Library supervision in participating in library accreditation in Magelang City, Indonesia

Accreditation is mandatory in an institution, especially for educational institutions. Elementary school to university level are required to participate in accreditation. Likewise, libraries are expected to carry out accreditation. Accreditation is carried out to assess the quality of an institution based on predetermined criteria (Awaludin, 2017). Accreditation is carried out as a form of public accountability that is carried out objectively, fairly, transparently, and comprehensively. Library accreditation is carried out as an effort by the government to supervise and assess the implementation and management of libraries so that libraries get formal recognition from library accreditation institutions (Hastarini, 2018). In the Law on Libraries, it is stated that the government has the authority to regulate, supervise, and evaluate the implementation and management of libraries in the Republic of Indonesia, as mentioned in Pasal 9 ayat b which reads, “Pemerintah berwenang mengatur, mengawasi, dan mengevaluasi penyelenggaraan dan pengelolaan perpustakaan di wilayah Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia” (Republik Indonesia, 2007). In library accreditation, the assessment criteria refer to the National Library Standards made by the National Library. Libraries in Magelang City, consisting of School Libraries, College Libraries, and Public and Special Libraries, have the same obligation to participate in accreditation. Accreditation in Magelang City in 2020 was carried out in 2 phases. The first phase was on August 27, 2020. In the first phase, eight libraries participated. Six libraries got a grade “A”, and two got a “B”. The second phase was held on October 27, 2020. In the second phase, 22 libraries participated in the accreditation. The accreditation results were 13 libraries getting a grade of “A” and nine libraries getting a “B”. The results of this accreditation were inseparable from the role of the Library and Archives Office of Magelang City. As in the changes in the Strategic Plan of the Regional Apparatus Organization of the Library and Archives Office of Magelang City for 2016-2021, there were programs for developing reading culture and library development, namely carrying out supervision of coaching and stimulation of public libraries, special libraries, and community libraries (Dinas Perpustakaan dan Kearsipan Kota Magelang, 2019). The strategic plan obliges the library to give full attention to libraries willing to participate in library accreditation by supervising them to prepare accreditation requirements following the National Library Standards and get a satisfactory score. Library supervision is an activity carried out by a supervisor to guide and foster library staff’s performance in library administration, including library space, work programs, equipment, storage and maintenance, order and security, and reporting (Rysavy & Michalak, 2020; Shan, Ishaq, & Shaheen, 2015). In this paper, the Magelang City Library, through its librarians, is supervised by providing guidance and coaching to all librarians in Magelang City who would participate in library accreditation. According to a study by Daryanti, Rohanda, and Sukaesih (2013), supervision significantly and positively influences employee performance. Although there were results regarding supervision, this research generally examined the effect of work motivation on employee performance. One of the research results above, namely regarding supervision, could be interpreted as that supervision could improve employee performance. If it were related to this research, then the employee’s performance was more on performance in preparing all the requirements needed for library accreditation. McNeil (2017) states that supervision activities can be categorized into supervising individuals, managing groups, and leading organizations. The three categories can be broken down into several items that support the categorization. Supervising individuals consists of five items. The first is today's workplace, which gives issues to supervise staff about things expected to be done by supervised staff. The second is recruitment and interviews, namely activities carried out by selecting or recruiting supervised people to do something. The third is orientation and training, namely supervision activities in providing orientation and training to those who are supervised to be ready to do something. The fourth is managing performance, which is implementing performance management from both the supervisor and the supervised party. Then the fifth is managing rewards, namely the management of rewards to those supervised if they have done according to the supervisor’s expectations (McNeil, 2017). While managing groups consists of seven items. Among others, becoming a manager, which is what preparations are made to be ready to become a supervisor, is the first item. The second is teamwork and group dynamics discuss how supervisors manage teamwork and group dynamics between supervised members. The third is planning and organizing work carried out by supervisors in carrying out supervision. Budgeting basics are the fourth, namely budgeting to carry out supervision activities. Facilities, space, and safety, namely the provision of facilities, space, and security from supervisors to those who are supervised, are the fifth item. The sixth is the management meeting between managers during supervision activities. Finally, project management is the last carried out so that those supervised can get the overall benefits by expectations (McNeil, 2017). The last category is the leading organization which consists of five items. The first is communication skill which is the supervisor’s ability to communicate on supervising. The second is organizational climate and the art of motivation related to how supervisors improve a good organizational environment and motivate supervised employees. The third is inclusivity and diversity, which relate to the actions taken by supervisors in ensuring the inclusiveness of the supervision process carried out and in dealing with the diversity being supervised. Then the fourth is policies and legal environment related to policies and regulations from supervisors to those who are supervised. Finally, the fifth is career management related to supervised career management, and supervisors can also provide solutions to obstacles that may be encountered during the supervision process (McNeil, 2017). One example of research on supervision in libraries was carried out by Wulandari (2016), who evaluated the supervision activities carried out by the supervisor to the library manager. The supervisor was someone who supervised a manager. Individuals carried out supervision against individuals. In contrast to this study, supervision activities were carried out by institutions, namely the Magelang City Library, towards institutions, namely libraries in Magelang City. This study also discussed its influence on the competence of library managers, in contrast to this study which examined the supervision activities carried out to obtain a satisfactory accreditation score. The research on library accreditation was carried out by Nurohman (2016), Wahyuni (2016), and Khotimah (2016). The three studies above explained more about a quality library, namely, if the library could meet the criteria for library accreditation standards. However, it had yet to discuss the supervision activities to obtain good library accreditation results in detail. This study was a bridge over the void of research regarding supervision activities carried out so that the supervised library got a satisfactory accreditation score. Through its librarian, the Magelang City Library supervised the libraries in Magelang City to participate in library accreditation. This study aimed to determine what activities were carried out by the Library and Archives Office of Magelang City to supervise libraries in Magelang City that participated in library accreditation by referring to three categories of supervision activities according to McNeil (2017) as described above. The results of this study were expected to provide examples to other regional libraries, which had an obligation to supervise libraries in their regions, regarding ways to carry out supervision to be applied in the process of conducting supervision.

This research determined the organization’s understanding and behavior in supervising other organizations. Therefore, this study used qualitative research with a case study approach. According to Crowe et al., (2011), the case study approach is beneficial when there is a need to obtain an in-depth appreciation of an issue, event, or phenomenon of interest in its natural, real-life context. The phenomenon in this study was the phenomenon of supervision activities carried out by the Magelang City Library to libraries in Magelang City that would participate in library accreditation. Data were collected by observing and interviewing the parties involved in the supervision process (Puspa & Julian, 2021). The parties involved in the supervision process in this research were librarians at the Magelang City Library as supervisors and librarian officers in Magelang City who followed library accreditation as supervised. From these two parties, two types of informants could be obtained: informants who acted as research subjects, in this case, were librarians at the Magelang City Library, and informants who acted as objects, namely librarians in Magelang City. The research data reached a saturation point when the researchers interviewed 11 informants consisting of four informants from the Magelang City Library, namely the Head of Office, the librarian, and two librarians who became supervisors. Meanwhile, seven informants were librarians who participated in library accreditation. The selection of informants used a selection that continued to develop (snowball) in a purposive manner until the data collected experienced a saturation point (Gunawan, 2013). It meant that informants at the Library and Archives Office of Magelang City were randomly selected to those involved as supervisors. Meanwhile, informants from libraries in Magelang City were also randomly selected who had been supervised and followed library accreditation. At the library in Magelang City, one librarian was taken as an informant from each library. However, when the data provided by the informant had reached a saturation point, the research was stopped. The research was conducted from August to December 2021 in Magelang City. The interview process was carried out in places according to the agreement between the researcher and the informant. Informants were interviewed semi-structured, allowing the interviewer to develop questions in new and interesting sections to explore more deeply. Interview data obtained and experienced a saturation point are analyzed by adopting the data analysis technique (Rijali, 2018). It describes the process of analyzing qualitative research data, which consists of data collection, display, reduction, and conclusions drawing/verification (figure 1). Figure 1. Qualitative research data analysis process Source: IOM, 2023 The researcher interviewed informants from the Magelang city library and libraries participating in library accreditation at the data collection stage. Afterward, the researcher sorted according to their needs and interpreted the data to find the research results. Finally, the researcher evaluated the results and concluded various relevant theories as verification material. Analysis of the data used in this study was a test method; the validity of the data used triangulation. In this study, the researcher used triangulation by using sources. Source triangulation means comparing and checking back degrees of the trustworthiness of the information obtained through different times and tools.

To the informants’ confession, the Library had carried out supervision activities for as many as 30 libraries participating in accreditation in 2020. Overall in 2020, as many as 30 libraries participated in accreditation, with the result that 19 libraries got a grade of “A”, and 11 libraries got a grade of “B.” The Magelang City Library carried out supervision activities. Researchers described three categories. McNeil (2017) states that supervision activities are categorized into supervising individuals, managing groups, and leading organizations. Table 1. Interview participants Participant Position Organization Informant A Head Library and Archives Office of Magelang City Informant B Head/ Librarian Library of Muhammadiyah University of Magelang Informant C Librarian Library and Archives Office of Magelang City Informant D Librarian Junior High School 11 of Magelang Informant E Librarian Junior High School 1 of Magelang Informant F Librarian Muhammadiyah Elementary School 1 of Magelang Informant G Librarian SDIT Ihsanul Fikri of Magelang City Informant H Librarian State Senior High School 4 of Magelang City Informant I Librarian State Vocational High School 1 of Magelang City Informant J Librarian/Supervisor Library and Archives Office of Magelang City Informant K Librarian/Supervisor Library and Archives Office of Magelang City Source: Researcher’s data, 2021 In the first category, supervising individuals who implemented four items out of five. Managing reward items were items that still needed to be done. In accordance with today’s workplace item, issues related to library accreditation were explained to the librarian to provide an understanding that, “Library accreditation would be mandatory in the future” (A. B. Sakti, Interviewed, December 06, 2021). The second issue, “The National Library will give regard the formal recognition for libraries that had carried out accreditation” (T. Sutjiati, Interviewed, December 06, 2021). The last issue given to the librarians who participated in accreditation was the score of library accreditation that supported increasing the accreditation value of the school or institution where the library was located. The library was one of the assessments on the standard five parts of facilities and infrastructure in the school accreditation instrument. Although the score was small and insignificant, it still affected the results of the school’s accreditation score (Rahma, 2019). The hiring and interviewing process was carried out by selecting libraries that would be included for accreditation through offers. The offer was voluntary after the issues regarding library accreditation as described above. According to the interview results, information about collective accreditation was shared with the target libraries. “Libraries that were interested in participating registered voluntarily, so it was not determined by the Library and Archives Office (Y. Wijayanti, Interviewed, December 07, 2021). Librarians who were ready and able to participate could register at the Magelang City Library. Then after the library declared its ability to participate in accreditation, the librarian would be asked whether the library was active or not by being marked as having a Library Identification Number, which could be checked by https://data.perpusnas.go.id/(Luqiana & Nelisa, 2022; Padli, 2021). Libraries that did not yet have a Library Identification Number were encouraged to create one first. Furthermore, whether the library had met the National Library Standard was checked. After the checking process was complete, orientation and training were carried out. Gathering librarian officers carried out the orientation process to provide some information about library accreditation starting from introduction and preparation to the library accreditation assessment process so that they could determine the attitude that must be taken in preparing for accreditation following regulations. “The orientation activity was carried out in 2019 by bringing in speakers from the National Library” (H. Hidayati, Interviewed, December 13, 2021). The accreditation orientation of the librarian would be easy to improve the ability to carry out library accreditation (Ritchie, Gilbert, Gaca, Siemensma, & Taylor, 2020; Sukmawati, 2018). Then the training was carried out by simulating, checking, and assessing the completeness of the accreditation documents owned by the library to be scored. The score was used as evaluation material to complete accreditation documents to increase the accreditation value (Latri, 2020). The number of accreditation documents that needed to be prepared in a short implementation period of about two months, the number of libraries participating in accreditation which was around 30, and the number of librarians as supervisors who were only five persons resulted in the supervision activities that must be carried out in such a way as to produce a good performance, so it was necessary to perform good performance management as well. What was done was to divide the tasks of five supervisors to foster several libraries adapted to the area and type of library. Then each supervisor was obliged to provide exceptional guidance to the library under construction. They communicate and guide continuously to equalize perceptions. Supervisors were also scheduled to visit the library to see firsthand the condition of the library, which was then evaluated, given solutions, and motivated. To achieve specific goals, giving rewards is something that can be done, for example, what Suharso and Setyowulandari (2014) have stated to increase interest in visiting; what Habib and Rohmiyati (2019) argued to improve collection utilization, and what Rully (2021) explained to improve learning achievement. However, the Magelang City Library should have managed rewards for the librarian if the library got an accreditation grade of A. According to one informant, “Giving rewards did not occur because library accreditation was in the interest of each library” (M. Muliati, Interviewed, December 22, 2021). Even so, libraries that had carried out accreditation would get a certificate of accreditation results. The certificate was considered a reward for informants from libraries who participated in accreditation. In addition to supervising individuals, the supervision activities carried out were managing groups, which showed that of the seven supporting items, the Magelang City Library needed to carry out one supporting item, namely, budgeting basics. The first activity was to prepare to become a supervisor (becoming supervisor). Preparation was done by studying the regulations and administrative requirements for library accreditation, learning the National Library Standards, and conducting comparative studies on libraries that had received A accreditation to be insightful and intellectual. Those are carried out to apply and teach ideal concepts in their workplace or a supervised library (Zikra, 2016). Furthermore, collaboration and group dynamics (teamwork and group dynamics) were carried out by equalizing perceptions and exchanging knowledge and experience between supervisors and librarians. They held meetings and conducted group discussion forums/focus group discussion to solve accreditation problems and helped each other jointly. Supervisors visited each library as their responsibility to review, evaluate, provide solutions, and provide assistance so that document deficiencies or problems could be resolved immediately. During the visit, the supervisor also discussed with policymakers to provide moral and financial support to librarians preparing for library accreditation. Planning and organizing work was done by dividing the librarian’s duties into supervisors for several libraries participating in accreditation. A supervisor coordinator was formed to coordinate the work of supervisors and make a schedule of visits to each library. Scheduling of visits was carried out so that supervision activities became more practical, increased capacity and flexibility regarding more coordinated visit times, and supervisors and librarian officers could prepare themselves well, especially regarding accreditation requirements, problems, and others to be discussed (Azhimi, 2016; Tashayoei, Raeissi, & Nasiripour, 2020). There was no special budgeting for the supervision activities (budgeting basics). Likewise, supervised libraries would follow library accreditation. All supervision activities were carried out voluntarily to improve the quality of libraries through library accreditation. This lack of budgeting resulted in no reward for libraries with a grade of “A”, so managing rewards was not done. Supervision activities were also carried out by providing facilities, space, and security. It provided facilities in consultation and guidance to the library when experiencing problems regarding fulfilling accreditation requirements in a particular room and guaranteed confidentiality and security. The special room was equipped with air conditioning to make it more comfortable and an internet network that could be used to find the information needed, especially regarding library accreditation. In addition to a particular room, a large meeting hall was located on the second floor of its building. The hall could accommodate up to 200 people, so all librarians could gather to discuss library accreditation. Security guarantees were also provided when supervisors visited to review the accreditation documents that had been prepared. The document was guaranteed to be protected and recovered. Security guarantees would make librarians trust and comfortable with supervisor visits (Andarbeni, Satibi, & Salamah, 2019; Karya, 2016). The next activity to be carried out was a meeting between managers (management meeting). It could be a general meeting consisting of all supervisors and supervised librarians; two, between supervisors; or three, a supervisor with a librarian who is his/her responsibility according to the division. The meeting was conducted with a variety of techniques. Meetings were held regularly using formal invitations, sometimes flexibly as needed. Some were even unplanned. These meetings became an effective means to spur the basic need, namely library accreditation (Men & Isreal, 2017; Nurdin & Zulaikha, 2020). Meetings were held both offline and online. Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, many meetings were held online (Bakti et al., 2020; Craft, 2020). Offline meetings were held at the Magelang City Library or a supervised library. Meanwhile, online meetings were held using the Zoom Meeting application or WhatsApp groups. The next activity carried out was project management, where the supervisor carried out all activities according to the schedule that had been made. The schedule was made as fair as possible so that each library got the same supervision portion. It was possible for libraries that required special supervision, and supervisors would increase the portion of supervision carried out by adding to the schedule of visits and more intense communication. So that the information obtained by the librarian was the same as one another, the supervisor collected them in a room, offline, and in an online WhatsApp group to then be given information and guidance together. Being a supervisor led those members of an association who were supervised (leading organization). The librarian’s performance in preparing accreditation requirements would increase if the supervisor’s leadership were good by showing satisfactory accreditation results as an achievement (Pattynama, Kojo, & Rep, 2016). One of the skills that needed to be possessed was communication (communication skills). “The supervisor’s ability to communicate is considered acceptable, everything was done with good communication. Supervisors accommodated all the problems faced and found solutions. Moreover, there was openness to all” (Yaculine, Interviewed, December 13, 2021). The supervisor took advantage of all the possibilities that could be done in communicating with the librarian. Supervisors communicated through meetings and using tools such as WhatsApp and telephone. Supervisors also communicated through correspondence institutionally. It was done to provide information regarding accreditation and meeting invitations. Effective communication with the appropriate communication style would facilitate the understanding of the interlocutor (Milasari, Hasibuan, Us, Wahyudi, & Saputra, 2021). So that the librarian would understand and follow all instructions from the supervisor. An excellent organizational climate was a top priority for supervisors, so the librarian’s performance was good in preparing for library accreditation (Oktaviani, 2020). Likewise, the provision of motivation (the art of motivation) was highly considered by supervisors. Providing motivation has a positive effect on librarian performance (Setiawan & Krismayani, 2019). Therefore, the supervisor constantly communicated with the librarian as his responsibility. If there were information and problems, they would be immediately informed and resolved, and the possible solutions will be discussed together. A conducive atmosphere was created by providing equal opportunities for the librarian to ask questions and give opinions. The supervisor routinely motivated them in the WhatsApp group, asking how the preparation progressed and the obstacles. Supervisors upheld and valued inclusiveness and diversity and managed them (Mitchell et al., 2015). Supervisors always gave equal attention to all supervised libraries and provided good examples of managing libraries. They were always ready when asked for help, questions, and solutions to library problems in preparing accreditation requirements. The supervisor prioritizes the various needs of libraries to provide the appropriate supervision. The supervisor emphasized that the differences between each library in terms of the type of library and human resources became a challenge for supervisors and librarians to fulfill accreditation requirements. To expedite the implementation of supervision activities, the Head of the Service made a policy in the form of changes to the Strategic Plan of the Organization of Regional Officials of the Library and Archives Office of Magelang City for 2016-2021 (Dinas Perpustakaan dan Kearsipan Kota Magelang, 2019). The policy was made so that supervision activities could run, and in the end, the libraries got a satisfactory accreditation score. Supervision activities were also guided by the National Library Standards and appealed by structural officials. As government institutions supervised, the Library and Archives Office of Magelang City and the Main Library Institution communicated through official correspondence. The policies and legal environment were implemented during the supervision process. Supervisors carried out career management to the highest achievement obtained by the library in participating in accreditation, namely getting a grade of “A”. The accreditation score was one of the achievements of librarians in working and dedicating themselves. This understanding motivated the librarian Sitorus (2014) to prepare the accreditation requirements properly. Library accreditation aims to assess a library in meeting the National Library Standards. It will make the library know where its position is according to the National Library Standards so that the library can improve its management and services. Supervision is essential so that the library becomes even better. Libraries without accreditation were encouraged and motivated to attend accreditation immediately. Libraries with a “B” score immediately met the lack of National Library Standards to prepare for re-accreditation. Then libraries that had gotten a score of “A” always maintained management and services following the National Library Standards and better constantly innovated to improve services to users.

Supervision activities by the Library and Archives Office of Magelang City are carried out well, as evidenced by the results of library accreditation with a grade “B” for 11 libraries and a grade “A” for 19 libraries. The implementation of supervision includes supervising individuals, managing groups, and leading organizations. However, two items should be implemented in the supervision activities; the first is managing reward items in the category of supervising individuals. The supervised library considered the accreditation certificate as a reward. The second is budgeting basics items in the category of managing groups, resulting in the managing reward needs to be implemented. Further research plans from this research can be carried out regarding the supervision by the Library and Archives Office of Magelang City in various matters relating to the library to improve library services.