I had thought about putting up my PowerPoint slides, but they are so very numerous and borrow so much from others that they don't add much to the discussion. The one slide I did that is all mine is Library Director 2.0. I sat and wrote it while waiting for my turn before the City Council this Monday. It was a 2.5 hour wait, so I had plenty of time to think.
So here is my concept of Library Director 2.0.
Less hierarchy more flexibility
We need to flatten out our often very pyramid-like library hierarchies and enable more on-the-fly decision making by our staff. In this way we can become a lot more flexible. Our patrons don't begin to understand that we have a governing board, much less that there is a director, an assistant director, department heads, professional librarians, para-professionals, clerks, and pages. And why should they? We need to simplify, allow decision making by all staff levels to the extent possible and let the point person be the one to deliver the service without having to move people up the hierarchy.
Trust staff – no micromanagement
In my early career, I was lucky enough to be taught how NOT to be a director. I worked for a very intense micro-manager who had absolutely no trust for any of her staff no matter where they fell on the hierarchy. Trusting staff has to be at the core of what we do as directors. We have to trust them to interpret when a patron complaint should be referred to someone else, trust them to deal with the situations they want to, trust them to make decisions about forgiving fines, dealing with disruptions, and extending service beyond the norm. That is their decision as a professional working in our library whether they have an MLS or not. They must be given the parameters, but supported in making the tough decisions where there needs to be flexibility. If we can't trust our staff to a radical level, how in the world do we expect to ever trust our patrons to any level at all? And if you have staff that you can't trust to that extent, what are they doing working at a public library?
Transparency
Open up decision making. We have a policy that I try to adhere to as strictly as I can where department head meetings and other committee meeting minutes will be distributed (via the staff blog) to the entire staff at the same time and within 48 hours of the meeting. I try to do it within 24 hours, but sometimes my schedule doesn't permit that. The minutes make our conversations and decisions public to the library. Our staff need to know what we are discussing, where we are headed, and feel free to respond to what we as the leaders are doing.
Involve all levels of staff in conversation
We have two brand-new committees, Customer Service and Merchandising & Marketing. All levels of staff are represented in the committees, and some of the best ideas have come out of the people who traditionally would not have had a seat at the table. Not only that, but because they have a stake in the decision process, they immediately set to work implementing the recommendations. It is wonderful to work with a staff so willing to share ideas, think outside the current way we are doing things, and then go right to work for the benefit of our patrons.
Explain decisions fully and honestly
I have worked for directors and with directors who don't like confrontation. Well, I don't either. But sometimes it must be done. With so many people sharing ideas and thoughts, I must still be the director and make the final decision or make a recommendation to the board. It is wonderful when I agree with the staff, but that isn't always the case. The fastest way I can undermine all that I am trying to do with staff input and creating conversations is to not be honest about why I am not supporting the common consensus. I liken it to ripping off a bandage. It is much better to do it quickly than to hesitate. So I am bluntly honest when I need to be and don't talk about the facts. Honesty is the best way to go and will lead directly to transparency because you have nothing to hide. Hide behind your library board or just let the matter be dropped without resolving it, and you will find yourself building larger and larger webs of lies to protect the fact that you are not being honest in the first place.
Create a structure that supports quick decision making and implementation
I am still working on this. I think that our committees being made up of all levels of staff helps with this, as does the fact that we listen to our patrons and I always have my ear to the ground listening for new things coming. We were fortunate enough to really implement wireless at exactly the right time for our patrons. With that as the example of a perfect implementation, we have a lot to live up to in the future. I only hope that we can continue to anticipate our patrons' needs. I firmly believe that the next big thing is going to be RSS feeds. Someone is going to finally get those page-like RSS feeds to really rock and then everyone will be using them. Libraries need to be poised with RSS feeds ready to go or be in the horrible position of playing catch-up.
Train staff and encourage them to learn and share knowledge
I encounter librarians often who like to hold on to their knowledge because then they have "their jobs" and no one can take that away. Amazing to me in a profession where we are supposed to be information portals! Anyway, we have to keep our staff well-trained, aware of changing technology, and have them sharing their own specialized knowledge with each other. I am much more likely to recognize a staff member for sharing information than for being excellent but isolated in their knowledge. Training staff these days is so much more than just learning Word or Excel. Our staff is learning Drupal right now, something that would not have been anticipated even a year ago. They have learned to blog and how to IM in the last six months. It is a never-ending process with new tools coming out constantly. The next point is the way I approach it.
Allow play time with technology
This is so important. The concept of PLAY. Staff need play time before they "go public" with a technology. They need sandboxes, space to make mistakes, time to ask questions, and a feeling of safety where they can simply learn at their own pace. I am trying to implement 15 Minutes to Tech at our library, but it has not been fully adopted yet. I think that taking a small piece of time and giving it over to exploration is a great idea. There is so much out there to be aware of!
LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN
I know directors who tell their staff not to come to them with problems unless they also have a solution. I think that is the fastest way to stop conversation and idea sharing. Sometimes problems are so complex they don't have solutions, sometimes that person can see the problem but are not in a position to see a solution, and even more importantly sometimes a problem just needs to be aired and discussed to be seen in a different way. My most important and difficult job as an opinionated director who has a strong sense of what libraries "should" be doing, is to take that step back and listen to my staff. To give them the space to voice their thoughts without being defensive, without interpreting, without any haste to react. Yes, I bite my tongue often. Yes, I sometimes have to have a moment alone afterwards to sigh or groan or yell. But I listen. And then I respond with what I hope is honesty, openness, and trust. I don't micromanage, but I do listen. My door is always open unless someone is in speaking with me. It is open in more ways than physically and my staff knows it.
Offer structures for feedback; staff blogs, department forums, etc.
We have an active staff blog that so many people contribute to. It is amazing. And the most unlikely people on staff take to blogging and reading the blog. Those that I would expect to embrace it can be the most resistant while others who aren't geeky at all find the format familiar and comfortable. Our comments are turned on. Our part-time staff are encouraged to read and contribute. And best of all, it gave our staff a place to play with the technology before implementing Drupal!
It all comes around to the same place - equality, openness, honesty, trust and communication. That is what I think Library Director 2.0 is all about. We must do it with our staff before we can even think of doing it with our patrons. But once our staff is being treated this way, it will be so natural for them to approach patrons with a 2.0 spirit.
