At the ALA conference, Lent hosted a conversation starter titled Facilitating Communication, Collaboration, and Continuing Education for Library Directors. Sounds pretty fancy doesn’t it? What really happened was Lent spoke at the microphone for a minute and a half, and then had all the attendees get in a circle, go around and introduce themselves, and share topics that they’d hope to cover. He has been offering this Directors Roundtable at conferences in New England, and it was a big hit at this national offering also. His real success has been the creation of a library directors Listserv, which now has close to 400 library directors coast to coast reading and replying to one another every day.

I recently had the opportunity of filling in for him, by hosting a Directors Roundtable on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. I met with a great group of directors who work on this island (population 15,000 but that number grows to well over 100,000 during the summer vacation months). We got together to enjoy the best homemade scones I’d ever had, but really to share stories, frustrations, and ideas for success on the Island.

Lent was looking for a service that didn’t exist, so he created one. To quote him “I didn’t start this service because I think I’m a great library director, I did it because I think I’m not” and I think that’s an idea that we can all identify with sometimes. We are a community, no matter where we work and what the task at hand is. The support from the community of library directors is one that I value greatly and am thankful to have.

If this sounds like something you might be interested in, visit Librarydirectors.org today.

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I recently attended a conference and saw a great presentation given by a team of talented librarians, who didn’t know what they were talking about…literally. They brought together a committee of professionals from across the state to contribute to an idea, and mentioned early on in the talk that they were still learning  the pros and cons of the idea, but that they wanted to hear from us.

The program focused on data-sharing between public libraries, but it helped me to realize the possibilities of tackling topics you want to learn about. They presented the program in order to to attract others in the field to their cause, and by the end of the session they had a list of librarians who wanted to help with the work that comes next. Thirty people sat in the room discussing the idea long after the session was supposed to end.

This experience reminded me of a conference program I had worked on. The program was about supporting patrons on the autism spectrum, a service I had minimal expertise in. Over the course of preparing with other librarians for this presentation, I learned much about best practices for serving patrons with autism. I came in with no knowledge on the topic, really, and left feeling much more equipped in that area.

I took a similar approach to committee work when I was starting in the field. Like many of you I have a Masters Degree in Library Science, but within a year on the job I felt like there was so much more to learn. I joined committees with no knowledge of the committee’s focus, rather wanting to learn about the topic. I’d show up for my first meeting, and tell the others that I didn’t know much about the topic yet, but that’s why I was there. I was enthusiastic, wanted to help, and approached the opportunity with a willingness to contribute. Over the course of about a five year period I joined a Conference Committee, an ILS Taskforce, a Collection Development Committee, a local cable television advisory board, a Cultural District Committee, a Marketing Task Force, and a few others too.

I made a point never to be on more than two committees at once, and let them know upfront that I was coming to learn for a year, contribute for a year, and then move on. Most times they were completely thrilled to see someone with interest willing to help, novice or no. I know plenty of librarians are reluctant to join a committee in their community, consortium, or at the state level, because they think they don’t have the right base of knowledge to contribute. I think one of the best ways to get the experience is to join the committee, spend a few months listening and learning at the meetings and then start to actively participate.

Soon I will attend my first committee meeting on Continuing Education for Adults in my municipality. I’m not sure what I can contribute, but I’m going to go and find out.

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This can be tricky. You don’t want to turn your existing space into a palace, because the right amount of new carpet and updated paint might confuse your community into thinking everything is fine and that the new space you’ve asked for isn’t necessary. It’s going to be a balancing act. As a library director, library trustee, or other key member of library management, you’ll need to have a long range plan developed with two different possible paths.

The first is knowing the ins and the outs of the politics and needs of your community, so that you can find the path to a new library, it’s funding, the groundswell of support and partnership you’ll need, the patience and understanding of the non-library users, and the right messaging and marketing to your patronage.

The second is the 5 to 10 year capital plan needed for your current space, in the event the new building is in fact, not going to happen. You can’t put all your eggs into one basket, and you need to have a path forward in each direction, which you need to appear 100% dedicated to, and you need to have these two plans going at the same time.

The capital investments for the building you are in should be strictly needs, not wants. Think health and safety, or energy efficiency, they are easiest to get support for. These should be the types of updates you are focused on: elevator updates, replacement gutters, asbestos abatement, security cameras, panic buttons, PA systems, updating of lighting, replacement of attic insulation. They also aren’t always very noticeable upgrades, so it won’t derail your other efforts to get a new building plan moving.

It’s likely that you can sneak in paint and carpet here and there, but when you start talking about big updates such as building quiet study rooms or converting areas into a makerspace let’s say, these may be looked at in a negative light. You need your tax base to know you aren’t “wasting money” in a space that is going to be replaced, so be creative in your presentation. Bells and whistles aren’t going to be approved, and if you had independent money you’d be wise not to doll up your older library, so you can continue to show why you truly need a new library, as opposed to just wanting a new library.

In each path, it will be necessary to attract members of the community to your efforts, often times it’s they who can help spread your message most effectively to other citizens.

The post Utilizing Old Space While Planning for New first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

It’s important to attract up-and-coming librarians with their minds focused on the future, knowledge of trends, and the latest technology. These folks reflect our patrons, and the patrons who will come after them. They have recent educations and they are sometimes aware of the needs of a changing landscape of younger patrons with younger families. In many ways, this Millennial Generation (yes, I’m one of them) is also a reflection of the success of librarians in the 1980s and 1990s. The amazing work done by librarians in those years paved the way for the newer breed of librarians with an updated focus. I’ll be the first to say the reason I became a librarian is because of my experiences with librarians between 1985 and 1995. They made me the librarian I am today, point blank.

Before I go too far patting myself and my millennial colleagues on the back though, there is a lot to be learned from our more seasoned staff members. Essentially every experience we crave and seek out, to develop our careers and our motivations, has been experienced by our older colleagues. Ideas and energy are great, but a real opportunity is lost when younger staff don’t consult their older colleagues, who have carried the torch in this field, to keep our libraries a sought after destination in our community, during many years of change and technological advance. There is no substitute for experience, and it’s the experiences that have already been had, that can teach us about the future.

The staffers we are talking about have seen more changes in libraries than we can imagine, and possibly more than we will have coming down the road. The experiences they’ve seen are ones to be asked about and studied. They saw the rise of the technological era, and every step along the way someone would ask them, “Do we even need libraries anymore?” and they would shout, “OF COURSE WE DO!” There would not have been jobs for us to earn, if not for the work done by our older colleagues before we arrived.

Times change, and the library changes with them. It’s very easy to pigeonhole staff members of a certain era, and say they “hate change.” This frankly is a very short sighted point of view. Some might, but perhaps it’s because they’ve seen success in what works, and have let older processes guide them through successful careers.

The next time you are pondering the point of view of a colleague from a different era, step back for a minute and reflect on all they could share with you, whether younger or older. We are all on the same team, and can utilize our strengths, whether it is experience, new ideas, time tested practices, or a knowledge of new technology, to make our staffs strong, and varied. No one group has everything we need to be successful, because it’s each other that we truly need.

The post Managing a Multigenerational Staff first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Thanks to the clear divisions in our country, there has recently been a lot of talk about bringing people together. In the spirit of that call for camaraderie, I’ve been reflecting on the opportunities the library has to partner with others on programs and efforts. We have strong partnerships with our local school department and our senior center as you probably do. It’s a great relationship to have, but in a lot of ways it’s the low-hanging fruit. They are our natural allies in town, ​but it’s important when possible, to go a step further.

Take a step back and look at the different groups that operate in your town or city, whether official departments, community groups, not for profit entities, or even local businesses that might be willing to partner. Here’s a few relationships that we’ve worked to develop in our small Boston suburb of Belmont, Massachusetts:

Recreation Department –

In the past we’ve offered library storytimes and mobile circulation opportunities in the community pool space and also at  a busy community playground. The local recreation department also uses space in our building to cover their programming needs.

Garden Club

On our site is a memorial garden that is open to the public. The local community garden club maintains the garden and they use space in our building for storage. They pay for the plants and we pay for the water. We also have agreed to split any further costs that arise. This small amount of funding and effort allows us to be regular partners with a large group of citizens in the community and often leads to joint programming and other partnerships.

Gallery of Art

We often work with our local Gallery of Art to promote their exhibits. This has strengthened our relationships with patrons interested in art programming and also has provided the chance to cosponsor events held at the gallery.

Veterans

By far the most enriching partnership we formed in 2016 was with the veterans department in our community. We wanted to redo some of the lettering on a stone slab in front of our building, as the previous copper lettering was decades old and in need of a refresh. Since our public library is actually a memorial building, we thought it made sense to reach out to the veterans department agent to see if he’d consider a rededication ceremony on the day the new letters were installed. Not only did he love the idea but we had 80 attendees turn up for the event.  Further, the agent contacted us the next week and asked if we’d lend some space for a Purple Heart ceremony to honor Purple Heart recipients later in the year. More than 50 people showed up that day, and we’ve determined that the library will now be the permanent home for the annual Purple Heart ceremony. Later in the summer, we nominated our veterans agent for an award at the state level. He won the award and the town government joined me at a ceremony to see him receive it. This has caused a great new relationship with our town’s veterans and it all came from a little idea. We will continue to look for these sorts of opportunities for partnerships and hope you can too.

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It’s important to go into each budget season prepared.  Prepare to explain every penny. Prepare the details of why something deserves an increase or to be created. Most importantly prepare all the answers for the questions you hope you don’t get asked.

I’m new to Library Management, as I’ve been a director only about four years, and I’m reminded how new I am during each budget cycle, as I continue to improve in my process and preparation. I’ve learned to treat it like painting, it’s never as easy as you think, and always takes more time than you expect. Preparation is key.

In my community, the next year’s budget is due about 6 months before it will begin, and we go through 5-6 rounds of review with the community administration, financial team, capital committee, town governance, and then a final vote by the annual town meeting (about 300 citizens). They all have different angles and approaches, with questions and needs for explanation, but ultimately the same endgame exists for each: What’s the bottom line?

With a new political climate in our country, and an economy that still hasn’t fully recovered from the crash in 2008, it’s safe to say that many of you building budgets will hear the phrase “based on a level fund scenario” (or something to that effect) when you are beginning your budget seasons. If you are new to budgeting, it’s important to realize what the folks saying this to you realize already that a “balanced budget” is really a cut.

Non-salary item costs will rise each year whether it’s convenient or not. It’s important to pay attention to these things like materials, supplies, maintenance contracts (both building, and smaller machinery like copiers, printers, security gates) and go into the creation of the budget knowing what could be done to make sure you have everything you need. If you overspent your budget for building maintenance or library materials, but returned half of the budget for utilities costs, that’s an opportunity for next year.

Those groups we spoke about earlier will certainly notice these things, so it’s important you do too. Perhaps you can utilize unused funds in the current year by asking for less in the forthcoming year, transferring that fund request to a spot where it could really help you, keeping the bottom line unchanged. Asking these questions will show you care about the overall community budget, not just your budget at the library, and that will earn you some points you need later when the rubber hits the road, or if the possibility of fulfilling “wants” exists.

You’ll need to think of other creative ways to shuffle around amounts between line items from one year to the next, as you will usually have less to work with than you prefer.
It’s needs versus wants, and sometimes that’s a difficult pill to swallow. You may think you “need” that extra position, because of all the things you could be doing but aren’t, but it just might not be a need in the eyes of the brass. Needs should only be what you require to perform as strongly next year as you did this year. That’s it. Your team of librarians will continue to push the bar creatively when building your collection and program offerings, but you need to keep it all in perspective. Every yes has a cost associated with it, and it will be you alone explaining this to those who hold the purse strings at budget time.

The post It’s Never Too Early to Start the Budget first appeared on Public Libraries Online.