Customers as Consultants

It sounds simple, but sometimes we forget to do it:

Ever wanted to know what your customers think is missing from a service point in your library? There’s an easy way to find out … just ask! Post something that asks “what’s missing?” and start gathering answers.

See David Lee King’s post What’s Missing for some ideas and examples on how to ask your customers for advice.  It doesn’t have to be a formal survey, and you don’t have to jump into making changes based on their comments.  But it is an important way to find out what your users think.  And why not?  Aren’t they the reason we’re here?

Question mark (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Don’t Have All the Answers?

That’s OK!

Did you know that the majority of employees today expect their managers to coach them? At the same time, managers are concerned that they won’t have all the answers. That’s understandable, given the human condition’s need for a sense of control and, in a manager’s case, the appearance of expertise.
The good news: Employees don’t want advice. They want to be stretched and asked questions that allow them to sort things out and learn as a result.

You can do that!  For more tips on coaching your employees, see Coaching Builds Commitment (from All Things Workplace.)

Giving advice (Photo credit: taylorpad212)

Putting Book Banning in Perspective

I just have to jump on this bandwagon.  I won’t say much, other than I agree.  It’s OK to ban books, but not weapons?

from MomsDemandAction

The photo is from MomsDemandAction, and is part of a “new PSA campaign, ‘Choose One,’ a series of print ads featuring assault weapons alongside other objects that have been banned in America to protect child welfare.”  You may have seen them making the rounds on Facebook and elsewhere.  I’ll just say, think about it.

You may also be interested in:

• Books and Hypocrisy in America: One Father’s Unique Perspective
• Ban Guns Not Books
• Teachers Should Have Books Not Guns

 

 

Batter Up!

OK, confession time:  I know practically nothing about sports, while my husband is a baseball fanatic (and fan of other sports).  BUT I do know that it is baseball season. In fact, my siblings and I just went together and bought my mom a 32″ flat screen TV, so that she can see better when she watches “her” Twins play.  (And yes, being a mom, she was “mad” that we spent our hard-earned money on her.)  But I digress.

Baseball (Photo credit: mathewingram)

The thing that baseball has in common with libraries, and with management, is: TEAMS.  Library staff have to work as a team.  And library leaders/managers have to know how to build their teams, foster teamwork, and lead their teams to success (or, to further develop the baseball analogy, to hit home runs—or even grand slams!)

So here’s a couple of posts about teams and teamwork:

• Five Ways to Build an Effective Team (the Fast Track)
• Let’s Stop Confusing Cooperation and Teamwork with Collaboration (Jesse Lyn Stoner)

“We work together better when we have real relationships, and it is easier to build relationships when you have face-to-face contact.”

 

Why Didn’t I Know about World Book Night?

Today a friend was giving me a tour of her very busy branch library.

And then she told me about World Book Night.  What?  Something about World Book Encyclopedia?  A night somehow dedicated to the encyclopedia?  No, no, silly!! World Book Night USA, “an annual celebration dedicated to spreading the love of reading, person to person.” 

Each year, 30 books are chosen by an independent panel of librarians and booksellers. The authors of the books waive their royalties and the publishers agree to pay the costs of producing the specially-printed World Book Night U.S. editions. Bookstores and libraries sign up to be community host locations for the volunteer book givers.

After the book titles are announced, members of the public apply to personally hand out 20 copies of a particular title in their community. World Book Night U.S. vets the applications, and the givers are chosen based on their ability to reach light and non-readers. The selected givers choose a local participating bookstore or library from which to pick up the 20 copies of their book, and World Book Night U.S. delivers the books to these host locations.

Givers pick up their books in the week before World Book Night.  On April 23rd, they give their books to those who don’t regularly read and/or people who don’t normally have access to printed books, for reasons of means or access.

Isn’t this cool?  So, maybe I’m the last person/librarian in the world to hear about World Book Night.  But on the off-chance that I’m not, I’m telling you about it.  Seems like a cool thing for libraries to be involved in.  Is yours involved?

One more thing:  Here’s the list of all the great sponsors who make World Book Night possible.

Find the Balance

Many of us have trouble finding the proper balance between our focus on our jobs, and all other parts of our lives.  I believe it is very important to give your job your all, but it is also important to find time for yourself, your family, your friends, your hobbies, etc.  People who spend virtually all of their time at work, or working on work tasks at home, are not finding a healthy balance.  It has been my experience that those people who don’t have this balance become burned out, and also tend to not have patience and understanding for their colleagues.

On the other hand, it is also true that some people don’t focus enough on their jobs—and focus too much on their personal lives.  This isn’t good either!

Life Balance and Your Career is a great post about finding the right balance.  I hope you find it interesting and useful.  have you found your balance?

Balance beam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Getting Clear Direction

Today’s is a lazy post.  The Fast Track has done such a good job on this post about How To Get Clear Direction From Your Boss that all I can do is point you to it.

Share your thoughts in the Comments.

Direction (Photo credit: Ramkarthikblogger)

Digital Literacy and Libraries

I thought I’d start with a definition of digital literacy, so here’s one from Wikipedia:

Digital literacy is the ability to effectively and critically navigate, evaluate and create information using a range of digital technologies. It requires one “to recognize and use that power, to manipulate and transform digital media, to distribute pervasively, and to easily adapt them to new forms”.^[1] Digital literacy does not replace traditional forms of literacy, it builds upon the foundation of traditional forms of literacy.^[1] Digital literacy is the marrying of the two terms digital and literacy, however, it is much more than a combination of the two terms. Digital information is a symbolic representation of data, and literacy refers to the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently, and think critically about the written word.

Research around digital literacy is concerned with wider aspects associated with learning how to effectively find, use, summarize, evaluate, create, and communicate information while using digital technologies; not just being literate at using a computer.

Digital literacy encompasses all digital devices, such as computer hardware, software, the Internet, and cell phones. A person using these skills to interact with society may be called a digital citizen.

Given this definition, doesn’t this sound like something libraries should definitely be involved with?  I think it does—I believe public libraries should strive to assist the public to become more knowledgeable and adept with the skills needed to interact with society.

That’s why I’m telling you about the Digital Literacy portal.  From the About page:

The Digital Literacy portal is an initiative of the Obama Administration to serve as a valuable resource to practitioners who are delivering digital literacy training and services in their communities. As more and more jobs and educational offerings are available online, the ability to navigate the Internet is critical to participate more fully in the economy. Jumpstarted by a federal interagency working group dedicated to spurring the advancement of digital literacy across all age groups and stages of learning, the Digital Literacy portal organizes content conveniently, enables valuable discussion and collaboration among users and elevates best practices to improve the quality of digital literacy offerings. We invite users to share their content and their ideas to make the portal more robust and to fulfill its role as a destination for practitioners devoted to enhancing digital opportunity for all Americans.

Not surprisingly, the IMLS is one of the working group members.

So, please do take a look.  I think you’ll find it useful.

Literacy Today (Photo credit: dennyatkinson)

Why do You Think We Call it Buy-in?

I find the post Persuasion and Sales: Sure You Can from All Things Workplace intriguing and informative.

The thrust of the article is simple.  Many of us say we would never want to, and could never be, in sales.  And yet, many of us really are “in sales,” it’s just a different kind.  Why do you think they call it “buy-in?”

Think about it, how many times a day are you using your considerable skills of persuasion?  Aren’t you really selling your ideas, or promoting your programs and services, or convincing of the need for a donation, or advocating for ongoing budget support?  “Acknowledge it, learn more about it, use it often, and don’t let anyone talk you into doing it differently.”  Who knew?  I guess I am sort of a salesperson, after all.

sold (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

 

 

Managing UP!

So often managers, in and outside of libraries, concentrate only on managing those they supervise.  But I’m here to tell you, or remind you, that you also need to cultivate your relationships with those above you on your organizational chart, in other words, your managers and boss.  Sometimes this is referred to as “managing up.”

I think that the article Managing the Managers (American Libraries, March 2013) does a fine job of describing how to manage up in libraries.  Although written for youth services staff, these 10 tips can be applied to any library manager.  I have trouble pulling out my favorite few, but here goes:

• Build relationships.  Get to know your boss, and be sure to talk about big picture issues as well as your specific area.
• Communicate.  This goes along with building the relationship, but also includes keeping management informed about what’s happening in your department.  Include statistics.
• Don’t stop at “no.”  Don’t expect management to approve every suggestion you make, but if they don’t approve something you feel strongly about, be willing to tweak your ideas and re-introduce them, based on their input.
• Tell stories.  Be sure to share success stories and examples of your department’s positive impact on the community.  Keep a list of these handy; you never know when you’ll need them.
• Keep vision and mission in mind.  Given my fondness for strategic planning, it’s not surprising to find this one included as one of my favorite tips from the list, is it?  I told you they were important!

But these are just my favorites, and as I told you, I had trouble limiting to just those.  So do read the entire post.  Which tips strike a chord with you?

For further reading:

• Managing Up: How to Forge an Effective Relationship With Those Above You (from Amazon)
• 7 Ways to Manage Up (Penelope Trunk)

ladder (Photo credit: Wikipedia)