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Managing Library Staff: the rewards, the challenges, the stories you can tell.

Discover the world of managing a library staff, from the rewards and challenges to the stories that come with it. Gain insights and learn key elements of successful personnel management. Engage in mentoring, building trust, and creating connections with your staff to create a positive work environment.

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Managing Library Staff: the rewards, the challenges, the stories you can tell.

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  1. Managing Library Staff: the rewards, the challenges, the stories you can tell. Cindy Czesak, Library Consultant and retired Director of the Paterson Public Library cindyczesak@gmail.com

  2. What you think managing a library staff might look like….

  3. What managing a library staff frequently looks like….

  4. Take a deep breath and abandon this approach!

  5. How did you become a Library Director? • You’ve planned on an administrative position from the beginning of your career. • You have extensive experience and you wanted to take on a position that paid more. • You were next in line. • You think you can make a positive difference as a Library Director. • You’re not really sure how it happened. • Any combination of the above.

  6. Being a Library Director brings a wide range of responsibilities - • Fiscal management, including responsibility for purchasing within legal guidelines • Planning expertise, including maintaining an awareness of evolving trends in the profession • Community involvement • Facilities management, from day to day maintenance to renovation and new construction • And…personnel management!

  7. Key elements of successful personnel management • Gaining respect • Building trust • Creating connections • Mentoring

  8. Gaining Respect • Deal with situations as they arise (more on interpersonal conflicts later). • Spend some time on the front lines – or at least ensure you are aware of what takes place there. • Treat all staff with respect. • Do your own job and do it well; you will be scrutinized.

  9. Building Trust • Staff have to trust that you will look out for their best interests and that you will take their input seriously. • Staff have to trust that you will back them up. • Give them the tools they need to do their work, whether these tools are resources, time or a collaborative setting.

  10. Creating Connections • Connect with staff on an ongoing basis; get out of your office and walk around. • Ask about their work – and their weekend. • Pay attention to different styles of communication and modify your style to theirs. • Develop an understanding of staff relationships within the organization.

  11. Mentoring • Pay it forward – give staff the tools they need to move ahead in their careers. • Build healthy relationships with staff to allow them to progress. • Think of mentoring as your responsibility to the profession.

  12. Top compliments for a successful library managerFrom the Accidental Library Manager • Encourage growth • Provide autonomy • Look out for staff • Respect everyone’s contribution • Lead by example • Communicate and listen • Provide leadership and vision.

  13. Top complaints for a successful library managerFrom the Accidental Library Manager • Micromanagement • Lack of communication • Fostering divisiveness • Abusiveness • Failure to listen • Avoiding conflict • Taking credit for others’ work.

  14. Interpersonal Conflict: Key Steps • Maintain objectivity • Give staff members the benefit of the doubt • Establish – and follow – a policy for progressive discipline • Meet with the staff member, and his or her supervisor, and calmly discuss the situation • Follow up with written documentation • Continue monitoring and documentation, if needed • If the situation is resolved successfully, acknowledge that to the staff member

  15. Working with Unions • Develop a respectful relationship with the Union officers/shop stewards • Bring them into conversations about difficult topics (disciplinary actions, budgetary dilemmas, etc.) before actions are taken. • Meet with them regularly. • Include Union representation in any meeting regarding disciplinary action. • Thank them for their commitment.

  16. Working with Civil Service • Thoroughly educate yourself about Civil Service regulations. • Learn who in your library, or in the municipality, has been in contact Civil Service before you arrived and meet with them to discuss regulations. • Learn who is your representative at the Civil Service Commission and do not hesitate to contact them. • Review Civil Service regulations with staff at a meeting, perhaps annually; explain the different requirements between titles (e.g., Library Assistant vs. Librarian), among other things.

  17. Working with Boards • Review Statutes with the Board and encourage them to establish a Personnel Committee, if one does not already exist. • Reinforce that the Board hires the Director and the Director recommends all other staff for hire. • Encourage the Board to establish a policy the clarifies that communication between the Board and the staff is conducted through the Director • Stress that any discussion of staff at a Board meeting must be legally compliant and requires a RICE notice.

  18. Some random thoughts: • Your role has changed dramatically – you are no longer the person who gets things done! You make it possible for others to get things done. • Delegating can be difficult but critical to moving the Library forward and to gaining the trust of staff. • Not every crisis that is brought to you truly requires your intervention – learn to figure out when you have to act. • Project confidence even when you don’t feel it. People will believe that you can handle things.

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