“But We’ve Always Done It This Way”: Challenges and Strategies in Enacting Technical Services Changes

Oftentimes when academic libraries undergo a reorganization or a newly hired academic librarian is asked to institute a change, change can be met with resistance. The line “But we’ve always done it this way” as a rebuttal can be perceived by those assigned to enact change as an opportunity, a point of frustration, or both. This presentation will address the challenges academic librarians can face when trying to enact change and some strategies to employ in the face of resistance. Having worked at several academic libraries over the course of my career, I will share experiences and strategies to enact change. Approaches to enacting change, built around examples of leading projects to migrate to a new ILS system and Discovery Layer, will be included.