• Leadership Essentials 1: Motivating Employees
• Leadership Essentials 2: Communicating Vision
• Leadership Essentials 3: Building Your Influence as a Leader
• Leadership Essentials 4: Leading with Emotional Intelligence
• Leadership Essentials 6: Leading Innovation
• Leadership Essentials 7: Leading Change
• Leadership Essentials 8: Creating Your Own Leadership Development Plan

“In this part of the series we will discuss the First Amendment’s role in censorship and filtering…Insofar as censorship and filtering are concerned, there are two main problems with unrestricted Internet access at libraries: first, the federal government has stated that as a matter of policy children should be protected from offensive content online. Second, unrestricted Internet access at a library can lead to lawsuits against the library if a patron is unwittingly exposed to sexually explicit material or if a library employee is exposed to such material and claims that a hostile workplace environment exists.”

Read the f ull article on WJIL
Part 2 of the First Amendment Series
Part 1 of the First Amendment Series

In 1994 the Small Public Library Management Institute (SPLMI) was created by the Illinois State Library  and Western Illinois University  using funds provided by a Library Services and Construction Act (now LSTA) grant. The goals of SPLMI were to:

• Enhance administrative skills
• Develop leadership skills
• Provide opportunities for networking
• Build confidence and self-esteem
• Introduce automation, technology and on-line searching techniques

Since its beginning the program has gained local, statewide and national attention. Each year 50 applications from all over the state are accepted to participant in the institute. Topics covered by the institute include laws and legislation impacting libraries, programming, administering a library, director/board relations, standards, customer service and policies. During the 5 days participants are afforded opportunities for networking and to visit other libraries or sites. Over the years the institute has expandeded its requirements to allow more libraries to be able to participate and moved the site of the institute from WIU to the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) in 2001.

In 2007 the State Library, as part of their LSTA Five-Year Evaluation stated “Four dimensions were consistently evaluated across the four years—amount and quality of learning, application of learning, networking, and contact with the Illinois State Library. There were extremely high ratings for the amount and quality of learning, with nearly all giving this the highest ratings. At least nine out of ten participants definitely felt that their new knowledge would change the way they would approach their library responsibilities. Most reported developing a better network of librarians (85 to 94%), and a similar number reported that they were more likely to contact ISL for assistance.”

A recent (2009) participant, Jim Deiters director of the Blue Island Public Library,  talks about his experience at SPLMI…(read more)

Any library interested in sending their director or other staff to the 17th Annual Small Public Management Institute should visit the Illinois State Library web site for an application. The deadline for applying is March 1 and the institute will be held at UIS on June 6 – 11.

Last week in our staff room, I heard a great story that keeps coming back to me. It goes something like this….

Life is a wheelbarrow. As you travel along life’s path, your wheelbarrow fills up with bricks – work, relationships, family commitments, life’s crises. The wheelbarrow gets heavier and heavier.  However, on occasion, the load lightens a bit.  We have some good luck; a kid graduates from college, you get a new job.  Something positive happens and the wheelbarrow is a bit lighter.  However, you will be disappointed again and again if you think that someday there will be no bricks. Your wheelbarrow will never be empty; we can simply hope the load will be different!

I think this analogy can teach us a lot, as we struggle with today’s heavy and unfamiliar bricks. Folks keep telling me they are working harder and longer than ever before, streamlining operations, and trying to keep up with the tsunami of work and tough decisions that keep coming their way. Everything seems to take longer to accomplish.  We are turning over every rock, evaluating its necessity and searching for ways to successfully accomplish the task in less time.  Personally, I think I have learned more in the last twelve months than in the last twelve years!

With time, I am sure we will learn to deal with the heavy issues of reduced funding, increased library usage, and stressed staff. I am confident that this heavier wheelbarrow will make us and our libraries stronger and better able to balance the very different brick loads of the future.
Ten years ago, our wheelbarrows were full with Y2K (whatever that was!), amassing more and more stuff, and planning for early retirement. In 2010, most of us have a different load of bricks and perhaps are shifting the load a bit. We accept that the load will never go away completely but I am confident that as a community we will find new, innovative and sustainable ways to make it easier to maneuver those bricks. 

Life is a wheelbarrow! Have a great week…spring is on its way.

What makes a librarian successful?  This was a question I was asked by a library science student several weeks ago. I thought I knew the answer, and then I started talking to folks in library land. This is what they told me.

• For the library community, success and lifelong learning seem inextricably intertwined. It’s no surprise that the drive to constantly be learning was library land’s #1 key to personal and professional success.
• The second most popular answer to my impromptu survey on keys to a librarian’s success was a passion for serving people and ultimately making a difference. Folks repeatedly commented that it is that burning desire in the pit of their stomach that keeps them focused and searching.
• Several folks suggested that being inquisitive was fundamental to success. Striving for the best answer, as opposed to settling for just any answer, seems to be a factor when quantifying success.
• Research has shown that 87% of highly successful people are at their desk by 7 a.m. “Early at work” is a matter of training and routine; I continue to be amazed by how much I actually accomplish between 6 and 8 a.m. Having said that, I must confess that I am naturally a morning person, so it is easy for me to say that the early bird catches the worm! 
• According to a recent Google survey, more than 70% of highly successful people eat a protein-loaded breakfast, walk daily, watch less than 60 minutes of television each day, and read more than 120 minutes every day.
• My personal key to success is laughter. I think the person who incorporates humor into their daily life has an edge on success. It opens your heart, mind, and soul to new ideas and, ultimately, success (however you measure it).

So, to all those library students out there looking for the keys to success: embrace lifelong learning, be passionate about what they do, be inquisitive, start early, support a healthy lifestyle, and laugh! And, thanks for asking.

Applications are available and are due no later than Monday, March 1, 2010 by fax or mail. Attendees will be notified of their selection in early April. Contact the Illinois State Library, Library Development Group at 217-782-7848 or 1-800-665-5576 for information. Information is also available from the state’s regional library systems.

Sometimes, when a decision is tough, you simply need to hold your breath, say a prayer, and jump. All of the planning and calculating will not replace that simple blind leap of faith and a call to action. To responsibly take that leap, as a leader there are a few practical steps that can ensure a safe landing. For example:

• Identify talent.  Ask that employee’s supervisor to create opportunities for them to excel. Start small, but open a few doors, and see what happens.
• Have accurate risk assessment and some tolerance for failure. How many tries did it take Edison to create the light bulb? 
• Accept that we do not know all of the answers. Often, supervisors shy away from a project, because they don’t know immediately how it will be received or how it will work. That is what a pilot or test project is all about – figuring out the details! At ALS, we didn’t know if avatars in the new world of Second Life would use a library, so we invested $46 and rented an island. As most of you know, three years later, Info Island is its own universe!
•  Understand that innovation does not come from an open checkbook. As much as some staff will argue, I truly believe innovation does not take money; it takes vision, confidence, and passion.  In fact, the most successful projects ALS has done started with the realization that we have no money to invest. Necessity truly is the mother of invention! 
• Give the innovators in your organization time and space. In this world of instant gratification, we want immediate results, but innovation takes time – not time to waste, but time to nurture, develop, and test an idea.  Innovation or a new way of doing things requires space to incubate and grow.

Sometimes, we just need the courage of our conviction, to hold our breath, say a wee prayer, and simply jump!

The team chose the name of Project Compass as an apt metaphor for the intention of assessing the present situation of workforce development in libraries and for setting direction toward future recovery. The compass is also symbolic of the direction that libraries provide to their patrons and their communities, especially in turbulent times. There is abundant evidence that people are turning to libraries as to the North Star, depending on this community institution to provide guidance through the economic downturn.

Libraries have already responded to the critical needs, creating or augmenting multiple and robust resources and services. The variety of responses to the Library Responses to Economic Tough Times survey brings to light the energetic guidance that is emanating from libraries all over the country. Highlights of the survey responses are captured in the Compass Survey Summary; the details of individual state responses may be read in the collection of Compass Snapshots for each state.

If you have followed any of these links, you’ve had a glimpse of what is a budding resource on WebJunction Illinois. In addition to the Project Compass section, which will collect information pertinent to the project and participants, there is a new Workforce Resources topic. This nascent topic area will grow over the coming year. We hope that everyone involved in workforce development issues will help that growth. We are interested in contributions on tools, resources, and services that any library—large or small, state or local— has deployed toward workforce recovery.

WebJunction’s January webinar will focus on Libraries and Workforce Recovery.

Join on January 28 to learn about successful library programs and best practices that address the increase in patron job-related needs. You’ll hear about strategies for triaging social services and how to analyze your library’s services in relation to existing community social services. You’ll discover new ways to create partnerships with community agencies to leverage workforce development efforts. Finally, you’ll get tips on tactics that can be implemented on a shoestring or non-existent budget to respond to patron workforce development need.

Register to attend this timely event and plan on joining in the efforts.

The data show that people turn to libraries in tough times. As part of Project Compass, an IMLS grant-funded initiative by WebJunction and the State Library of North Carolina, research has been conducted to assess the type and extent of current patron needs from libraries and the response to those needs by state and local public libraries. Join this webinar for an overview of this initial research, and to be introduced to the project and to a new section on WebJunction Illinois for Workforce Resources designed to collect library-specific resources and responses to these tough times. 

You’ll hear about strategies for triaging social services and how to analyze your library’s services in relation to existing community social services. You’ll discover new ways to create partnerships with community agencies to leverage workforce development efforts. Finally, you’ll get tips on tactics that can be implemented on a shoestring or non-existent budget to respond to patron workforce development needs.

Presenters:

Raye Oldham, Continuing Education Consultant, State Library of North Carolina

Betha Gutsche, Project Coordinator (WebJunction), Project Compass

Kitty Yancheff, Public Services Division Manager, Humboldt County Library 

Go to L2 for further information and registration.