Knowledge and Implementation of Quality Circle in an Academic Library in the Philippines

Librarians are indispensable assets of the library. They continue to explore new management techniques to enhance their resources and services. They adopt business management approaches, theories, principles, and practices in academic libraries which serve as bases for pioneering library management. These practices lead to creative delivery of services to customers and innovative means of support to faculty in their delivery of classroom instruction. An example of these is the application of quality circles within the library organization.

The study aimed to determine the level of knowledge and implementation of Quality Circle in academic libraries in response to the changing needs of millennial users of Saint Mary’s University (Philippines) Learning Resource Center. It made use of quantitative and qualitative method of research through the researcher-made survey questionnaire, interview and documentary analysis. Data were gathered from 10 professional registered librarians from the university. The study found that librarians were knowledgeable and familiar about the objectives and characteristics of quality circle and there was a high level of implementation. It is then recommended that the academic librarians should continue to innovate the use of quality circle in the library. 

Keywords: Academic Libraries, Library Benchmarking, Library Management, Quality Circle In Libraries, Trends In Libraries.