Providing quality reference service requires knowledge of the users and collections, good management skills and a commitment to education. Because of this, they are able to be constantly gathering useful information about what types of materials are being used by patrons and with what degree of frequency. This knowledge or expertise can be very useful to the library if reference librarians actively take part in purchasing decisions. With the abundance of both electronic and paper resources on the market today, deciding how to develop the collection has become increasingly complex. Library managers are faced with the task of selecting resources from a myriad of possibilities.
Numerous questions arise.
All of these issues must be examined, the tradeoffs considered, and then decisions made. A reference librarian must also be able to effectively manage a staff of assistants. I am fortunate to have had a supervisor whose managerial style really inspired me. She took an active interest in uncovering the existing talents of her staff and fitting their personal goals with the goals of the library. She made us aware of what needed doing in the library and then encouraged us to tackle those tasks which were of greatest interest to us.