The concept of quality management blossomed first in Japan and later in US and UK industry. Since then, the theory of quality management has been growing rapidly. It has become a management philosophy and has taken shape in a series of international standards in the ISO 9000 series. This article aims to describe how total quality management (TQM) – a dandelion seed from overseas ‐ turned an ordinary library into something different.
This article is a general review of the progress made in Hainan University Library.
Hainan University Library implemented TQM in July 2004 and passed the authentication of ISO 9000: 2000 in 2005. Management innovation in Hainan University Library gradually became a real eye‐catcher. A national workshop on quality management and performance management in the library was held in April 2006. The library is now a member of IFLA (there are 25 members in China including Macao and Hong Kong); in 2005 the director of the library was elected as a standing committee member of IFLA Academic and Research Libraries Section; and international exchange and cooperation is becoming increasingly active.
The paper demonstrates how a silent, ordinary library has made a difference; it is moving away from being an isolated island and moving towards the international arena.
