Leaders stepping into new roles within a library must engage team members and learn about their new role through dialogue and interaction. Listening tours (LT) have been highlighted in business and popular literature; however such approaches have received limited attention in academic literature. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with team-members, library leaders can learn perspectives on various issues including organizational needs, challenges, and culture. Effective LTs allow leaders acclimating to a new leadership role within a library or a leadership role with a new institution to start building trusting connections, prioritize steps for change, and take inventory of the organizational support structures that can impact success. This review seeks to provide a background and possible structure for LTs for library leaders at all levels by outlining useful practices for successful LTs, presenting advantages and drawbacks of these strategies, and encouraging leaders to intentionally build associated practices into their next transition.
As mid-career librarians and supervisors we were motivated to learn how others navigate this lengthy period of their work life, which can span 20 or more years. We queried 15 mid-career academic instruction librarians via a survey and interview to learn what factors motivate their engagement in professional development. Analysis surfaced a recursive relationship between practice and validation composed of internal and climate-based themes that we developed into the Learning Process Framework. We identify practices for libraries to adopt to support a mid-career cohort and to inform institutional training efforts and retention strategies. We also outline practices for mid-career librarians to consider as they navigate strategies for learning and engagement.
This paper offers specific recommendations for effectively motivating and retaining student employees at an academic library that practitioners may consider as they develop and implement programs for hiring, training, and retaining student assistants at their institutions. It describes a methodology that can be replicated for similar studies at other universities. This paper contributes new knowledge to the subject of academic library employee retention by reporting on the opinions of library student assistants at a small private liberal arts university in Southern California to gain insight into the kinds of retention program elements that students recommend. This study used an online survey to gather student feedback from student employees on the specific elements of our retention program that they see as critical to retaining them throughout their time on campus.
Librarians and library leadership can benefit from the use of project management tools and processes to manage everyday projects so that it is easier to identify and complete projects. If it is clear that a task is actually a project, then library leadership can allocate appropriate time and resources required to successfully complete it. The focus of this article is the use of project management to help librarians, particularly librarians who are teams of one, with everyday project management. It describes and outlines the Always Create a Plan (ACP) project management method and how it can be used for a project.
This article presents an accessibility questionnaire designed to assist library leadership teams in identifying barriers to accessibility. It outlines necessary features to consider for your library and supports strategic planning for developing or revising your accessibility policy and website and can be a jumping off point for creating a customized questionnaire for your institution. The goal is to improve access to information about resources, services, and facilities for users with disabilities. This process will enhance documentation and encourage meaningful planning and outreach, fostering a more welcoming and inclusive environment.
