarian is not happy with this decision. He believes that this will not benefit

the library.

25. University Registrar suspects kickbacks in acquisition

Mr. Khan, who is wrongly suspected of kickbacks by vendors, takes a rigid stance on the university registrar’s suggestions

26. Cataloger’s dilemma with revised edition of classification

Dr Ram Murthy suggests that books must be

re-classified according to the revised edition of a classification scheme. He believes that this would help users. But has he really understood users?

27. Director appreciates the dynamism of the young deputy librarian

The Director assigns new responsibilities to the deputy librarian, Mr .Gautam, who suggests new initiatives. This is not well received by the Librarian.

28. Librarian’s worry about inconsistencies in the database

Ms.Amba feels that she is not to be blamed for mistakes in the database as her work was supposed to be revised by her supervisor, Mr. George. He says he has other things to attend to and can take only limited responsibility

29. Faculty member seeks exemption from ODC

Circulation staff have exempted faculty from

paying overdue charges, mistaking such

exceptions made by the circulation in-charge,

Mohanraj as a rule. He does not like it in the least.

30. Library Assistant’s disobedience.

“Circulation work is not in my job description” says Manohar, when asked to take circulation work for half a day by the librarian.

31. Ms. Indira lets an opportunity slip by

A hard working college librarian is not familiar with information technology. The consequence of this bothers both the Librarian and her assistants who fear erosion of authority.

32. Earn your raise elsewhere to get a promotion on the job

The R & D chief wants to encourage a young library professional who has done good work. The chief suggests that the library assistant should get a job offer elsewhere, so that this could be used as a lever for the R & D chief to take up the matter of his

promotion.

33. Annoying staff personality

Kamalesh, the Assistant Librarian, thinks he is too smart for his job. His rude behaviour alienates his colleagues.

34. High flying librarian frustrates his

subordinate

Dr. Jagirdar discourages Mr. Suresh Kumar, his deputy, from applying to other organizations because he manages the library very well during the long absences of Dr. Jagirdar.

35. Prof.Sen is unhappy with his literature search

The Reference Assistant’s literature search is biased because of her ideological leanings. She tries to justify herself.

36. Library with a difference

With the sudden resignation of Ms. Kulkarni, there is a fall in the quality of services initiated by Ms. Kulkarni. This leads new readers attracted to the public library to ask the Librarian to make amends

37. Dr. Suman hesitates to be an exception

Dr. Suman is offered a promotion in recognition of his work after making an exception to the promotion rules for his category. He is in a quandary whether to accept such a promotion since he represents others to whom such an elevation may not be available.

38. Status of librarians

Dr. Vyasa, the VC of the university, mentors the library staff to redefine the concept of their status.

39. Ms. Rao ponders the new challenge

Ms. Rao has to come up with a strategy in the light of the depleting readership and the management’s threat to reduce the library budget.