Library Shadow | 170409 | 801xs | BWhitmer | I conducted my Library Shadow with Ms. Kira Green, Branch Manager, of Mid-Continent Public Library System’s Woodneath Library Center branch (Kansas City, Missouri) on April 3, 2017. I will be presenting my shadow in 3 sections – covering the library system and branch, the library manager, and conclusions.

Section I – Mid-Continent Public Library and The Woodneath Library Center The Mid-Continent Public Library (MCPL) is the largest public library system in Missouri and ranks among the 20 largest public library systems in the United States - collection circulation is over 9 million items per year. The Woodneath Library Center (Woodneath) opened in 2013 and is the newest branch in the MCPL system. The Library features a modern, green-compliant design with natural lighting provided by floor-to-ceiling windows and a flexible open floor plan. The physical collection is not as extensive as other branches but this is balanced by amenities such as a coffee café, large meeting rooms, private study rooms, dedicated children and teen-specific areas. Comfortable seating is provided throughout the space with stuffed chairs, couches, and a fireplace setting. It also features Google Fibre internet and self-checkout kiosks. With the recent funding increase that was approved as Prop L, the Woodneath branch will be adding a 200-300 seat auditorium, walking trail, outdoor amphitheater, and additional facilities space that will complement the existing drive-through book return and the Story Center. The Story Center is a unique collection of resources including a dedicated collection of materials for print, oral, and digital storytelling (books on writing, authoring, and related topics) along with a print-on-demand book publishing machine from Espresso that enables the library to function as a small independent press. Eventually, the library will house the headquarters of the National Storytellers Network and host even more author and story-telling events and conferences.

  Section II – Ms. Kira Green, The Woodneath Library Center Branch Manager The Woodneath Library Center has been managed by Ms. Kira Green since 2014 and she has been employed in the MCPL system for almost a decade. Ms. Green is a graduate of the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies (SISLT) at the University of Missouri – Columbia and worked in the capacity of an academic/instructional librarian while enrolled in the program. Ms. Green came to the library field after completing an undergraduate degree in Latin, and through the fortuitous encounter with a high-school friend who was enrolled in the SISLT program, learned of the program and decided it would be a good fit for her vocational goals centered around helping people through an institutional setting. As a youth, Ms. Green was a voracious reader and avid library patron. She worked retail for many years before completing college with a stint as an overnight restocking manager at Target stores using planograms which provided on-the-job learning of skills like collection restock, time-budgeting, and personnel management as well as a keen appreciation for the effect of space design on usage and marketing communication. As part of the program at SISLT, Ms. Green participated in two practicums – one at the Kansas City Public Library and a later one with MCPL. She used these experiences to investigate the culture and values of these two institutions and ultimately felt more overlap with her values at MCPL and applied to work there after graduation. She was hired as an assistant branch manager and worked her way up and through the MCPL system developing and deepening her skills in management and collection development with a close-working/mentoring relationship with the branch manager she worked for. “This is where I really honed my skills for collection management,” she recalled.  

Management in practice – my shadow observation On April 4, 2017, I shadowed Ms. Green from 9-12 observing first-hand her management practice as well as asking questions about her management philosophy and professional development. The day started with an introduction and quick tour of the office/administrative space which consists of her office and a staff workspace consisting of a large open room with work tables, shelving, and separate lunch/break room. Ms. Green’s office is large but she decided to share the space with her assistant branch manager, Katie Schneider, whom she refers to as her “co-manager.” She also uses the extra space in her office as additional work space for on-going projects as needed. This is in keeping with a very informal hierarchy to foster camaraderie, friendly communication, and a fun, supportive work culture. As she told me, “Culture is the most important element of management and drives all things.” Ms. Green inculcates these values by regularly working the information desk and varying her hours to work mornings, evenings, and weekends to stay grounded with day-to-day library practice and through close observation of the staff, patrons, and events at all operational hours. She maintains an open-door policy and staff can enter and ask questions, get information, or talk as needed. She makes room for bottom-up control of the library by not dictating how things should be, but by encouraging answers and solutions to come from staff. She uses simple communication tools like paper-based schedules and white boards to quickly and flexibly communicate information through the building. But the informality is balanced with a rigid ethos of best practice management. She will correct and improve poor performance or practice with a gentle, but firm intervention. Statistics and other information provided by MCPL headquarters is used to inform, guide and measure her branch’s performance relative to the goals and practices of the system as a whole.

As the newest and most experimental branch, Ms. Green is responsible for observing and reporting what works and how well in the building. On the day of my observation, we set up seating for a kids/grandparent’s event, reported to building maintenance services a tripping hazard that was becoming manifest in the floor vent registers, and handled a maintenance/security issue inside a historic home that is physically incorporated to the main library building and will be refurbished into a state-of-the-art digital storytelling space. Expanding our conversation beyond Woodneath, I asked her about the challenges facing libraries in the next few years and she was very positive about the direction MCPL had taken while acknowledging there may be challenges of reduced funding by state and federal sources. With her retail background, she was very focused on the spatial aspect of the library, marking its transition from information depository to shared, public communal space with the primary goal of deepening the community connection and providing unique resources collections – including high-speed internet stations, early literacy programs, meeting spaces and programs for small businesses, study spaces, and working with community partners to meet the needs of homeless populations throughout the library system. And to promote the pivot from collection primacy to public space primacy, she pointed out they provide tours and are a destination point for schools, small business organizations, art and writing groups, and other community institutions which makes people aware of the library itself as well as helping them understand the library in a new contextual framing as a destination space which will only amplify in resonance when the 200-300 seat auditorium is built.  

Section III – Take-aways I was impressed by Ms. Green’s management ability and was left with a very favorable impression of public librarianship and MCPL in general. I am still agnostic on my career direction at this point, but I feel serving in a public library capacity is an excellent fit to be on the leading edge of institutional change as well as providing an uplifting sense of purpose, service and community building.