Daily Archives: March 26, 2013

2 posts

R-Squared: Interview with Organizers

http://www.coloradolibrariesjournal.org/articles/failing-forward-risk-and-reward-conference-interview-conference-organizers What prompted the need for a Risk and Reward Conference? Shelley and Stacie can provide the back-story about how this initially came about. Shelley Walchak (SW): Libraries across the country have been deeply concerned about their future since the beginning of the recession, and yet, one Colorado library district – Anythink Libraries (Rangeview Library District in Adams County) seemed to be resistant to the downturn. In fact, within the last 5 years they have built or remodeled seven libraries and won ALA’s National Medal as well as the John Cotton Dana Marketing Award. SW: Colorado libraries were curious as to how […]

Office Hours: Essential Soft Skills

I for got to post last month’s LJ column here at TTW: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/02/opinion/michael-stephens/essential-soft-skills/ I would add other soft skills such as intuition, political awareness, and a willingness to make and learn from our mistakes. Transparency is evolving into an even more clearly defined “full frontal” strategy for some corporations—putting it all out there. We should follow suit. Library schools should teach case studies of failed library systems and initiatives. We must study our failures as much as we study our successes. There seems to be an ongoing unwillingness to do this. But in fact some libraries make bad decisions, and […]