Darien Tag Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyre. http://wanderingeyre.com/2007/02/21/darien-library-gets-tagged/ They trust their people. Everyone on their staff who wants to blog, can, in their own voice, and style. When speaking with Louise Berry and Alan Gray at Midwinter, I was impressed with their desire to see their staff succeed, for their voices to be heard, and for their library to be the kind of place that works from the bottom up. This was not mere lip service, which is what I fear is the noise I hear most often. They were striving to, not only create a human face for their […]
Categories Leadership
41 posts
You have new Picture Mail! Originally uploaded by libraryman. Nice signage at OCLC… How many times, librarian, have you sat in a meeting for three hours and realized at the end nothing was decided? These rules might help with that. 🙂
New ways of thinking about work. New priorities. New additions to the family. How does your library’s adminstration repsond to NextGen employees? In Priorities & Professionalism in the new LJ, Sophie Brookover ponders how libraries might encourage and embrace the work-life balance of employees: Ask your employees what they need. Work with them to make the changes that work best for the organization as a whole. You probably can’t give your employees everything they want, but the mere act of asking them what they need is important. A staff that is empowered to share its needs is a happy staff, […]
Take a look at this thoughtful post at a Blog About Libraries: http://blogaboutlibraries.com/2006/08/which-culture-of-is-your-workplace.html Do you work within the “Culture of No”? If you are a leader, do you foster a “Culture of Maybe?” Continuing to wonder why it was that all libraries in the country have not started IM reference led me to start looking at organizational cultures. I came across some interesting stuff that I am certain applies to many libraries. Every innovator in libraries has probably dealt with “NO”, or “Death by a thousand cuts”. There is a subtle difference between the two, the former being (obviously) an […]
Remember this? A TTW reader just sent this: http://newsletter.logoworks.com/index.php/top-ten-reasons-why-people-quit-their-jobs/07/31/2006/ Top Ten Reasons Why People Quit Their Jobs Includes: Management promotes someone who lacks training and/or necessary experience to supervisor, alienating staff and driving away good employees. Management doesn’t allow the rank and file to make decisions or allow them pride of ownership. A visitor to my website E-mailed me a message that said, “Forget about the “professional” decisions—how about when you can’t even select the company’s holiday card without the President rejecting it for one of his own taste?” I can’t help think of the Teen Librarians at ImaginOn at […]
Via Blake at LISNews: http://www.publicagenda.org/research/pdfs/long_overdue_five_things.pdf Libraries are highly valued Libraries are important 21st Century resources Voters love libraries Libraries use tax funds wisely The public welcomes a greater role for libraries (includes a safe and engaging place for teens!) So much to say about this but for now: Attention public library adminstrators: if you are not avctively building an engaging, welcoming space for teens to congregate, staffed with librarians who can interact with them and guide them as needed through all the information that bombards them, you are sadly missing the boat. (and the Cluetrain!) Gaming initiatives, teen advisory boards, […]
A Librarian colleague writes to TTW: Hi, I am reading the beginning of this title The Future of Work through the Online Book Club. The excerpt below made me think of you! The author describes his work as a professor and his contacts with networks of other people who help him accomplish his job. This book has piqued my interest to try to see what we can change here to make the organization less hierarchical and more decentralized. There has to be a balance between top down and anarchy/democracy, we just need to find it. Then we need to train […]
A few folks have added their lists to the “Ten Ways to Lose Your Techie Librarians”: Karen: http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/how_to_lose_your_tech_people.php Jessamyn: http://www.librarian.net/stax/1681 Librarian in Black: http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/2006/03/ten_ways_to_los.html Caveat Lector: http://cavlec.yarinareth.net/archives/2006/03/12/fifty-ways-to-lose-your-techies/ (I love the bit about job descriptions being crammed full of every tech thing imaginable! And this wonderfully positive spin by Scott at http://www.rcpl.info/services/liblog.html, who commented on the original post. I’m putting them up top because they are really good! TOP 10 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR TECHIE LIBRARIANS: 1) Treat technology as being as important to your library as circulating books or having storytimes. 2) Try to have a “techie” on as many […]
On page 67 of the January/February Public Libraries magazine is one of the HOTTEST numbered lists I’ve read in a long time: “How to Lose Your Best People” is authored anonymously by “several seasoned librarians.” Points like “Nitpick the dress code – because socks are essential for good public service” are not only humorous but very telling in some libraries. So with apologies to the Seasoned Anonymous Writers, let me offer up: Ten Ways to Lose Your Techie Librarians 1. Dismiss blogs/wikis/RSS as just for the geeks not library users 2. Plan technology projects without involving them until the wheels […]
This is an important one…one to ponder… http://scanblog.blogspot.com/2005/04/does-non-dynamic-library-have-future.html But it’s not just about giving people what they want. Leadership is about creating a vision that you can share with the board, with elected officials and business people, with the library’s clients, and most of all, with the library staff. (One of our side discussions during this meeting was about the importance of not blaming the staff for not being willing to change. If the leaders cannot explain the change and provide a reason for it, the problem lies not with the staff, but with their leaders.) Thus, the importance of […]