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

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.