Seth Godin outlines some reasons why small is the new big …. basically, it’s about how small companies are more agile and provide better services than large ones because small companies can think big but remain focus on the issues that are really important.

This got me thinking about libraries, from small liberal arts college libraries to mid-sized academic libraries to large research libraries. I’ve worked in both types and have found that the small the library, the better the library services. Large research libraries will always have better collections, that’s simply because of the size. However, large research libraries often have an inertia that is difficult to overcome. Research libraries often have librarians and staff who are very cautious about change. This often results in a lot of internal conflict and organizational politics, which can drain an organization of energy.

Branch libraries within research libraries strive to mimic the small nature of smaller institutional libraries. However, branch libraries are often in direct conflict with a central library administration. Effectively managing a distributed library system is one of the biggest challenge for the director of a research library.

Research libraries too often get distracted with their focus on collection size and ARL rankings. Seth Godin ends his entry on small vs big with a few thoughts that could be relevant to libraries: “Small is the new big only when the person running the small thinks big.”

While a small or medium sized academic library will never have the collection size of an ARL library, small and medium sized libraries can provide better services than their larger research siblings. Also, small and medium sized libraries can provide just as good, if not better, technology services than a research library.