Libraries Transform
"The Libraries Transform Campaign, an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA), is designed to increase public awareness of the value, impact and services provided by libraries and library professionals. The campaign will ensure there is one clear, energetic voice for our profession, showcasing the transformative nature of today’s libraries and elevating the critical role libraries play in the digital age." Sari Feldman, the 2015-2016 ALA President, spearheaded the new ALA campaign and considers the campaign her presidential initiative.
Janice Welburn, Co-Chair
Beth McNeil, Co-Chair
with support from
Elisa Coghlan
Tara Baillargeon
JoAnne Kempf
Shaula OConnor
and
Julie Todaro
Libraries Transform: the Expert in the Library
My presidential initiative is a focus on the employee, the library professional or the expert in the library. I am committed to identifying and promoting the existence and awareness of the expertise that connects our constituents to what they want and need, assists our patrons in their transformations and works with our communities to assist in their transformation.
To achieve this, we need to be able to articulate how we and our library employees transform through libraries. We need to be able to illustrate who we are, what we do AND we need to be able to demonstrate our worth and value.
To this end we need to identify 21st century human resources content (terminology, data, structures, etc.); articulate who we are and what we do and our expertise and impact; study and collect value data on ourselves and our employees; and, most importantly - find paths for articulating our work and value in dynamic, up-to-the-minute library and information environments. The Initiative work plan includes:
First stage
Second Stage
Products for my initiative are designed for all levels of employees within libraries no matter the program, function or service. Therefore, no matter how you identify them (faculty librarians, librarians, library managers, media specialists, paraprofessionals, classified staff, children’s librarians, school librarians, research associates, information specialists, instructional technologists, digital managers, archivists, conservators, adjunct librarians, hourly workers and so on…) the content will be placed in a Playbook for managers including 21st century best practices such as:
Spring 2016 - Fall 2016
Identification of research, content (opinion, etc.) on articulating the value of library employees in general;
Identification of best practices for performance outcomes such as:
Performance measures for individuals and teams;
Evaluation mechanisms and choices (individual, self, team, peer, upward, etc.)
Hiring content such as (along with position descriptions) advertising content, rubrics for assessing candidates, interview question sets in the context of multiple 21st century interviewing
Required and preferred competency sets for all levels of employees as well performance and assessment of required and preferred skill levels
Selection of institutional directions such as commitment statements (for dispositions, etc.)
Design of staff development action plans for all levels of staff by staff member, functions, etc.
Recommended curriculum for competency acquisition in critical areas that include (these are areas identified so far and these may change given assessment of need): technology, professionalism, issues such as copyright, intellectual freedom, etc.; leadership (including advocacy); management; accountability and assessment/measurement and evaluation; and, collaboration for success;