Abstract

This paper attempts to identify the main current issues related to the changes and challenges in the management and leadership, concerning the academic libraries in Hong Kong. The fundamental problem facing academic libraries in Hong Kong today is their inability to maintain their acquisitions and staffing at the present level. Even in other countries that are relatively wealthy, governments are trying to cut various public expenditures, and since higher education accounts for a significant amount of this, it has received reduced government funding over the last decade or two. At the same time, the rapid changes in the environment of information technologies and scholarly communication present both opportunities and challenges for the academic libraries in Hong Kong. This paper attempts to explore and document the present, as well as other ongoing challenges and rewarding experiences in collaboration among the university libraries in Hong Kong, e.g.: 1. How external operating environment influences that internal management of library services. 2. How approaches in management have changed during the last two decades. 3. Why management has changed: social, economic, political and technological influences during the last two decades. 4. Why there is an increasing interest in collaboration, competition and accountability among the academic library community in Hong Kong. 5. The importance of encouraging new initiatives under the digital environment, and how to arrive at a flexible and dynamic solution for the areas that are affected by constant changes, and new responsibilities of staff related to the electronic library. 6. The possible future directions for the management and for information services. 7. Describes the future possible changes in library management, with special focus on the manpower and their relations to the electronic libraries.