Subject vs Functional: changing organisational structures and the transformation of academic libraries and the profession of librarianship

Background: Due to the uncertain and shifting environment they are operating in, academic libraries are attempting to transform. In response, their organisational structures are changing, with some adapting their subject-based models, whilst others have restructured around functional teams. Aims: The aim of this research is to investigate these changes to the organisational structures of academic libraries in the UK and assess how these relate to the transformation of the academic library. In doing so, the relationship of academic libraries with the wider organisation, as well as the impact on librarianship as a profession, are investigated. Methods: An exploratory, sequential mixed methods design was used for this research. The initial, qualitative strand consisted of a multiple, comparative case study of six academic libraries in the UK, with a range of organisational structures along the subject-functional spectrum. This was followed by a survey of library directors in the UK. Findings: Despite organisations within the same field often resembling each other in terms of organisational structure, the results of this research show that the structures of academic libraries in the UK are diverging as subject and functional elements are being combined to varying extents. This is occurring because of differences in the remits of individual academic libraries, with no consensus regarding the future role of libraries within universities and the positioning of jurisdictional boundaries emerging. In addition, the differing ways library leaders are interpreting and prioritising the paradoxical pressures academic libraries are facing is also influencing structural choices, with subject and functional structures emblematic of these contradictory pressures and in particular the conflict between professionalism and managerial agendas within higher education. Altogether, functional structures are connected to the diversification of the profession, but also have the potential to reduce the influence of the profession within the library, and impact on professional identity.