CE NEWS

July 5, 2022

Table of Contents

• Advisory Library Boards
• Welcome Public Library Intern Juliana Clark
• The "Good" Librarian Never Stops Learning

Advisory Library Boards

In Alaska, most library boards serve in an advisory capacity. Advisory board members act as intermediaries between the library and the community. Advisory board members share information about the library with members of their community, and they keep the library director informed of any community issues of concern. While an advisory board doesn’t have decision making powers, their role is to provide advice, counsel, and recommendations that will assist the library director in their decision-making and help the library achieve its goals and objectives.

According to Sally Gardner Reed and Jillian Kalonick, the authors of The Complete Library Trustee Handbook, “An advisory board is typically appointed by the governing authorities of the community service area and has the responsibility to give input into the library’s planning process, policy setting, and promotional plans, and may even participate in the hiring and evaluation of the director. An advisory board does not have the same legal and fiduciary responsibilities as a governing board, but the members are still representatives of the public and can be incredibly important volunteers and advocates for the library. “

Gordon S. Wade, author of Working with Library Boards, outlines why it may be difficult to keep advisory board members engaged: “Advisory boards make suggestions which may be rejected by a higher authority. Advisory boards are usually established by ordinance or resolution and their authority and even existence can be easily challenged. An advisory board, with no authority or power to make decisions which affect the public library is obviously a weak board; advisory boards are often short lived for this very reason. As members see their work and decisions consistently overruled by a city council, a city manager or other governmental authority they abandon hope of making any real improvements and drop off the board.”

Building an effective and engaged advisory board requires ongoing effort. The Alaska State Library has purchased statewide access to United for Libraries Short Takes for Trustees to support board development. While some of the video content is specific to governing boards, the information will be helpful to anyone serving on a library board. 

The Short Takes for Trustees, a series of 10 board training videos (each under 10 minutes) include "What It Means to Be a Trustee," "Board Meetings," "Board Ethics," "Library Advocacy," "Library Policies," "Strategic Planning: Working with Friends," "Evaluating the Library Director," "Board Self Evaluation," "Succession Planning," and "New Board Orientation." Each video is accompanied by a resource guide.

Inform library board members about the Alaska Short Takes for Trustees video series. Encourage board members to watch this short video on how to create a username and password to the ALA website so they can access these important resources. Ask the board to consider scheduling an annual board training meeting and incorporating the Short Takes videos into the training. The Resources for Library Trustees includes an online guide that includes links to additional useful training material such as Trustee Trouble, a series of thirteen short and humorous videos following the misadventures of Dan, a new library board member as he muddles his way through his 1st year on a library board.

Welcome Public Library Intern Juliana Clark

My name is Juliana Clark, and I am an intern this summer with the Kuskokwim Consortium Library in partnership with KYUK Radio in Bethel. I received my MLIS in 2021 from the University of California, Los Angeles with specializations in Archival Studies and Media Archival Studies. I've spent most of my time interning and volunteering at community archives and museums. I am currently working on an archival project writing metadata and designing a controlled vocabulary for some of KYUK's video collections that contain valuable and unique Yup'ik/Yupiit cultural information. I'm into my second week now and really loving it out here on the tundra. I'm from San Diego, and it's been nice to experience a new type of landscape, cooler summer weather, and living in a small town! You can watch some of the videos in KYUK's collection that I am working on.

The "Good" Librarian Never Stops Learning

In 2015, Martin O’Conner, a contributor to the Irish library blog Libfocus, asked fellow librarians to share three qualities that a good librarian possesses. O’Conner didn’t define what a good librarian was, believing “we know one when we see one.” Respondents wrote O'Conner that good librarians possess excellent interpersonal skills and curiosity — the willingness to try new things. The top quality that showed up most frequently was that of a lifelong learner. According to respondents, the good librarian has the “ability to upskill quickly,” they possess a “willingness to learn,” and are “curious and always able to learn new things.” 

That learning is a central quality of librarianship makes sense. The role of librarians, according to information found on the ALA website is to "help people find information and use it effectively for personal and professional purposes. They must have knowledge of a wide variety of scholarly and public information sources and must be on the cutting edge of technology  trends in order to serve their patrons."  Not only does ongoing learning improve the abilities, confidence and skills of the individual librarian or library staff member, it improves the quality of service they provide to the public. The ability of librarians to quickly adapt was evident during the pandemic when staff had to shift to virtual collections and programs, curbside service delivery and programming kits. According to the OCLC Research Briefing New Model Library: Pandemic Effects and Library Directions published on October 2021, "As staff adapted to new work environments and service delivery models, leaders reported a surge in learning through: formal, institutional programs, peer-to-peer learning with colleagues, outreach to personal networks and discussion groups and online courses."

A recent Association for Talent Development, (ATD) article called Updating Our Thinking Around Upskilling by Julie Winkle Giulioni describes how organizations are using upskilling as a way to engage and retain their staff. Giulioni defines upskilling as ”learning and development that elevates people’s capacity to perform and thrive today as well as tomorrow.”  Organizations are shifting away from scheduled staff training events where everyone learns the same skill at the same time. They are finding it more effective to offer staff professional development opportunities on a more “self-service basis.” According to Giulioni, allowing employees to access what they need, when, where, and how they want it, offers the flexibility and choice that’s more important today than ever before.

Learning Resources for Library Staff Available through the Alaska State Library

Library directors can encourage and support their staff's continuous learning by informing them of the freely available professional development grants and resources.

Professional Development Resources for Public Librarians
This resource guide was designed to provide public librarians with access to continuing education and professional development resources.

New Librarian Toolkit
This guide was designed to bring together resources that librarians new to Alaska need to successfully accomplish their work.

Library Leadership
A resource guide for Alaskan librarians interested in improving their leadership skills.

Continuing Education for Library Staff  
This webpage contains links to the CE News and CE Calendar. Webinar recordings and online resource guides are organized under the following subject categories: Administration, Collection Management, Community Engagement, Leadership, Services & Programs, Technology, and Youth Services

Additional Library Staff Training Resources

Alternative Basic Library Education (ABLE)
A free, online learning platform that provides basic library knowledge and skills for library workers who have no formal education in library science.

Getting Started with Library Customer Service
"In this self-directed course, learners will gain a beginning-level understanding of customer service in the library setting. This training addresses competencies within the Communication, Customer Service, and Ethics & Values sections of the Competency Index for the Library Field."

Infopeople
Training events on a wide variety of topics, utilizing subject experts as instructors and presenters.

Library Learning Online
An excellent slate of self-paced training for library staff available any time they need it. 

ORE Online: Reference Training Modules
The Ohio Library Council has created three online learning tutorials focusing on library marketing, references services and library orientation.

WebJunction
Library-specific courses available for free to all library workers and volunteers across the nation.