As I start my third semester of library school, I find myself thinking about where and what I want to be doing after completing my degree and that increasingly leads me to ponder what kind of library environment would be most satisfying to me.
When I daydream (which hopefully all of my classmates are taking time to do), I usually see myself in a small/rural library with all the constraints that potentially entails…small budget, limited staff, fewer resources, etc.But I also imagine the value of being an important part of the community and striving to make the library a vital part of the life of that community.
What I hope to garner from this class is my first approximation of what it takes to manage a library. How does one work with the various community stakeholders-including local politicians, volunteer groups, boards, etc.?What are some of the legal and ethical issues that are unique to a library setting? How does one plan and budget for the efficient operation and management of a library facility? What support and/or burdens do state and national library associations provide? And many other questions.
My main goal is to understand how a library works as a system – mapping the inflows and outflows of resources and communication between it and the surrounding community. I want to be able to create a value-stream map of the various activities and work. I don’t expect to be able to draw the full picture upon completion of this course – but I do expect to make significant progress in my understanding.
Prior to deciding to launch myself into a new career field, I spent 2003-2015 in the comic strip industry. I was a digital colorist and supervisor/manager of both freelance and in-house staff to colorize newspaper comic strips. Newspaper comics are produced on a weekly production schedule with the cartoonist supplying 6 daily and one Sunday comic per week which are then colorized (and various other steps) to allow them to be distributed to your local newspaper, internet website, and mobile app.
In my capacity as manager, I provided supervision, yearly reviews, quality assurance, and process improvement as well as working with individual cartoonists to tailor our colorization to their expectations. I was not responsible for a budget or any business planning and forecasting so I will am eager to learn more about those aspects from this class. Fundraising and facilities management are also topics of interest.
Managing was mostly a positive experience. As with any human endeavor, there are days that will nearly break you and days that will make you as fulfilled as humanly possible. Management is primarily an ongoing negotiation between what you (or your boss wants/demands) and what is actually possible. There is no magic formula. But if you can understand the organization holistically as a system, you'll be more effective at guiding your organization towards continuous improvement and being a good steward of your trust.
I will close this introductory post with a few book recommendations that I found most valuable in getting better insight into managing people and process:
1) The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey: https://www.amazon.com/SPEED-Trust-Thing-Changes-Everything/dp/074329730X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503708884&sr=1-1&keywords=speed+of+trust&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin%3A2656020011
2) Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results (Business Books) 1st Editionby Mike Rother: https://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Kata-Managing-Improvement-Adaptiveness/dp/0071635238/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503708762&sr=1-1&keywords=toyota+kata
3) The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi (Available in numerous translations): https://www.amazon.com/The-Book-of-Five-Rings/dp/B003VXGACK/ref=la_B001IYXBKS_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503708464&sr=1-1
Cheers, B