12 Habits of Highly Effective Librarians

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12 Habits of Highly Effective Librarians

• Maureen Sawa,
• Director of Public Service Community
  Development,
• Hamilton Public Library
• Atlantic Provinces Library Association Conference
• May 27, 2006

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Where it all began
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• Traditional library expertise applied the way
  it has been is not a winning proposition for
  librarianshipWe need to adapt and insert
  ourselves and to build new areas of expertise and
  engage our communities in different ways.
• -- Evan St. Lifer, Executive Editor, Library
  Journal, May 1, 2000

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What are libraries looking for?

• Leadership potential
• Managerial skills
• Ability to respond flexibly to change
• Innovativeness
• Entrepreneurial skills
• Technology skills
• 8Rs Canadian Library Human Resource Study,
  2004Canadian Urban Libraries Council

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Were all in the same boat.
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• Increased concentration on technology
  curricula today is not adequately addressing the
  real needsof professionals.
  
• Michael Gorman, President, American Library
  Association

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Top reasons why internally promoted business
leaders fail

• Poor people skills 53
• Personal qualities(style, attitude, habits) 53
• Poor fit with company culture 44
• Couldnt get results 43
• Dont have the skills to do the job 36
• Leadership Forecast Best Practices for
  Tomorrows Global LeadersDevelopment Dimensions
  International Inc., October, 2005

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• When recruiting new professional librarians,
  leadership potential and managerial skills are
  the 2 most important and most difficult to
  fulfill competencies reported by the largest
  proportion of libraries
• Training Gaps Analysis for Librarians and
  Library Technicians Executive Summary(Cultural
  Human Resources Council, April, 2006)

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Hysteresis

• The lag between making a change such as
  increasing or decreasing power, and the response
  or effect of that change.

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• hySTeRESiS

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Top headache-producing professions

• Accountants (49)
• Librarians (43)
• Bus Truck Drivers (42)
• Construction Workers (38)
• Excedrin_at_Work Headache-by-Profession Index (2001)

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Librarian/Clergy Similarities

• Report being called to their profession
• Advocate self-improvement
• Dedicated to service
• Garner respect from the public
• Trusted to safeguard confidentiality

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Librarian/Clergy Similarities

• Depicted stereotypically as ascetic and
  self-sacrificing
• Grant primacy to written texts
• Imagined possessing special knowledge and wisdom
• Feel united with Something beyond us
• Prefer ideas to money (to a certain extent)
• Sacred Stacks The Higher Purpose of Libraries
  and Librarianship (ALA 2006) - Nancy Kalikow
  Maxwell

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Key issues affecting libraries librarians
Technology Revenue Diverse communities Globalizati
on Knowledge industry Re-distribution of
library workload Customer-centred
service Recruitment crisis Succession
planning Generational issues Partnerships Research
Development
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• Information is no longer powerwhen anyone can
  get it
  Carly Fiorina, November, 2005

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12 Habits of Highly Effective Librarians
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• They librarians are subversive. You think
  theyre just sitting there at the desk, all quiet
  and everything. Theyre like plotting the
  revolution, man. I wouldnt mess with them.
• -- Michael Moore, author of Stupid White Men
  (2002)

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Key Habits for Success

• Professional Habits relate to the librarians
  knowledge in the areas of information resources,
  information access, technology, management and
  research, and the ability to use their areas of
  expertise as a basis for providing successful
  library and information services.

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Key Habits for Success

• Personal Habits represent a set of skills,
  attitudes and values that enable librarians to
  work efficiently be good communicators focus on
  continuing learning throughout their careers
  demonstrate the value-added nature of their
  contributions and survive in the new world of
  work.

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Professional Habit 1

• Authority Expert knowledge of the content of
  information resources

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Professional Habit 2

• ApplicationUses appropriate technology to
  maximize service

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Professional Habit 3

• AdvocacyCommunicates value of library service
  internally and externally

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Professional Habit 4

• AssessmentUnderstands identifies user needs
  designs appropriate and accessible services

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Professional Habit 5

• Accountability
• Ownership of the outcome prioritizes and
  focuses on what is critical

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Professional Habit 6

• AwarenessUnderstands and embraces change
  recognizes shifts in trends

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Personal Habit 7

• AlliancesLooks for partnerships and
  collaborations

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Personal Habit 8

• AdvancementCommitted to lifelong learning
  career planning recognizes that leadership is
  not a question of power but of choice

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Personal Habit 9

• AnticipationSees alternatives and adjusts
  policies and procedures

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Personal Habit 10

• AssociationsRecognizes the value of
  professional associations and affiliations
  circle of influence

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Personal Habit 11

• AttitudeFlexible and positive in a time of
  continuous change carpe diem

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Personal Habit 12

• Aggregate
• Leverages the knowledge, expertise and acumen of
  self and others the whole is greater than the
  sum of its parts

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The 13th Habit Communicate, Communicate,
Communicate
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• There will only be successful libraries in the
  future, because if libraries are not successful,
  they will cease to exist.
• -- Michael Gorman Walt Crawford, Future
  Libraries Dreams, Madness Reality

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• Maureen Sawa
• Director of Public Service Community
  Development,
• Hamilton Public Library
• Phone [phone]
• E-mail msawa_at_hpl.ca

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