Libraries strive to offer exceptional services and enrich our communities. The staff are the library's greatest asset, but continuing education can easily be neglected in the daily grind. Education can be a powerful force to create culture and values that are useful to the library's daily operations.
(Original library, Arkansas City, 1908)
Creating...control?
Yep, that sounds awful. Organizations can practice clan control, where the process of socializing people into the organization imparts values and expectations (Hatch & Cunliffe 2006). Joining the library's culture will impact the staff member anyway, so why not ensure that it is in a positive and useful way? Education can both be outside the library (conferences, workshops) and inside (inservices). It is important for formally-educated career librarians to stay current. Other staff members, who may have ended up in the library by chance instead of design, have the opportunity to become even more valuable to the library.
Outside the Library
Training outside of the library is very important and should not be limited to management. Staff cannot learn the values of a library just from their own library. They need exposure to the larger library culture. Stepping out of our library allows us to be objective and gives us a break from the daily grind. We have the opportunity to dissect our practices and see what has been bogging us down or how to do those things differently. Most of the members of this blog can appreciate the burst of energy that follows a good workshop!
Barriers to staff attendance at workshops and conferences likely have easy solutions. Perhaps the library's professional development funds are available only as a reimbursement. Putting money up front could be a hardship for the staff member. So let's get the library credit card involved. It's not just for WalMart purchases anymore.
Inside the Library
Inservice does not have to be a bad word. Managers, if you just spent the entire day lecturing the staff, no one was paying attention. Staff training should be dynamic and relevant. It can be a great way to decrease stress and build goodwill. Take the time to show off the knowledge of the staff members. Redo the formal values of the library with the entire staff. This is practical, as it helps the staff "be on the same page" (Patkus & Rapple 2000).
So, let's purposefully bring our staff into library culture. Invest in the people who invest in the library. The library will be better off once we really are on that same page.
References:
Hatch, M. J. and Cunliffe, A.L. (2006). Organizational theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives (2nd edition). Oxford University Press.
Patkus, R. and Rapple, B.A. (2000). Changing the culture of libraries: The role of core values. Library Administration and Management 14(4), 197-204.
Hatch, M. J. and Cunliffe, A.L. (2006). Organizational theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives (2nd edition). Oxford University Press.
Patkus, R. and Rapple, B.A. (2000). Changing the culture of libraries: The role of core values. Library Administration and Management 14(4), 197-204.
2 comments:
Another hardship is having enough staff so someone can take off to attend training workshops. This is why I value ones that we can attend virtually through some sort of classroom like Wimba or ones you call in to listen. Virtual ones are better in that they allow for interaction and real-time communication by all attendees. Staff are the most important resource a library has to offer. It's fine and dandy to be able to find information on one's own but we still sometimes need the social interaction and someone "live" to answer our questions. Even if by "live" we mean through a chat interface.
Letting all levels of staff attend at least one workshop a year increases positive vibes for the staff and contributes to having everyone be current with new technologies. Although in small libraries, particularly, letting someone have the day to attend a workshop may be difficult, it is a very positive action.
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