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Article
Combining resources, combining forces: regionalizing hospital library services in a large statewide health system.
Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA
  • Heather J Martin, Providence Health & Services
  • Basia Delawska-Elliott, Providence Health & Services
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2015
Keywords
  • Efficiency,
  • Organizational,
  • Humans,
  • Information Storage and Retrieval,
  • Libraries,
  • Hospital,
  • Libraries,
  • Medical,
  • Library Collection Development,
  • Library Materials,
  • Oregon,
  • Organizational Innovation,
  • Program Evaluation,
  • Regional Medical Programs
Abstract

After a reduction in full-time equivalents, 2 libraries in large teaching hospitals and 2 libraries in small community hospitals in a western US statewide health system saw opportunity for expansion through a regional reorganization. Despite a loss of 2/3 of the professional staff and a budgetary decrease of 27% over the previous 3 years, the libraries were able to grow business, usage, awareness, and collections through organizational innovation and improved efficiency. This paper describes the experience--including process, challenges, and lessons learned--of an organizational shift to regionalized services, collections, and staffing. Insights from this process may help similar organizations going through restructuring.

Specialty
Library Science
Citation Information
Heather J Martin and Basia Delawska-Elliott. "Combining resources, combining forces: regionalizing hospital library services in a large statewide health system." Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA (2015)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/barbara-delawska-elliott/18/