Chapter 11: Transforming Roles of Library Staff Through Upskilling, Retooling, and Job Restructuring: The Case of the UWI Mona Library

The chapter discusses job role transformation through targeted training and development initiatives, as well as a collaborative job restructuring programme at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Library. Qualitative methods were used, including analysis of the library's documents and the authors’ firsthand experiences. The research indicates that job transformation began as a response to the impact of globally advancing information communication technologies (ICT), as well as higher education qualifications obtained by non-professional staff. The need to align with the UWI's Strategic Plan (2017–2022) made role transformation activities more urgent. While the library is still in the process of job transformation, this chapter describes the strategies employed for staff development and activities carried out in the job restructuring programme and demonstrates that they significantly impacted the library and staff. Strategies of upskilling and retooling, together with tertiary education programmes, provided staff with the ability to deliver cutting-edge services and boosted morale. Filling talent gaps through temporary assignments supported staff growth and led to a reduction in recruitment time and staff resources for the library and the UWI. Through a strategic restructuring programme, job descriptions (JDs) were updated, post titles amended to current nomenclatures, new posts were created, and requests for position upgrades were made to the Human Resources Management Department of the UWI, Mona. Using library assessment documents to spearhead job transformation and collaborating with key stakeholders during the process were important steps in ensuring there was a successful process. Lessons learned from the process may be applied to other academic libraries seeking innovative strategies for job and role transformation.