Your alarm is blaring. Your head is pounding. You think, “I should call out today.” But wait! It’s a storytime day. Think of canceling on all those kids eager for songs and stories. What will you do? If you’ve ever had a morning like this, you aren’t alone, and you probably work in a small library without substitutes to save the day. When I started at my library, I was the sole children’s services staff member and ran multiple weekly storytimes. When I was sick, we canceled. Life went on, I healed up, and I saw those families the next week. As I’ve learned more about library operations, I’ve seen how some libraries go out of their way to avoid canceling storytime. If not well planned, this can quickly lead to subpar programs, staff working while sick, unfairly compensated labor, and spiraling scope creep. So today, I present the case…
Tag: Management
Creating rich learning opportunities on a shoestring budget
I love that librarianship is rich with opportunities to learn and grow, but these opportunities can seem beyond reach if your library isn’t able to fund them. While it’s vitally important to make a case for supporting professional development, something that Melissa Horak-Hern expertly outlines here, what do you do while funding isn’t there? Here are some tips for creating financially accessible professional development opportunities. Who is already doing this work? Think broadly: is your library interested in creating accessible spaces? Is there a population that you’re not seeing at the library? Are there issues in your community that you’d like to be more knowledgeable about? Start with the things you’d like to learn and find local groups already doing the work. Forging these connections has the added bonus of creating a local network. I arranged for visits from the county’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs that touched on the scope…
Leadership and Management Reading List
While the librarian stereotype is that we spend our days reading, we all know the truth as to how busy our workdays truly are. It usually takes intention to carve out time to develop and improve our skills. A couple of books and resources that I have loved over my career include: How to Lead When You’re Not In Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority by Clay Scroggins What I love about this title is that it is written for anyone interested in leadership. Every good organization needs leaders as they are your coworkers who inspire and motivate, but leaders aren’t always managers and many don’t have titles. Scroggins highlights various leadership lessons, such as building a support network and being a problem solver. The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julie Zhou Julie was the V.P. of Design at Facebook and…
Manager Mistakes:
and some tips to try to solve them. In my system, a lot of children’s librarians become managers. It makes a lot of sense, as children’s librarians are constantly juggling multiple priorities, have to deal with a high level of work, and are invested and passionate about library work. In fact, I think children’s librarians make great managers for all those reasons (but maybe I am biased)! If you are thinking of becoming a manager or are just starting out in management, check out these classic management mistakes and learn how to avoid them.
Supporting Staff Well-being
Welcome to Ask ALSC, where the Managing Youth Services Committee asks leaders in children’s libraries to share their response to an issue or situation. We hope to showcase a range of responses to topics that may affect ALSC members. If you’d like to respond to today’s topics, or suggest a topic for the future, please leave a comment. *Disclaimer* I am not a healthcare professional. I am a reader and a hard-working mental health advocate, both personally and professionally. Self-care and wellness are frequent buzzwords in articles discussing the workplace. Why? What’s changed (other than the obvious) to warrant an uptick in administrative discussions surrounding mental health and career? And why should we as managers devote time and space to discussions on well-being? There are a myriad of reasons why we should all be focused on mental health, but for brevity and deliverability, I will focus on three. I’m sure…
It’s a Beautiful Day in Your Neighborhood: Creating a Serviceable Service Map
My system is rethinking, relaunching, and rediscovering what our community and neighborhoods are like right now, and how the library can fit into our local communities. It feels like the perfect time to start this work, as our neighborhoods have been pretty closed off the last couple of years to keep us safe. I warned my staff when our fiscal year started in October, that pretty much all they would hear from me this year is the word: Resetting. And that word is perfect as a launch to reset yourself in the community, and reconnect.
Staff Love Languages
Ahead of Valentine’s Day, it’s a good time to think about the love languages of your colleagues/staff. This is always important to think about, but it feels more important with the low morale, stress of Covid & handing out test kits, and winter blahs; I want to ensure that my staff feel appreciated and supported as much as possible. Below is my riff on the five long languages as they apply to working in the library.
To Boldly Go Where They Have Not Gone Before
If you are lucky, you will have the opportunity to host a library school student; someone who thinks working with youth, caregivers, and families is absolutely the best. Given that, I must be extremely lucky. At last count, I have been able to do so fifty-two times. Sometimes they are paid, sometimes not. They can be called interns, or practicum students, or a number of other titles. Whether they are just entering the professional workforce straight from college and graduate school, or have any number of years’ experience within or beyond the library world, an opportunity awaits for everyone involved. In just one or two semesters, your investment of time, and sharing of knowledge, can turn out to be the pivotal learning experience for an aspiring children’s librarian. It all begins with a promise. You promise to train them in all manner of library things. They promise to apply…