Midway Through

Amazingly, this is the mid-semester point and it seems like a good idea to do some reflection on how this process of blogging and reflection has impacted my learning so far.  And so I have read back over my posts here and looked again as some of my comments on the class discussion boards, looking to see how my thoughts have changed and what themes have been central to what I have found to be most interesting.

Looking first at the changes over the semester so far, I realize that the parts of library science and the current issues that interested me at the beginning of the semester continue to interest me.  However, my thoughts about them are much more concrete and developed and the knowledge I have about them has greatly increased.  For example, one of the early discussions in class was about whether librarianship is a profession.  I thought that this discussion was a bit of a waste of time.  Why did it matter?  However, as I researched a paper of my chosen “library leader,” Melvil Dewy, I realized that this is a discussion that has been going on since before the beginning of modern library science.  And is affects both how we train and educate new librarians and how we practice.  This information but that discussion and context and I might answer the question differently now, or at least give it more wait.

The other change I have noticed is a result of the opportunity to reflect here on this blog.  I had not previously recognized that I was interested in eventually being in a management position in a library.  But as I read about the need for experienced managers in libraries and thought about my experiences and gifts, this seemed like a career past that I should explore.  Without the opportunity to do some weekly, structured reflection on what I am learning and what my gifts are, I am not sure I would feel this sense of direction and clarity.

Even in the midst of this growth and change, there are consistent themes that have persisted throughout these first few weeks.  I still am interested in public library work in an urban setting.  I do have a better understanding of what that means and what skills I will need for that work.  Another issue for me that continues to arise, particularly in the class discussions, is about how we make collection decisions at public libraries.  As librarians, we value free and open access to information and oppose censorship in all its forms.  However, what about materials that are clearly racist?  Or pornographic?   How do we make those determinations?  Does it matter if the materials are created for adults or children?  Or what if the community we serve decides that they do not want particular materials in their library?  We are supposed to serve the public, but what if the public asks us to do something that is against some of the other values we hold?  How does one balance these competing values and needs?  I’m not sure that there are clear cut answers to these questions, but I desire to have more of a conversation about them.

As the semester continues, I would like to continue to learn more about all of these areas.  The conversations I am having with my classmates have been very helpful and illuminating.  Each of them has different experiences and goals, and their paths help me see mine more clearly and to widen the possibilities.  I look forward to much more learning and understanding.

I've Got Skills

Let’s consider again the three jobs that I wrote about in my last post:  the adult services position in Takoma, WA; the manager of library operations in Oklahoma City; and the assistant public services director in Cleveland, Ohio.  As my professor reminds us, “It's not enough to simply identify the ideal position. You need to have a plan about how to prepare yourself to get there.”  And so let us look systematically at what skills and knowledge these jobs are looking for, what I skills and knowledge I have today and what I should do to prepare for jobs like these.

As these jobs are, I think, part of the same path, they have overlapping required skills and competencies.  They all want someone who is an “excellent communicator” and who can interact in a friendly and productive way with the wider community.  This involvement with the public manifests itself both as a need to have “excellent customer service skills” and being able to build and maintain “strategic relationships.”  They all also call for someone who can both lead staff and work in a collaborative and creative way.  They also all mention the need for someone who is devoted to “continual improvement” both of their own skills and of the system as a whole.  There is also a repeated requirement, particularly with the two higher level jobs, that the person be well organized, a planner and fiscally literate.  The two higher level jobs also want someone who can allocate and manage financial, physical and personnel resources.  I mentioned in my last post that these jobs also want someone with a particular set of computers skills.

One part that was of particular interest to me is that all three job listings seemed to get somewhat poetic and unspecific towards the end.  The Takoma job needs someone that “believe[s] that the library must be the community's first choice for the discovery and exchange of information.”  The manager must have the “ability to create and maintain a library that is an inviting and innovative link to the world.”  These requirements are all trying to express that these organizations are looking for someone with vision, or at least someone who shares their vision, and the person they hire must be able to articulate that vision to the public that supports and utilizes the institution and to the staff that work there.

It is somewhat daunting to turn and look at what of these skills I have today and what I’m still lacking.  Of course, I don’t have the level of experience in a library setting that some of these positions ask for, but I am well qualified in some very important ways. One, I have spent the last three and half years in a position in which I schedule and manage a staff of three to four people.  I also have been part of the budgeting process, am familiar with financial language and accounting practices and have made day to day decisions about where we focus our sometimes limited resources.  I interact with the public daily in a customer service role.  I also am the person that they come to if they have a problem or do not like the actions of my staff or the business’s policies.  While the executive director has the ultimate authority, I have had to deal calmly and collectedly with very irate people and others who have mental or emotional issues.  I have participated actively in developing buy-in from a large and diverse community in order to gather financial support for the non-profit.  I have the computer skills that the postings ask for.  I also am very interested in continuing education and development.  Even while I am in school I have been involved in local lectures, symposiums and webinars, seeking out other opportunities to learn.  I am grateful that my current boss has taught me the value of this kind of self-directed personnel development.

Now to consider the ways in which I can develop those skills and competencies I do not yet have.  While I have management and financial experience, I have little formal training.  I was hired in to a management position very soon after college and have mostly learned from trial and error and from watching my own boss and other managers I respect.  I could use some more systematic and formal knowledge in both those areas.  For example, while I work well with upset customers, I sometimes avoid conflict and clear boundaries with my coworkers.  I could use some tools and more practice in management skills of dealing with employees who are not meeting standards.  And while I have knowledge of non-profit law, finance and practices, I do not have as much specific knowledge of that for libraries.  I order to fill these gaps I plan to do several things, many of them in the near future.  I plan on taking an administration and management class as a part of my degree program.  I also plan to continue to seek out extracurricular learning experiences.  I want to also participate in a practicum as part of my schooling, getting more firsthand knowledge of how a library, particularly an urban library, is run.