Staff development strategies that work! : stories and strategies from new librarians

As the profession's newest members take their places in our libraries, it's vital to learn what helps them grow as managers and leaders. In this compelling and personal new work each chapter showcases new librarians sharing the strategies that ignite their professional development. It's inspiring for the new members of your library team and highly informative for management teams committed to building effective professional development programs. The editors have strategically highlighted those practices and programs that work best in supporting emerging library leaders. And to further support your library's staff growth, each chapter features a recap of best practices and lessons learned. From building personal networks and creating innovative job descriptions, to mentoring programs, organizing first-year experiences, and providing intensive training, this book will help you support your entry-level librarians, as they build effective leadership skills, assume greater responsibilities, and provide a valuable source of new energy and insight for your library community. If you're committed to engaging a new generation of library leaders and attracting the best and brightest to your institution, put this book at the top of your "must have" list.

• List of Illustrations p. xi
• Foreword p. xiii Brooke E. Sheldon
• Preface p. xv
• Part I In the Library
• Chapter 1 Staff development opportunities at work: building leadership skills p. 3 Jennifer Rutner
• Foster a supportive staff development environment p. 3
• Network with colleagues p. 6
• Start a book club or seminar series p. 9
• Participate on committees p. 12
• Be innovative at work p. 13
• Promote self-awareness p. 14
• Build leadership skills at work-strategies p. 16
• Further reading p. 18
• Chapter 2 Guidelines for knowing and showing: from good to great bosses p. 21 Mary Evangeliste
• 1 Know and appreciate the talents your employees bring to the table p. 22
• 2 Know the entire range of your employees' responsibilities p. 24
• 3 See your employees' potential-not merely their positions p. 25
• 4 Use your experience in the field to help your employees find opportunities p. 26
• 5 Trust your employees p. 27
• 6 Give your employees specific, sincere, and tangible praise p. 28
• 7 Show your employees how to take risks p. 28
• 8 Show your employees how to get things done p. 29
• Conclusion p. 29
• Reference p. 30
• Chapter 3 The power of trust in cultivating new leaders p. 31 Kim Leeder
• Leading Generation X p. 33
• The benefits of trust p. 33
• Cultivating new leaders through trust p. 35
• Conclusion p. 40
• References p. 42
• Chapter 4 Coaching from the ground up: building goal-oriented relationships p. 43 Scott Collard
• Introduction to the coaching process p. 44
• Walking through the coaching process p. 47
• Why coaching works when other programs fail p. 49
• How to implement a coaching program p. 51
• Learner's lessons p. 53
• Further reading p. 54
• Chapter 5 Mentoring new librarians: the good, the bad, and the ugly p. 57 Antonia Olivas
• Elements of a successful formal mentoring program p. 58
• What to avoid in your mentoring program p. 60
• The "accidental mentorship" p. 61
• The mentor in you p. 63
• When a mentorship goes wrong p. 65
• What you give is what you get p. 66
• References p. 67
• Chapter 6 From paraprofessional to department head: lessons in cultivating a new professional p. 69 Stephen Brooks
• An accidental librarian p. 69
• Encouraging staff involvement at UNC p. 70
• Lessons learned as a part-time staffer p. 71
• Library employment as real-life laboratory for MLS students p. 72
• Getting the most out of motivated staff p. 73
• The orientation of a new librarian p. 73
• Becoming a middle manager p. 74
• Making lemonade out of lemons: my first conference presentation p. 75
• Library school and the real world p. 76
• Lessons for library managers p. 77
• Further reading p. 77
• Chapter 7 The librarian as researcher: support for research and modeling a research mind-set p. 79 Cat Saleeby McDowell
• Hiring practices for the twenty-first-century library p. 80
• Characteristics of a great manager p. 81
• Assessment and evidence-based librarianship p. 82
• My experience in evidence-based librarianship p. 84
• Reasons to use research assistants p. 86
• Benefits of research projects p. 88
• Conclusion p. 89
• References p. 90
• Chapter 8 Getting the big picture through participating in library-shared governance p. 93 Toni Anaya
• My background before academic libraries p. 93
• My first academic library position and its responsibilities p. 94
• Staff governance: my first chance to get involved p. 96
• My big chance: serving on Cabinet p. 98
• How serving on Cabinet helped shape me as a leader p. 100
• Conclusion p. 102
• Further reading p. 102
• Chapter 9 Campus connections: building a library and campus leader p. 105 Alanna Aiko Moore
• Community, connections, and relationships p. 106
• Journeys away from the library p. 107
• First route: serving the library community p. 108
• Second route: know the larger community p. 109
• Third route: building community for self p. 111
• Three roads, one destination p. 112
• Flexibility and freedom p. 112
• Funding and training p. 113
• Transferable skills p. 115
• Conclusion p. 116
• Further reading p. 116
• Part II Out of the Library
• Chapter 10 Leadership training programs and institutes: models for learning to lead p. 121 Mark A. Puente
• The Minnesota Institute for Early-Career Librarians p. 121
• The Spectrum Leadership Institute p. 124
• Survey of literature and leadership programs p. 127
• Keys to a successful leadership institute experience p. 133
• Quantifying the impact of leadership institutes p. 133
• Conclusion p. 135
• References p. 137
• Chapter 11 Tilling fresh ground: cultivating minority librarians for library leadership through programs and initiatives p. 139 Tamika Barnes McCollough and Iyanna Sims
• The soil: minority-based initiatives and programs p. 140
• The growth of a seed, part I: Tamika's story p. 140
• The growth of a seed, part II: Iyanna's story p. 148
• More soil: the exchange program p. 152
• Spreading roots: lessons and applications p. 154
• Tips on becoming a farming librarian p. 155
• Conclusion p. 157
• Further reading p. 157
• References p. 157
• Chapter 12 Networking as staff development: introductions, invitations, and associations p. 159 Miguel A. Figueroa
• Benefits to the individual and the organization p. 159
• Networking and staff development p. 159
• The process p. 160
• Conclusion p. 170
• Further reading p. 170
• Chapter 13 Staff development through association conferences and meetings: or, the developing of a Latino librarian p. 173 Ida Z. daRoza
• Why conferences? p. 173
• Building interest-and comfort p. 174
• Building benefits-before they even leave p. 175
• Getting started locally p. 175
• Utilizing your community p. 179
• Giving back to associations p. 180
• Creating opportunities: cross-association involvement p. 181
• A look back p. 182
• Further reading p. 182
• Chapter 14 Professional service on national library committees: developing the skills to lead p. 185 Georgie L. Donovan
• The first committee appointment p. 186
• What can an individual gain? What does the library gain? p. 187
• Encouraging library staff and professionals to get started p. 192
• Support for professional travel: why it is crucial p. 193
• The crux of the issue: developing professional strength and confidence through interest and passion for library issues p. 195
• Further reading p. 196
• Chapter 15 Non-library conferences for development p. 199 Joseph Nicholson
• Subject specialty p. 200
• Institutional support p. 201
• Conference attendance p. 201
• Participating in the conference p. 202
• Benefits of participation p. 203
• Staff development p. 204
• Staying current p. 205
• Final thoughts p. 206
• Further reading p. 207
• Reference p. 207
• Chapter 16 Supporting active conference participation by new staff p. 209 Monecia Samuel
• Why promote conference participation to your staff? p. 210
• Marketing conference presenting as a staff development option to your employees p. 210
• Helping staff discover the benefits of conference activity p. 211
• Making an HR diversity statement real for your employees of color p. 212
• How to get your units or departments out of their shells p. 213
• Does your organization support conference participation? p. 214
• Entertaining the conference attendance idea as an affordable goal p. 215
• Identifying speaking engagements for new and experienced librarians p. 215
• Conference exposure p. 221
• Conference closure p. 222
• Further reading p. 223
• Chapter 17 Community engagement and advocacy: skills and knowledge to expand library services p. 225 Annabelle Nuñez
• Background p. 226
• The role of the Arizona Hispanic Center of Excellence librarian p. 227
• The role of the information services/College of Public Health liaison librarian p. 228
• Community-campus partnerships p. 230
• Who are the community stakeholders? p. 230
• Support from within the library p. 233
• Information services outcomes p. 234
• Conclusion p. 236
• Further reading p. 237
• About the editors and contributors p. 239
• Index p. 247