Organization[edit]

Library shelves in Hong Kong, showing numbers of the classification scheme to help readers locate works
in that section

Most libraries have materials arranged in a specified order according to a library

classification system, so that items may be located quickly and collections may be browsed
efficiently.[41] Some libraries have additional galleries beyond the public ones, where reference
materials are stored. These reference stacks may be open to selected members of the public.
Others require patrons to submit a "stack request", which is a request for an assistant to retrieve
the material from the closed stacks: see List of closed stack libraries (in progress).
Larger libraries are often divided into departments staffed by both paraprofessionals and
professional librarians.

 Circulation (or Access Services) – Handles user accounts and the loaning/returning and
shelving of materials.[42]
 Collection Development – Orders materials and maintains materials budgets.
 Reference – Staffs a reference desk answering questions from users (using
structured reference interviews), instructing users, and developing library programming.
Reference may be further broken down by user groups or materials; common collections
are children's literature, young adult literature, and genealogy materials.
 Technical Services – Works behind the scenes cataloging and processing new materials and
deaccessioning weeded materials.
 Stacks Maintenance – Re-shelves materials that have been returned to the library after
patron use and shelves materials that have been processed by Technical Services. Stacks
Maintenance also shelf reads the material in the stacks to ensure that it is in the correct
library classification order.
Card used by a user to sign out a book

Basic tasks in library management include the planning of acquisitions (which materials the
library should acquire, by purchase or otherwise), library classification of acquired materials,
preservation of materials (especially rare and fragile archival materials such as manuscripts), the
deaccessioning of materials, patron borrowing of materials, and developing and administering
library computer systems.[43] More long-term issues include the planning of the construction of
new libraries or extensions to existing ones, and the development and implementation of
outreach services and reading-enhancement services (such as adult literacy and children's
programming). Library materials like books, magazines, periodicals, CDs, etc. are managed by
Dewey Decimal Classification Theory and modified Dewey Decimal Classification Theory is more
practical reliable system for library materials management.[44]
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published several standards
regarding the management of libraries through its Technical Committee 46 (TC 46),[45] which is
focused on "libraries, documentation and information centers, publishing, archives, records
management, museum documentation, indexing and abstracting services, and information
science". The following is a partial list of some of them:[46]

 ISO 2789:2006 Information and documentation—International library statistics

 ISO 11620:1998 Information and documentation—Library performance indicators
 ISO 11799:2003 Information and documentation—Document storage requirements for
archive and library materials
 ISO 14416:2003 Information and documentation—Requirements for binding of books,
periodicals, serials, and other paper documents for archive and library use—Methods and
materials
 ISO/TR 20983:2003 Information and documentation—Performance indicators for electronic
library services

Buildings[edit]

National Library of Finland, Helsinki, est. 1640.

National Library of India, Kolkata, est. 1836

Librarians have sometimes complained[47] that some of the library buildings which have been
used to accommodate libraries have been inadequate for the demands made upon them. In
general, this condition may have resulted from one or more of the following causes:
 an effort to erect a monumental building;[vague] most of those who commission library buildings
are not librarians and their priorities may be different
 to conform it to a type of architecture unsuited to library purposes
 the appointment, often by competition, of an architect unschooled in the requirements of a
library
 failure to consult with the librarian or with library experts
Much advancement has undoubtedly been made toward cooperation between architect and
librarian,[when?] and many good designers have made library buildings their specialty; nevertheless
it seems that the ideal type of library is not yet realized—the type so adapted to its purpose that it
would be immediately recognized as such, as is the case with school buildings.[when?] This does
not mean that library constructions should conform rigidly to a fixed standard of appearance and
arrangement, but it does mean that the exterior should express as nearly as possible the
purpose and functions of the interior.[48]