1.0ALSC Bloghttps://www.alsc.ala.org/blogGuest Contributorhttps://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/author/guest-contributor/The Accidental Managerrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="Zavo1ByLl2"><a href="https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2013/07/the-accidental-manager/">The Accidental Manager</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2013/07/the-accidental-manager/embed/#?secret=Zavo1ByLl2" width="600" height="338" title="“The Accidental Manager” — ALSC Blog" data-secret="Zavo1ByLl2" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script>
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I’m an accidental manager. I supervise a children’s department at a public library. You might be one to; most of us in this position are here by…accident. If you’re like me, your focus in library school was on whether you wanted to be a school, children’s, or teen librarian rather than whether you saw yourself managing a department. But here we are. The bad news is that we might not have the management training that could be an important resource. The good news is that our librarian skills can help us successfully manage a children’s department. Listening Well We can transfer a lot of what we know about the reference interview into the management of staff. A lot of what I do is listen to my staff. My door is open 98% of the time and I encourage them to pop in. And they do–with complaints, ideas, brainstorms and concerns....