feliciter5_vol_58_web.pdf

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October 2012 – Vol. 58 No. 5

Strategic Planning

2 Canadian Library Association www.cla.ca Feliciter • Issue #5, 2012 • Vol. 58

F e l i c i t e rPublisherKelly Moore

EditorJudy Green

Copy EditorJennifer Jarvis

Layout & Design/Review CoordinatorBeverly A. Bard

Member Communications AdvisoryCommittee 2012Elaine M. De Bonis, Convenor; Gerry Burger-Martindale,Nicole Eva, Todd Gnissios, Patrick R. Labelle

Published since 1956 by the Canadian Library Association6 times per year as a membership service to CLA membersin good standing. Volume 1, No. 1 to the present issue isavailable on microfilm from CLA.

Indexed in the Canadian Index and Library Literature andavailable online in the Canadian Business & Current AffairsDatabase.

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©The Canadian Library AssociationISSN 0014 9802

Table of ContentsVolume 58 • Number 5 • 2012

Theme: Strategic PlanningGuest Editor: Nancy MacKenzieLiaison: Elaine DeBonis

Guest Editorial

3 Strategic Planning: You Frame it, it Frames Youby Nancy MacKenzie

Theme Features

12 Library Strategic Planning: Voyage ofStarship Enterprise or Spruce Goose?by Jim Morgenstern & Rebecca Jones

16 Imagine, Fail, Learn, Grow: Failcamp as aPlanning Tool at Markham Public Libraryby Megan Garza

19 Process Mapping for Teamwork andKnowledge Sharingby Allison Sivak & Katherine Koch

21 Strategic Planning: Why Bother?by Rudi Denham

24 Three’s Company: Leadership in theThree Spheres of Strategic Influenceby Rajesh Singh

28 How UTM Library Staff Imagined the Futureand Collaborated on the Plan to Realizethe Visionby Susan Senese & Rebecca Jones

Front CoverThis month’s cover image:Framing the Futurewww.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-framing-future-image3510548#_> ): ©Laurin Rinder <www.dream-stime.com/Rinderart_info>

Cover Design: Beverly Bard

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October 2012 – Vol. 58 No. 5

Strategic Planning

Feliciter • Issue #5, 2012 • Vol. 58 www.cla.ca Canadian Library Association 3

Feature Articles

31 For Your Eyes Only: Love and Disorder inOur Domestic Librariesby Guy Robertson

35 Herding Cats: PR-Friendly Library Eventswith Kidsby Anne Dodington

37 Librarians as Leadersby Mike Selby

Columns

4 President’s MessageHow Members See Us…by Karen Adams

6 From the Director’s ChairYou can’t afford NOT to be a member of CLAby Kelly Moore

8 Editor’s ColumnTime to Celebrate!by Judy Green

10 Taking the LeadStrategic Planning: A Valuable, Productiveand Engaging Experience (Honest)by Ken Roberts and Daphne Wood

39 Book Reviews

Departments

7 Index to Advertisers

42 CLA Executive Council & Staff Contacts

Imagination! Creativity! Risk! Innovation! Courage!Vision! Leadership! Learning! Rigour! Honesty! Strategicplanning?

No really—these are just some of the words used bythis issue’s contributors to describe the possibilities ofplanning. I think we can all agree that planning is animportant part of any successful venture, whether you areplanning a holiday, your next career move, your retirementor the future of libraries. So read on—there is somethingin this issue for everyone.

If you are looking to create a strategic plan that boldlygoes where no one has gone before, you will find thearticle by Rebecca Jones and Jim Morgenstern, “LibraryStrategic Planning: Voyage of Starship Enterprise orSpruce Goose?” a most rewarding read.

In a bit of a departure from formal strategic planningstrategies, Megan Garza introduces the idea of usingFailCamp as a planning tool. She discusses the role ofcreativity, iterative learning, and risk taking in planning in“Imagine, Fail, Learn, Grow: FailCamp as a Planning Toolat Markham Public Library.” Leading by example, Meghanrecounts her personal experience with a failed initiative,the lessons learned, and how a FailCamp strategy hasbeen adopted as a useful tool for planning and evaluation.

In “Process Mapping for Teamwork and KnowledgeSharing” Allison Sivak and Katherine Koch relay theirpersonal experience using process mapping, one aspectof strategic planning, to engage staff and make tacitknowledge and process explicit in a complicated organi-zational environment.

If you are still debating whether you need a formalplan, Rudi Denham from the St. Thomas Public Libraryprovides cogent reasons for and against in her article,“Strategic Planning: Why Bother?”

Guest Editorial continued on page 7

Guest Editorialby Nancy MacKenzie

Strategic Planning:You Frame it, it Frames You

by Karen AdamsPresident’s Message

Summer went by quickly, with two teleconference meetingsof Executive Council. While much of our discussion focusedon the need to develop realistic and sustainable approachesto the Association’s operating budget, we also had somepreliminary discussions of the results of the MemberAdvocacy Survey that took place over the summer.

We received over 400 responses, most of them withpassionate comments and diverse perspectives. Here issome of what we learned.

One survey respondent called for the resignation ofExecutive Council. Another said CLA has completelydropped the ball on LAC. Still another said that we were notdecisive. Someone else thought we were too trusting ofLAC and its leadership. We were instructed to be morefirm in our dealings with government. This perceived failureon our part is the result of our having chosen the path ofengagement with LAC in terms of helping to ensure that thechanges caused by the federal budget cuts minimize thedamage to library services for Canadians. Executive Councilsincerely believes that this is more likely to have a productiveoutcome than would result from refusing to engage. LAC isholding conference calls on its proposed changes over thecourse of the fall, and CLA will be there. At the same time,we are actively expressing our displeasure with cuts to CAPand to federal libraries to the politicians whose decision toaddress the federal budget quickly has caused the problem.How do you say “we think it’s a bad idea to balance thefederal budget”?

Other respondents recognized the difficulty in finding abalance between advocating with government and creatingfruitful relationships with them. Someone else noted thatLAC’s and CLA’s objectives and goals are very closelyaligned so that there could be mutual benefit in aligning ourmessaging and advocacy. Some comments reflected aneed for more communication about what is going on, andwhat we are doing, and asked us to consider new ways ofletting members know what we are working on. ExecutiveCouncil agrees that this is an area for improvement, and the

completion of the technology renewal project early in 2013will enable more action on this front. Members aren’t alwaysaware of CLA’s media appearances or meetings with MPsand other officials, and you should know about these as theyhappen. Another respondent noted that CLA should have ahigher profile, and be more visible in what we do. Someoneasked “Is there more space in the budget to hire morePR/media relations people? It’s a big file.” This is true,and is one of the reasons for increasing the institutionalmembership fees in 2013, since it is our institutions and thepeople they serve that derive much of the benefit from ouradvocacy work.

And, some commented on the need for more researchon the impact of library closures. Another commentreferenced the 1998 publication: “Dividends: the value ofpublic libraries in Canada” which reported on researchinto the importance of public libraries to uers, publishers,suppliers, and to Canadian culture. As I noted in an earliercolumn, former CLA President Alvin Schrader and MichaelBrundin are working on a project called “National Statisticaland Values Profile of Canadian Libraries,” for publication onthe CLA website later this year.

Support for advocacy was expressed through statementssuch as “Members and non-members, librarians, librarystaff and non-library staff should all be a part of this advocacydialogue.” Council says, Amen to that sentiment, and hopethat you use the new advocacy toolkit on Budget Cuts toFederal Libraries to be part of the dialogue.

How Members See Us...


www.oclc.org/go/worldshare

A new approach to managing library services cooperatively

—now with a Canadian data centre

Let’s keepcreating sharing dreaming

working digitizing

analyzingdiscovering

innovatingbuilding

collecting

collaborating

learning


CLA has a new direction. We have a new governance andprofessional structure. We have a new mandate frommembers. We have a new mission statement to reflect thismandate. And we have a new fee structure to provide thenecessary financial support for our activities.

CLA members have overwhelmingly driven the recentchanges in our association. There is broad support for amandate which requires CLA to be the national voice forCanada’s library communities. All stakeholders in our recentconsultations have agreed that CLA is the body to undertakecritical advocacy initiatives with the federal government onissues impacting libraries and library services, to representthe interests of the library community in national-leveldiscussions with other stakeholders, and to represent theCanadian library community internationally.

Advocacy and representation rely on long-term efforts,and are often only visible through occasional progressupdates and ultimately on conclusion of the initiative.But the unseen efforts are crucial to the outcomes.

To continue to be effective, CLA will:

• be present at fora where discussions andnegotiations take place

• develop and maintain relationships with MPs,government department staff, existing and potentialpartners, journalists, and anyone else who cansupport our cause

• gather data and statistics, facts and stories topresent our case

• prepare documents and briefing notes for electedofficials, key government staff and media

• contribute written submissions to governmentconsultations

• communicate regularly with decision-makers,partners, and stakeholders

• provide continuous updates to members on the issues

• develop and distribute tools to members to supportspecific advocacy initiatives

• provide professional development opportunities formembers to learn about the key issues and how toinfluence them

• coordinate all of these activities through CLA’sExecutive Council, Committees and Networks

All of this activity requires money. While the efforts ofour volunteers to support CLA activities is extraordinary, itmust be underpinned by the financial capacity to meet thehard costs of engagement.

And what if CLA weren’t taking on these efforts on yourbehalf? Would all Canadian libraries institution be sendingdelegations to meet with MPs to talk about copyright?Would all personal members be drafting letters for colleaguesto send to support school libraries?

Does your library use the library book shipping toolprovided by Canada Post through CLA? Nearly 3000 librariesacross the country do. The average package they shipweighs 1.28kg. With the book rate, they pay just $0.97 forthat package to be sent out and returned; without the rate,the cost would be $18.00. For small and rural libraries, just25 shipments saves your library more than the cost of aCLA membership. Canada Post works with CLA as therecognized delivery organization for this program. And CLAhas been advocating for many years to ensure that the bookrate continues to be available to libraries. What would bethe cost to institutions to do that advocacy work on theirown? What would be the cost to libraries if they didn’t havethe book rate? What would be the cost to Canadians whowould lose that access to information?

CLA’s new fee structure reflects our new mandate, andplaces more of the financial responsibility on the library,which stands to gain the most benefit from our activities.

You can’t afford NOT to be a member of CLA

Director’s Chair by Kelly Moore


CLA exists as a collective to do the work that noindividual or single institution can do on its own. Throughthe collective strength of our membership, we are able toaccomplish great things: to influence government policyaffecting our capacity to serve our users (think of copyrightlegislation); to raise media awareness of the impact oflibraries on our communities (think of Canadian LibraryMonth); to challenge policies that restrict freedom of accessto information (think of internet filtering); to celebrate thosewho capture our imaginations and turn young users intolife-long readers (think of the CLA Book Awards); to engagethe next generation of potential library workers (think of theYoung Canada Works program); to bring the accumulatedwisdom of our disparate parts together to strengthen theknowledge base of our entire community (think of the CLAnational conference and Feliciter). Our whole is so muchgreater than the sum of our parts.

We have a full slate of activities, and there is still muchmore that we should be doing –much more that Canadianlibraries need CLA to be doing. Libraries need CLA’scollective strength. CLA needs your volunteer energy andyour library’s financial support.

CLA membership is the broadest national representationof our varied library community. Our members are individuallibrarians, technicians, support staff and trustees; librariesin K-12 schools, colleges and universities; municipal,government and special libraries; vendors of libraryservices; and various other organizations that supportour mission. The more voices we represent, the strongerour single voice will be.

This broad membership is both CLA’s biggest challengeand its greatest strength. CLA cannot represent the interestsof one sector of its members against another sector of itsmembers. CLA can only represent the ethos and ideals thatthe whole membership holds in common. And we have, atthis moment, the opportunity to define that ethos and thoseideals for a generation.

You need to be a part of this. You can’t afford not to be.

Director’s Chair

Guest Editorial continued from page 3

Rajesh Singh differentiates between strategicthinking, strategic planning and strategic executionand explains the importance of developing strategicleadership skills in LIS students in his article, “Three’sCompany: Leadership in the Three Spheres of StrategicInfluence.”

Finally, Rebecca Jones and Susan Senese discusswhy it is essential to develop the collective “planningmuscle” before beginning a formal strategic planningprocess—and how to do it—in “How UTM Library StaffImagined the Future and Collaborated on the Plan toRealize the Vision.”

I hope you find these articles as informative, interestingand immediately applicable as I did. You don’t have tolook too hard to find something you can use today,regardless of where you are (or are not) in the strategicplanning cycle.

By way of thanks: I could simply thank contributorsfor their quick and enthusiastic acceptance of thechallenge and for their insights and imaginative approachesto what some might say is a fairly dry topic—or you couldcontact them directly and let them know how you areusing their insights and experiences to make things betterwhere you are.

Associations, Institutes & EducationAmerican Psychological Association (www.apa.org) ...................... 15, 27Canadian Library Association (www.cla.ca) .................................. 30, OBCSan José State University (http://slisweb.sjsu.edu) ................................ 11

Information ProvidersOCLC (www.oclc.org) .................................................................................. 5SWETS (www.swets.com) ......................................................................... 9

Publishers & DistributorsCarr McLean (www.carrmclean.ca) ...................................................... 20Information Today (www.infotoday.com) .............................................. 18The War Amps (www.waramps.ca) ....................................................... 23

Index to Advertisers


This October marks the seventh year the Canadian librarycommunity celebrates Canadian Library Month. It hasbecome the annual event for libraries across the country toengage their patrons and staff with a variety of activities.However for the CLM Committee, comprised of partnersfrom the provinces and territories, the planning for CanadianLibrary Month is a year-round activity.

The CLM Committee averagestwenty members in any given year, andmeets by teleconference every sixweeks. Some members, like NormaCollier from PEI, have served since theinception while others serve for one totwo-year terms.

In January the Committee meetsto discuss the results of the previousyear (successes and misses) and beginsto brainstorm the new theme for theupcoming year. Often the group has tovote for their favourite from as many astwenty choices. By March the theme isdetermined and it is time for the creativejuices to flow. The theme for 2012 is:Libraries Connect / Bibliothèquesbranches. The committee jointlyconjures up three concepts for theposter and bookmark to help the graphicdesigner produce mock-ups. Severalsub-committees are also tasked withpreparing the supporting documentsthat libraries will have at their fingertipsto use in both official languages.

By April the committee votes forthe mock-up that best graphicallyrepresents the theme. A bit of tweakingfor the logo, poster, and bookmark,including the special versions forOntario (for Ontario Public Library Week)and Nunavut are finished. Did you knowthe bookmarks and posters are available in Inuktitut andInuinnaqtun as well as English and French?

The sub-committees work to a June deadline to preparethe documents for French translation. The printer awardedwith the contract for both the printing and the complex dis-tribution of the 10,700 posters and 280,000 bookmarksnationwide starts its process, which takes about six weeks.

When the website: http://www.cla.ca/clm12/index.htmllaunches in early August, librariesacross Canada begin to receive theirposters and bookmarks to help preparefor October. CLA also fills requests forposters and bookmarks from librariesduring August through October. Thewebsite is an excellent resource forlibraries and includes:

• ideas to celebrate the month• press release that can be

customized• backgrounder• declaration• gallery of previous CLM

graphics• contact information for CLM

partners

There is also a new CLM facebookpage: https://www.facebook.com/CanadianLibraryMonth.

Now that it is October the work ofthe committee is winding up for the year.The survey will be released duringNovember and the CLM Committee asksfor your feedback so it can improve forthe coming year.This hard working team ofvolunteers strives to provide librarieswith a theme that resonates, graphicsthat captivate and tools that motivate.

Now it is your turn – celebrate Canadian Library Month!

Editor’s Column

Time to Celebrate!

by Judy Green

Engage in strategic planning, or go to a dentist appointment?Which would you prefer? Unfortunately, the majority ofdelegates polled at a recent BCLA conference opted for thelatter. At least at the end of a painful and expensive dentalprocedure you leave with a beautiful smile, so the thinkinggoes. Perceptions of strategic planning sessions are lessfavourable. They usually happen in the summer or on abeautiful weekend (coincidence?), often involve sticky dots,and also inspire beautiful smiles… of relief and gratitudewhen the session is over.

Effective strategic plans are foundational to the successof libraries. We know we need them. We have to do them,and we are fortunate enough to have many Canadianexamples that do them justice. For those who have embracedthe planning process and explored its potential, the out-comes are significant: greater transparency, improved staffand community engagement, and enhanced partnershippotential, to name but a few. Strategic planning, at its best,is not daydreaming about the future. Nor is it writing a“to do” list. Plans that fall flat often lean too heavily in onedirection or the other, lacking practicality or failing toprovide a compelling vision.

Rather than describe what it is not, we will provide adefinition of what effective strategic planning can be:a systematic process of envisioning a desired future,and translating this vision into broadly defined goals orobjectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them.

A trustee of a large B.C. library system explained it likethis: “An elegant strategic plan is simple and based onsound principles. It is the elevator pitch used by staff andboard members when speaking to municipalities, theprovincial ministry, local businesses and community partners,and even the media. What’s more, our plan is used to fulladvantage when preparing for fundraising opportunities.”In other words, it is a powerful tool at your disposal toadvance the mission of your organization.

In our experience working with strategic plans, wehave documented five characteristics of effective planningprocesses. You will note that none of them require dots

(although they are useful), and weekend planning sessionsare optional.

• Plan is aligned with the vision of your library system:as a preliminary step, you have a board-approvedvision in place that inspires the organization tosucceed. Your vision can, and should, be succinct.If staff is to embrace it, make it simple, powerful andmemorable. For example: “Our vision is to be earth’smost customer centric company; to build a placewhere people can come to find and discover any-thing they might want to buy online” (Amazon);“Our vision is to put joy in kids’ hearts and a smileon parents’ faces” (Toys ‘R’ Us).

• Plan provides clear direction and focus for trustees,staff and volunteers: it productively channels limitedhuman capital and helps triage the multitude ofopportunities available to pursue. Often it is just asimportant to state what will stop in favour of whatwill proceed. Staff needs to know what aspects oflibrary service delivery take priority over others,and community members need to know what theycan reasonably expect or anticipate. This providesa good segue to the next point.

• Plan is ambitious and provides a number of stretchgoals: routine operations rarely feature in strategicplans. The assumption is that the library systemwill continue to deliver excellent service to itscustomers while advancing a slate of community-inspired goals. These are above and beyond whatis currently offered, but may include transformationprojects, service reviews, project incubators ordedicated efforts to better serve specific communitygroups (e.g., urban Aboriginals, youth or homeboundseniors).

• Plan creates synergy: it is amazing what can happenwhen stakeholders are brought together to work ona common goal. Diverse viewpoints are encouragedand are used to test the strength and clarity of the


Strategic Planning: A Valuable,Productive and Engaging Experience(Honest)

Taking the Lead by Ken Roberts & Daphne Wood


strategic plan. Once consensus develops andthe plan takes shape, the unique talents andcontributions of library staff and management canbe applied in concert. In the best scenario,confusion and duplication of effort are minimized.Clear direction for all is articulated by the plan.A truly focused library system has greater potentialto succeed than the sum of its parts.

• Plan strengthens the library brand and communitysupport opportunities: libraries tend to shy awayfrom any association of “selling.” We offer, weserve, we make available, and we create access.The concepts of marketing—specifically socialmarketing—are more appropriate for our purposes.We take enormous pride in what we do, and weappreciate the recognition from our valuedcustomers. But what about all the potential librarysupporters and funders who are not familiar withour work? The strategic plan can be the mostvisually appealing promotional tool in yourorganization. It can tell stories about you, yourcommunity and your unique passion for libraryservices that matter. It can also measure your

success, articulate your needs and encourageothers to support your vision. All that, in a pithybooklet or online format. Ideally both.

You may have noticed we have made no claims thatstrategic planning is easy. Or fast. Or inexpensive, in termsof dedicated staff time. Your management team or yourtrustees may prefer to hire the services of a consultant.You may have the expertise in house, or choose to pursuea hybrid approach. We can’t promise the process will bepainless. But we can assure you that the investment of timepays dividends. We offer these final words of wisdom fromAnatole France: “To accomplish great things, we must notonly act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”

Dream big. Your community deserves it.

Ken Roberts ([email protected]) is the Chief Librarianof the Hamilton Public Library, and Daphne Wood([email protected]) is Director, Planning andDevelopment, of the Vancouver Public Library. They sharea passion for leadership research and the practices ofresilient organizations.

Taking the Lead

“To boldly go where no one has gone before”

With apologies to Gene Roddenberry and Trekkies every-where, that’s what strategic planning is supposed to be allabout: going boldly where no one has gone before! Soundlike your strategic plan?

Perhaps not.Maybe your plan ismore like the HughesH-4, affectionatelyknown as the SpruceGoose, flown onceand relegated to a mu-seum as an interestingartifact of aviationhistory that neverfulfilled its promise.

Strategic plansare prepared byorganizations facing significant change and the prospectof failure if they do not effectively respond to change. Youdo not need a strategic plan if you are simply makingincremental changes to your services—adjusting your hoursof operation, deciding to build a new branch, or improvingyour website. You may need to plan for these events, but youdon’t need to develop a SWOT or prepare a vision statementto guide your decisions. (SWOT analysis is a strategicplanning method used to evaluate the Strengths,Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities and Threats involvedin a project.)

If you believe, as we do, that libraries exist in a rapidlychanging environment and unless they change they willbecoming increasingly irrelevant and ultimately lose publicsupport and funding—or in the case of academic libraries,institutional support and funding—then you need a strategicplan that boldly envisions a different future for the libraryand identifies aggressive, specific strategies to realizethat future.

So how can you design and execute astrategic planning process resembling thevoyage of the Starship Enterprise ratherthan the Spruce Goose? Consider thesesuggestions:

Figure 1: Strategic Planning Process

Theme Feature by Jim Morgenstern & Rebecca Jones


Library Strategic Planning:Voyage of Starship Enterprise orSpruce Goose?

The Spruce Goose

Starship - Derived from original photo by JamesTeterenko – Wikimedia Commons


Theme Feature

Be courageousWhen used appropriately, a SWOT based on the Situation

Audit and the Environmental Scan is a powerful analyticaltool for future planning. It requires great courage to unleashthe power of this tool by asking penetrating questions andhonestly facing the weaknesses and threats. The SituationAudit describes the library’s internal strengths and weak-nesses, identifying the current characteristics of the librarythat are functioning well and that should be retained, as wellas the deficiencies that should be corrected. This part iseasy because it deals with the library that you know today.Note that it deals with the library, not with the environmentsurrounding the library.

The Environmental Scan, on the other hand, deals withthe external environment, describing future opportunitiesand threats to the library. This part of the SWOT identifiesthe need for change—the threats that will undermineservice if the library does not change and the opportunitiesthat the library can take advantage of because of a changingcontext for service delivery. Many strategic plans failbecause the “OT” part of the SWOT is poorly done. Thepurpose of the SWOT is to provoke a rich, challengingdiscussion about the implications of these strengths,weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the library.Frame the SWOT as “SoWOT?” or “so what does this meanfor the library?”

Unfortunately, the SWOT discussion often isn’t deepenough, with Opportunities and Threats rooted in thepresent and the familiar. For example, it is not uncommon forlibraries to identify partnerships as an opportunity despitethe fact that there is nothing stopping the library fromentering into those partnerships today—and consequentlythe failure to do so is a weakness, not an opportunity.The Opportunities and Threats analysis must probe theunfamiliar that will affect the library in the future becauseof a changing social, cultural, economic and politicalenvironment.

Be committedUnderstanding this future context takes time and some

very solid research. Unfortunately, library boards, seniormanagement and staff seldom commit the time and energynecessary to come to terms with a very uncertain, unfamiliarfuture. You are going to invest the next three to five yearsimplementing the plan; it doesn’t seem unreasonable toinvest substantial person hours over a period of three to fivemonths developing the plan.

Be selectiveThe purpose of the SWOT is not to generate long lists of

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Instead,the focus should be on those few major influences affectingyour library at the high level appropriate for your strategicplan. We have never prepared a strategic plan for a librarywhere the existing staff has not been identified as a strength.This perception is generally supported by client surveysthat give high marks to library personnel as being friendly,informed, helpful and resourceful, etc. We don’t doubt thisis the case, but unless customer service is going to bethreatened in some specific and major way, it doesn’t needto be a part of the SWOT. If your library intends to continueto hire staff who do their best to serve the customer, thisis not a big issue for future planning and doesn’t need to bea part of the SWOT. However, if your library has collectiveagreements that will place significant constraints on eitherdeploying or training your staff to meet the new andemerging needs of the next generation of customers, it isan issue for the SWOT and needs to be addressed in yourstrategic plan.

Be visionaryA good SWOT contributes to a strong vision. A good

vision statement describes a library that in a number ofsignificant respects bears little resemblance to the librarythat we know today. Many library strategic plans fail in thisregard. The visions do not articulate a preferred future thatis fundamentally different and serves as a long-term targetfor the library. The vision is an opportunity to go out on alimb and think about libraries in a different way. Does yourvision of the future public or academic library have buildings,and if so are they anything like the library buildings today?What are librarians doing in these libraries—indeed, towhat extent are libraries staffed by librarians versus otherprofessionals? What type of work are staff performing, andwhat skills do they need? Who is using the library and forwhat purposes—the same as today, or are library usersdominated by new groups and interests? What servicesare available in 2022 that are not available today? Whatcan you do in the library in 2022 that isn’t allowed today?These are the types of questions that should be answeredin your vision.

Be a leader, not a followerThe research on public opinions and perceptions

demonstrates that most people have a very traditional view

of libraries. The “book” and now “e-book” persists as thebrand. People’s familiarity with innovative services and newtechnologies is low, as is their perception of the library’srelevance in the digital age. Even the most loyal believerin the value of libraries envisions a “better” library in thefuture, not necessarily a significantly “different” library.This is also why planning cannot be driven by public, studentor faculty opinion. In strategic planning the library board andsenior management must lead these opinions, not follow. Itis their responsibility to articulate the vision. Surveys, focusgroups and public meetings are important to understandusers’ and potential users’ perceptions and behaviours.It is up to the library to interpret what these perceptions andbehaviours mean for future strategies and services, andwhat challenges they may face when introducing changes.But libraries must be careful not to map their path forwardbased on public or campus input or wants.

Stick to strategy—details to followThe strategic plan has a very specific purpose and is not

intended to address the details that best fit in other plansand strategies. Your vision and strategies guide all othercomplementary strategies and plans, such as the technologystrategy, organizational structuring and marketing plans,and these must be reviewed for consistency with thestrategic plan.

Measure your progressYour strategic plan charts a course for a changing

library in a turbulent and evolving environment. Like flyingblind in a dust storm, you simply can’t know if you areheaded in the right direction without radar. Your library’sradar is performance measures that are directly tied to yourstrategic directions and that are comprehensive, measurableand meaningful. Too few strategic plans accurately describe“what success will look like” or monitor progress with goodperformance measures to determine if success is beingrealized.

Starship Enterprise or Spruce Goose?Was your strategic planning process effective, engaging

and challenging? Did it produce a progressive, solid plan?Ask yourself the following questions:

• Was your plan well grounded in futures research?Before jumping into your first strategic planningworkshop, did you take the time to prepare?

• Did your strategic planning process lead rather thanfollow public opinion?

• Did strategic planning generate passionatediscussions about challenging and sometimesdifficult perspectives on the future of your library?

• Did you seriously talk about the things that youwould let go?

• When your strategic plan is implemented, will yourlibrary be fundamentally changed?

• Did you significantly reallocate resources to reflectnew service directions or priorities?

• Does the plan provide a framework to review andrestructure staff roles and responsibilities to reflectnew functions and ways of doing business in yourlibrary?

• As a direct consequence of the strategic plan, didyou update or adopt complementary plans andstrategies to bring them in line with your new vision?

• Have you made a commitment, backed by staff timeand resources, to continually track trends, reviewresearch and monitor the implementation of theplan?

If you are vigorously nodding—or shouting—“yes” tothese questions, then grab your Trekkie shirt knowing thatyour library is a future-ready enterprise. If you have thatsinking Spruce Goose feeling that your planning processlacked some rigour, roll up your sleeves, plug yourself intoyour community, campus or client organization, and design afuture in which the library truly changes lives. Not supportslives—positively changes lives.

Jim Morgenstern ([email protected]) is thePrincipal at dmA responsible for strategic planning and forlibrary studies. He has extensive facilitation experience andhas worked with library boards, municipalities and otherpublic agencies to prepare strategic plans. Jim has workedwith library boards in Ontario and throughout AtlanticCanada. His main office is and principal residence is inWolfville, Nova Scotia.

Rebecca Jones, ([email protected]) MLS, isPartner in Dysart & Jones Associates specializing instrategic planning, organizational design and facilitatingdecision-making and problem-solving. She is formerDirector Professional Learning Centre of the Universityof Toronto’s iSchool and an SLA Fellow.


Theme Feature

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Failure is the flip side of the creativity coin. When peopleare creative, they open their endeavours up to the possibilityof disappointment. Likewise, innovation is encouragedthrough the de-stigmatization of failure. Unsurprisingly,most people have problems talking about personal failure,particularly in their careers. But by urging librarians tospeak more openly about unsuccessful projects, theconcept of failure is recast as an opportunity. If librariescould capitalize on the disappointments as well as thesuccesses of other libraries, the information about initiativesand best practices in the library profession at large wouldbe greatly increased.

That’s where FailCamp comes in. “Traditional” FailCamptakes place in a panel format, with participants discussingprojects that haven’t gone as planned. While the audienceand other panelists are able to provide feedback, traditionalFailCamp in this conference setting is not necessarily intendedto solve problems, but is rather intended as a tool for attitudeadjustment. However, within a single institution, to useFailCamp without using the failures discussed to addressoutstanding problems or to prepare for future initiativeswould be ignoring a valuable opportunity. This is howMarkham Public Library (MPL) has come to use FailCampas a tool for planning through (partial) failure.

In preparation to run the first FailCamp at MPL, Icontacted Mike Ridley (University of Guelph), Krista Godfrey(Memorial University of Newfoundland) and Amy Buckland(McGill University), all advocates of celebrating failure and

all FailCamp veterans. They suggested that administration,the higher the better, should start the sharing process.Guidelines should be sent to staff prior to FailCamp so thateveryone understands the purpose and what is expected.And participants should keep in mind that:

• FailCamp is a solution-oriented event.• Any failures brought to the table must be theirs

to own.• Criticism should be constructive.Krista Godfrey suggested there should be a strong

referee to keep participants on task, and Mike Ridley notedthat there is a difference between “mistakes” and “failure.”

It’s a mistake to lose the library’s interlibrary loan requestswith no backups. It’s a failure when librarians plan a hugeoutreach campaign to the community and nobody comes.FailCamp is not giving staff carte blanche to do bad work;it’s a way to change the way libraries think about lossesand to improve the way that these failures affect thelibrary.

Organizing FailCamp at the same institution where oneworks as opposed to a conference presents some uniquechallenges. Rather than having an audience composed ofpeople who work in similar roles in the profession, theremay be people from all levels of service involved. Thecontent of FailCamp may have certain implications abouttheir performance, even though that is not the intention. Ifhigher levels of management say an initiative failed, it maybe interpreted by staff as a deficiency on their part, rather

Theme Feature

Imagine, Fail, Learn, Grow: FailCamp as aPlanning Tool at Markham Public Library

by Megan Garza

“I haven’t failed. I’ve just figured out10,000 ways it won’t work.”

—Thomas Edison


Theme Feature

than on the part of those who did the planning or of thecontent itself.

Unlike the relative anonymity of a conference,participants will be familiar with the issue being presented.This shouldn’t be a comfortable experience, but it’s difficultto make FailCamp a safe environment when the subject mayhave had an impact on the other people in the room. Thisis why the Markham Public Library Charter of Failure wascreated. The Charter of Failure is an agreement betweencolleagues and administration that outlines how failurewill be handled. It promises that failure will be ownedcollectively as an institution, the library will treat eachfailure as an opportunity for learning and there will beno retribution for failures that occurred in the name ofinnovation. It also discusses the process used to handleeach situation and how to determine what should happengoing forward.

Failed FailCampThe first FailCamp we ran at MPL could probably use

a FailCamp of its own. Originally, 45 to 60 minutes wereallotted for the exercise. MPL’s CEO, Catherine Biss, wascompletely behind the idea and was thrilled to share herfailure with staff. An email was sent out to staff explainingFailCamp and asking them to bring something to share.The session took place before a larger meeting involvinglibrarians, managers and administration, which wasintended to resolve some of the issues anticipated as aresult of running FailCamp with the entire staff.

Unfortunately, the session didn’t go exactly as planned.The time assigned for FailCamp was reduced to 15 minutesdue to constraints on the rest of the agenda. Catherine wasdelayed, so the first failure on the docket was my own: abotched children’s program. Not exactly the big guns. Thebrave staff who participated presented failures similar tomine, and although the result was therapeutic, it wasn’tquite the revivalist fervor that I had anticipated. Happily, thefinal segment of the session saved the day: a discussionabout what failure means to the staff, which eventuallybecame the Charter of Failure. While all staff might not haveexperience with a major fiasco, everyone has ideas aboutwhat it means to them to fail.

My main oversight was the presumption of introducingFailCamp to staff who haven’t yet had the opportunity to fail,myself included. I was so excited by the concept that I didn’tconsider whether it was entirely meaningful for the group

involved—a common theme in FailCamp. This exercisemay be more relevant if it begins with management beforeexpanding to include more staff as leadership opportunitiesand initiatives develop.

Nevertheless, simply because something didn’t workexactly as expected doesn’t mean that it won’t work. ThoughMPL FailCamp didn’t appear successful at first, participantsreported how much they had enjoyed it. Managers continuedto use the 15-minute FailCamp as an exercise before training,meetings and planning sessions as a way to begin discussionon a certain topic. At first, the brevity of these continuingFailCamps seemed like a flaw, but FailCamp seems to haveevolved to fit the needs of the library as a planning tool.

The overall format is simple:1. Admit failure.2. Discuss the intention.3. Talk about the process.4. Identify the fail: what could have gone better?5. How can this be applied to future attempts?6. Applaud!

This format is delivered via a conversation betweenthe person who wishes to air their failures and a referee,with frequent pauses to solicit feedback from the audience.It is the referee’s job to record key ideas and to keep thediscussion focused and flowing well. FailCamp sessionshave begun to be posted on Yammer, MPL’s social network,as a way to engage all staff in the discussion. By taking pastinitiatives to FailCamp, managers find that new proposalshave more traction with staff because it is clear thatadministration is willing to admit when plans have failedand is trying to rectify those previous experiences throughmeaningful staff engagement.

Andrea Cecchetto, Manager of Learning and Growthat MPL, recently brought a committee structure that shedeveloped to FailCamp. She talked about the intentionsbehind the structure and why she thought it failed. Staffwere asked for their opinions on why the committees hadbeen beneficial, what hadn’t worked, and how they’d liketo continue to work in the future. Together, Andrea and thelibrarians in the audience identified the warning signs offailure in internal structures and, ultimately, this conversa-tion provided a gateway to the introduction of a staff-led,project-based structure.

Despite what has become of the failed FailCamp, themore traditional FailCamp hasn’t been disregarded entirely.As a result of this new project-based work plan, Markham


Theme Feature

Public Library is launching a host of new strategies that will beled by librarians. Traditional FailCamp will be one of the toolsused to evaluate these various projects as they progress.

Running FailCamp at the beginning of strategic planningand as an evaluative measure will give library staff accessto a wider range of data. This includes information abouthow the initiative was received by both the public and staff,

which are of equal value to the success of an initiative inan institution. Amy Buckland, of McGill University, stressedthe value of running what she calls a “postmortem” rightaway. It’s imperative to figure out why a project didn’t workand if it needs to be fixed or discarded.

Libraries should be committed to learning from failuresto create a positive environment in which both success and

failure can thrive. Markham Public Library’smotto has long been “Imagine, Learn, Grow.”Now, failure is a natural part of what the librarystrives to accomplish as an institution, so atFailCamp we say “Imagine, Fail, Learn, Grow.”

Megan Garza ([email protected])is a second generation librarian workingat Markham Public Library in Markham,Ontario. While she started at MPL as aChildren’s Services Librarian in 2008, sheis currently trying the role of Acting BranchLibrarian on for size. Storytime is still where herheart is, but she dabbles in a bit ofeverything including ebooks and failure.

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by Allison Sivak & Katherine Koch

During the spring and summer of 2011, the University ofAlberta Libraries participated in a strategic planningprocess to define the research library in its role supportingresearch, teaching and learning for our campus of over38,000 students. One area of the Libraries that has seenmuch change has been public services. These changesinclude the shift from separate reference and circulationdesks to a single service desk, on which librarians andpublic service assistant staff are cross-trained in thegeneral functions of reference for research, circulationand technology. The Libraries have enjoyed some successwith “embedded librarianship” services, where subjectspecialists hold office hours within their liaison departmentor faculty, to meet the user where she or he works. Theseexamples of newer, innovative service models supplementmore traditional activities, including single-session libraryinstruction and collection development, for example.

Working with consultants George Needham and JoanFrye-Williams of georgeandjoan.com, the Libraries publicservices staff undertook a process of thinking about ourusers—and the implications for library services—in newways. This article will focus on just one aspect of thestrategic planning process: process mapping. Processmapping, as we have used it within the University of AlbertaLibraries, looks to make the procedures within our majorfunctions visible by visually mapping all the steps involvedin those functions.

Why is the “visibility” of our processes or proceduresimportant? There are a number of reasons for needing tosee the library’s major functions clearly. One major reasonrelevant to the University of Alberta Libraries is that largeresearch libraries are organized around discrete depart-ments in which staff perform specific functions.

A simple processConsider one of the most basic functions of a library:

the “pathway” of a print book through a library system.The book is selected, received, paid for, catalogued,shelved, borrowed, renewed, returned, reshelved, andpossibly weeded and placed in storage or deaccessioned.

These different steps may be completed by staff in collections,access services, technical and bibliographic services,financial services, and public services. As this print bookwinds through five different units, do the staff in each havean understanding of what happens to the item before andafter? Does the organization as a whole know where thereare delays at any stage, and how those could be mediated?Is every step in the book’s pathway necessary to get thebook out to users? Can we reconfigure steps in the processto free staff time for other work?

The visual mapping process is quite simple in practice.Two facilitators join an all-staff meeting to carry out themapping; one facilitator’s role is to draw the map as parsedout by the group, and the second takes notes (particularlyfor “parking lot” steps that are important and require futureinvestigation and resolution, but are not integral to thespecific map). The group begins by naming the starting pointand an end goal for the process. From there, a facilitatordraws the flow of the steps and alternative steps that hingeupon particular decisions or situational factors. Importantly,the facilitator keeps the group talking and focused throughasking the simple question, “What happens next?” Thisencourages staff to think through the next step and to speakup when they see something missing, as well as commentingwhen they see a step they had not realized was a part of theprocess.

Libraries employ operational systems that have developedover decades of incremental change. Changes in ouroperations, both major and incremental, may be influencedby many different factors: new technologies and software,shifts in our staffing, the impacts of offering new services,and organizational restructuring, to name just a few. Further,as libraries are large and complex organizations, changesmade to one part of a system may not be followed down theline of library procedures. Process mapping is a techniquethat makes visible the pathway of a person or object throughthe library’s systems. By doing so, it makes some tacitknowledge and process explicit, proving very useful forthose who do not thoroughly understand all aspects of aparticular process.

Theme Feature

Process Mapping for Teamwork andKnowledge Sharing


Unlocking potentialProcess mapping can help staff identify where confusion

exists about the path of an object or person through ourcomplex systems, as well as illuminating where delays orbottlenecks exist. It can show where we currently connectwith another unit or area of responsibility, as well as wherewe could connect to make processes more efficient. Wealso found that it can have some unexpected benefits fornew staff in a public services unit.

We employed process mapping at the Coutts EducationLibrary at the University of Alberta to enable our staff to seeour public services clearly. The Coutts Library was facing astaff situation in which new librarians and a new unit headhad begun working with associate staff who had been atthe library for many years. The public services staff facedthe challenge of developing together as a team, whenstaff members had different levels of knowledge of currentsystems and of the history of particular decisions. Havingnew team members provides an opportunity to bringtogether that knowledge, and to discuss where processeswork and where they could use revision.

An advantage of group process mapping is that itcreates a situation in which everyone around the table ispaying attention, as they all work to create a picture ofhow a library function works. This collective attention also

encourages staff to speak when they disagree, when theydon’t understand, or when they wish to confirm that aprocess is indeed working well. Sometimes staff will jumpto an analysis of whether or not the process as mappedis working and will suggest change; we noted thesesuggestions in the parking lot in order to stay focused ondepicting the whole picture, rather than branching off intoindividual process tweaks.

The Coutts Education Library experience with processmapping was extremely positive in terms of sharing knowl-edge between continuing and new staff members. The staffwill use some of their observations to determine specifictraining needs for the unit and will be working their waythrough the maps and “parking lot” items in order to makechanges in a holistic way in their public services functions.

We suggest that this method would be helpful for manylibraries, particularly when staff need to understand what ishappening in functional areas, and why.

Allison Sivak ( [email protected]) is the AssessmentLibrarian at the University of Alberta Libraries.

Katherine Koch ([email protected]) is Head of the CouttsEducation & Physical Education Library at the University ofAlberta.

Theme Feature

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by Rudi DenhamTheme Feature

Strategic Planning: Why Bother?

Why not?Many libraries have operated successfully for years, evendecades, without undertaking a formal planning process.They have achieved their goals, met the perceived needs oftheir stakeholders, and increased their services and budgets.Libraries in smaller communities or institutions may assumeformal planning is only for large organizations or largelibraries. Strategic planning—which can be defined as areview of current and past performance, an assessment ofpossible short-term impacts, and a plan for creating the bestpossible future—can be a rigorous process. It may requiresignificant investment of resources, including staff time andconsultants’ fees, or both. The result of the process maybe a glossy flyer that is impressive but too high level to beuseful, or a lengthy document that proves to be too ambitious,or too unrealistic, and ends up gathering dust in a drawer.In fact, for all libraries there are good reasons for not doingstrategic planning. It should not be undertaken if, for what-ever reason, implementation is unlikely. At a time when themajor players are changing—for example, if an election isforthcoming or if the CEO is retiring—it would be advisableto wait for a more stable time to start planning. Furthermore,if the municipality, university or parent body is itself in themiddle of a major plan, it is best to wait till the overridingvisions have been established.

One reason not to undertake a formal planning process isif your organization is stable—if there has been little changein the population, the demographics or the economicconditions of the users served. Another reason would belack of commitment from the major players. If, for example,the library CEO, the board chair or the majority of thestakeholders are indifferent to the idea, there’s little purposein pursuing the process.

When considering whether your library or communityis stable, it is important to recognize that society itself ischaracterized by constant and rapid change. Consequently,can any library consider itself to be in a stable environment?

Major change factorsIn addition to local change, such as the loss of a major

employer or funder, society as a whole faces transition inthe following ways:

CompetitionMany libraries, public libraries in particular, are facing

increasing competition from other providers of services,such as e-books and the Internet, children’s programming,résumé help and services for newcomers. Although this hasbeen true for some time, libraries are increasingly feelingthe impact, as they are facing growing competition forfunding from their parent bodies and other grantingagencies.

TechnologyRapidly changing technology is having a significant

impact in many ways. Not only are libraries incorporatingmore diverse technologies, but a library may have toredefine the services it provides, and even what definesa library. In this age of virtual content, what defines a“collection”?

DemographicsLibrary users and their expectations are also changing.

Expanded immigration is creating populations with higherpercentages of non-English speakers. In addition, thepopulation is aging, living longer and staying more active,mentally and physically. Traditional users, often the coregroup of users of a public library, expect libraries to provide

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed by theproblems of today that we forget the promiseof tomorrow.

Hubert H. Humphrey, 1959


Theme Feature

traditional services such as print copies of books,storytimes, book clubs and reference services. Powerusers, often young, are experienced and comfortable withtechnology and expect library staff to be as knowledgeableas they are. They expect 24/7 service in a diverse range offormats.

Financial constraintsIn a globally unstable economy, we are witnessing tuitionriots in Quebec, major library cuts at the federal level,devastating budget reductions for libraries in theUnited States, and reduced funding from Canadianmunicipalities as they struggle to maintain zero increaseswhile supporting higher service costs and aginginfrastructure.

GlobalizationThe world is getting smaller, and a decision made on theother side of the planet may have local impact. Bestpractices used elsewhere may also impact locally. Amunicipality may be developing or strengthening tradeties with China, which may result in a high demand forinformation on Asian markets and culture. Already manyuniversities have international liaison officers. Librariesthemselves are global systems.

Keys to successThe important part of the plan is the process, not thedocument. A planning process may be as simple, or ascomplex, as the individual organization. There are severalapproaches to consider. Creating the Future You’veImagined1 recommends that the board and staff establishvisions and that staff develop strategies with public input.

The Public Library Association’s Planning for Results2

suggests establishing a community committee that willdevelop strategies for board and staff manipulation andimplementation.

According to PLA’s New Planning for Results3 the stepsin a strategic planning process include:

• Prepare: planning to plan• Imagine: identify the possibilities• Design: inventing the future• Build: assembling the future• Communicate: informing the stakeholders• Implement: moving into the futureVisionary statements such as the following, from the

University of British Columbia Library’s Strategic Plan 2010–2015, provide inspiration and a framework for action forstaff, and confidence for current and potential funders:

• Develop user-centred spaces and services topromote informal learning, study and reflection,collaboration and dialogue.

• Be a leader in developing and promoting openaccess and open source methods and tools.

Planning costs include staff time, costs for a facilitatoror consultant, distribution and copying costs, in addition toany resources required for implementation. To keep costsdown, it may be possible to ask an experienced individualfrom another organization in the community, such asthe Chamber of Commerce, or from another universitydepartment, such as someone in the business department,to assist as facilitator for one or two of the planningmeetings for your library, without paying them more thanan honorarium. Copying and distribution costs can beminimized by focusing on electronic formats.

A successful strategic planning process should involveall the key players: the Board—whose role it is to setdirection; the staff—who will implement the plan; and stake-holders and users—who will fund and benefit from thestrategic directions. Goals must be clearly defined, realisticand measurable. It is important to “develop strategies thatcreate public value, are politically acceptable, technicallyworkable and ethically responsible.”4

A successful plan is one that is well built, with roomfor the unexpected, according to Jennifer Evans, Directorof Nova Scotia Provincial Libraries. It’s also important tocelebrate the successes and achievements along the way.“It was fun to tick off boxes when goals were achieved,”she says.

“Would you tell me, please, which way I oughtto go from here?” asked Alice“That depends a good deal on where you wantto get to,” said the Cat.“I don’t much care where—“ said Alice.“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” saidthe Cat.

Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, 1865


Theme Feature

Benefits of planningStrategic planning is not the same as long term planning,

which has a narrow focus, and tends to build on the past.Strategic planning takes a wider view, and may provide anopportunity to forge an innovative partnership, or develop acreative initiative.

At the end of a formal process, a clear missionstatement will define – for your staff and your users – whyyou exist. The current strengths, weaknesses and potentialopportunities and threats are clearly identified and analyzed.A strategic plan is a key management tool, which targetsspending to identified priorities, provides a clear vision ofthe library’s future which will motivate staff and inspiredonors, and develops a clear roadmap to guide action.

Many organizations think that they can move forwardby doing what they always did, but better. In the face ofsocietal change is it time for libraries to shift focus? Is ittime for libraries not simply to accommodate change, butto shape the future?

Rudi Denham, ([email protected]) ChiefExecutive Officer of St. Thomas Public Library, has workedin public libraries in three provinces for over 30 years.She is a regular contributor to professional journals, andlong-time editor of the Ontario Public Library Association’selectronic newsletter Ho-OPLA.

Notes1. Creating the Future You’ve Imagined: A Guide to

Essential Planning, a library development guide,Southern Ontario Library Services, 2007. Available fromwww.sols.org/publications/orderform.aspx.

2. Sandra Nelson, Strategic Planning for Results (Chicago:American Library Association, 2008).

3. Sandra Nelson, The New Planning for Results:A Streamlined Approach (Chicago: Public LibraryAssociation, 2001), p. ix.

4. Thomas E. Plant, Strategic Planning for Municipalities:A User’s Guide (Union, ON: Municipal World, 2008), p. 37.

“If you don’t know where you’re heading,you’re likely to end up somewhere else.”

Yogi Berra

Other Planning Resources

John M. Bryson, Strategic Planning for Public andNon-profit Organizations, 4th ed. (San Francisco:Jossey-Bass, 2011).

Joseph R. Matthews, Strategic Planning andManagement for Library Managers (Westport,Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2005).

Sample Plans

Haldimand CountyKing TownshipKitchener Public LibraryNova Scotia LibrariesUniversity of British Columbia

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“Strategy” is probably one of the most overused words inorganizations, to the point where it can become almostmeaningless. I’ve come to the conclusion that leadersshould not think of “strategy” as an isolated phenomenon,but more as an interrelationship among three spheres ofinfluence they need to consider for real organizationalchange and growth: strategic thinking, strategic planningand strategic execution. When it comes to strategy, youcould say that “three’s company” instead of a crowd.

Stop for a moment and ask yourself this question:In which of these three spheres of strategic influence

do leaders struggle the most? Do they struggle more withencouraging strategic thinking in their organization,planning the strategies to implement, or executing thechosen strategies?

If we think critically, we will find that strategic planning isnot much of a struggle within most organizations, includinglibraries and other service-oriented information organiza-tions. In fact, staff retreats and other similar brainstormingsessions to create strategic plans are almost de rigueurthese days. Most of us can recall such meetings, andwe might also remember that we spend most of our time

on tweaking already existing strategic plans in order tocomplement any new goals or insights that have come up inthe interim. We then derive some satisfaction that we havedone our duty for the year in order to remain strong andcompetitive.

Few of us realize that we have left strategic thinkingand strategic execution by the wayside, thus missing theopportunity to innovate and increase the competitivenessand effectiveness of our organizations. In a 2006 study doneby the American Management Association, it was foundthat that the most important competency for a leader isthe ability to develop strategy (which requires strategicthinking). However, only 4% of leaders were found to bestrategists when leaders were examined at all levels inorganizations (Horwath 2009). Strategic execution, however,isn’t the black hole it used to be, thanks to Kaplan andNorton’s introduction of the “Balanced Scorecard” conceptin 1992. Today, most organizations are aware that poorexecution of strategy creates a performance gap.

Consider your organization, whether it is a library,information organization or a unit providing a service: whenwas the last time you and your colleagues were providedwith professional development programs specifically gearedtoward strategic thinking and strategic execution? Thefact is, many libraries hire an outside consultant to createtheir strategic plan. I argue that this approach creates adisconnect that negatively impacts the long-term effective-ness of an organization’s strategy. Instead, we should teachour LIS students the skills they need in order to think, planand execute strategy effectively in a holistic manner.What is needed is significant restructuring of leadershipand management course curriculum in library schools inorder to incorporate the conceptual issues related to thethree spheres of strategic influence: strategic thinking,planning and execution.

How can we develop these leadership skills andcompetencies in our LIS graduates?

Theme Feature

Three’s Company: Leadership in theThree Spheres of Strategic Influence

by Rajesh Singh


Theme Feature

Strategic thinking versus strategic planningWhile certainly not obsolete, strategic planning has

long since fallen from its former pedestal as a magic bulletguaranteeing organizational success, and is consideredmore of a necessity for organizational effectiveness. Buteven now, few people fully understand that there is adistinction between strategic thinking and strategic planning.“Strategic planning” can be defined as the channelingof business insights and intuitions into an action plan toaccomplish the goals and objectives of an organization(Horwath 2009). However, the label “strategic planning” haserroneously become an umbrella term for all aspects ofstrategy development within an organization.

Strategic thinking, in contrast, is an abstract conceptthat we can’t just reach out and touch, and that makes itmuch more complex and challenging to define and teach.“Strategic thinking” could be defined as the generationand application of business insights and intuitions on acontinuous basis to achieve competitive advantage. Itinvolves intuition, creativity and insight. A key distinctionbetween strategic thinking and strategic planning is that theformer should occur on a regular basis, as part of our dailyactivities, while the latter usually only occurs at discrete,prescribed times, such as on an annual basis. Ideally,strategic thinking is an ongoing mindset that can bedeveloped by continually seeking and sharing creativebusiness insights into our organization that can lead tocompetitive advantage (Horwath 2009).

Strategic executionStrategic execution is an emerging concept that is

starting to get attention as a key component of organiza-tional strategy. In contrast with strategic thinking andplanning, it involves everyone in the organization, can betime-consuming, and requires both a short- and long-termfocus. “Strategic execution” can be defined as all theactions necessary to convert strategy into success forcreating competitive advantage (De Flander 2012). Strategicexecution is a leadership skill that fosters a culture ofcollaboration, great communication, empowerment,accountability and performance management in an informa-tion organization. In Jim Collins’s best-selling book, Good toGreat: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and OthersDon’t, he concludes that it is not strategy alone that can

separate the good from the great, and that strategicexecution is also a key factor. In a similar vein, researchfrom Robert and Kaplan indicates that organizations with aformal system for strategic execution have a two-to-threetimes better chance of success compared to those whodon’t have such a system.

Developing strategic leadership skills inLIS graduates

In order to accomplish strategic change that will have apositive and long-term impact on the information profession,I consider it important to develop strategic leadership skillsin our LIS graduates. It’s time to revisit the leadership andmanagement curriculum in LIS schools and think criticallyabout how we can develop the skills of our graduates sothat they can become skilled in leveraging the three spheresof strategic influence within their organizations.

This may seem like a daunting task, but I have learnedthat if you provide appropriate structure, backgroundinformation and support, students will rise to the challenge.My students are asked to create a strategic plan for alibrary, archive or information organization. They do thisproject in a collaborative fashion, just as they would do inthe context of a real organization. They are asked to doenvironmental scanning, SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities and Threats) and gap analysis, inaddition to creating a vision, mission, goals and objectives,by adopting the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable,Relevant and Timely) goal approach. They are also askedto create a budget, timeline, performance managementplan, action plan and contingencies. In sum, this dauntingcollaborative assignment helps students develop theirvarious leadership skills and competencies for strategicthinking, planning and execution in addition to improvingtheir team management, conflict management, negotiation,collaboration and communication skills.

The success of this approach has been evidenced infeedback from students. When choosing the products oftheir studies to highlight in their capstone portfolios, theircompleted strategic plan is one of the most frequentlychosen products.

Students’ comments tell the story:“It was a huge challenge and learning opportunity

for me as a team leader. My team faced many challenges,

Theme Feature


including managing the information from our collaborativeresearch, developing the written content of our plan asa group, and finding ways to improve an already high-functioning and well-funded library. We turned ourchallenges into opportunities for innovation, with greatsuccess. Having honestly acknowledged our strengths,weaknesses and interests, we were quickly comfortablewith presenting new ideas and collegially disagreeing withone another. The end result was a truly original strategicplan, a sleek, professional presentation, and the satisfactionthat we had lived up to our name—the Awesome ActionFaction.”

“The principles and concepts related to administrationand management of an academic archives department werelearned during a group project I was a part of to develop andpresent a strategic plan to our board of directors. Althoughthe actual institution and board were fictional, the storming,norming and performing steps taken during the project werethe most effective in teaching me how to work in groups,find my own strengths, and rely on the strengths of othersto complete an arduous task. We were responsible foridentifying and evaluating a need, proposing a budget andtimeline, and defending our plan during our presentation.My confidence in my ability to apply the strategic planexercise to practice is high because personal leadershipabilities were discovered and developed as well as trustin others and the final product.”

In houseIn my opinion, a good leader must be keenly aware of

the three spheres of strategic influence: strategic thinking,strategic planning and strategic execution. If we can offerthe right mix of theory and practice in teaching leadershipand management courses, we can help our LIS graduatesbecome skilled and strategic leaders in their own rightrather than having to outsource for such talent. I arguethat for the long-term success of information organizationsand the LIS profession, it will be important to have thoseleadership skills and talent on board with us. Who betterto advocate for our profession and our organizations thanour own future professionals?

ReferencesJim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make theLeap ... and Others Don’t (New York: Collins, 2001).

Jeroen De Flander, Strategy Execution Heroes: BusinessStrategy Implementation and Strategic ManagementDemystified (Brussels, Belgium: The Performance Factory,2012).

Rich Horwath, Deep Dive: The Proven Method for BuildingStrategy, Focusing Your Resources, and Taking SmartAction (Austin, Texas: Greenleaf, 2009).

Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton, The Strategy-FocusedOrganization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrivein the New Business Environment Boston: Harvard BusinessSchool Press, 2000).

Rajesh Singh ([email protected]) is Assistant Professorin the School of Library & Information Management atEmporia State University in Emporia, Kansas. He has taughtleadership and management courses for several years, andactively pursues management related research.


by Susan Senese & Rebecca Jones

The librarians and staff of the University of TorontoMississauga Library recently completed a year-longplanning and futures visioning exercise that culminatedin the drafting of the new Library Academic Plan 2012-2017.At the UTM Library we have long had a commitment tostaff learning, one that was fully integrated into the annualplanning process in 2005 with the establishment of theLibrary Learning Development Committee. Since its inaugu-ration, this staff-led committee has annually planned andimplemented a year’s worth of experiential learning activitiesfor all library staff—everything from aWeb Learning 2.0program to sessions on ClassroomManagement Techniquesand Dealing with Difficult Behaviour. In 2009, an annualday-long retreat for all library staff was added to the learningplan. The 2010 staff retreat focused on the practice of“scenario thinking”—an exercise that had the participantsimagining the library in a variety of different futures usingthe Association of College & Research Libraries’ futuresscenarios. The activities that took place during this staffretreat served as an introduction to “futures thinking” andlaid the foundation for the next year’s Learning DevelopmentPlan—an exciting year spent envisioning what the futuremight look like in 2017 for the UTM Library.

Futures Ready: preparing to planFrom the outset, the senior leaders at UTM Library knew

that they wanted an innovative futures planning process.They felt a traditional planning process would result in atraditional plan. Yet the future for higher education andlibraries that is unfolding before us is anything but traditional.For a plan that would maintain the library’s position as acritical contributor to UTM, we relied on a carefully designedapproach that would continue to align the library with UTM’sdirections and optimize the ideas and insights of all staff.This approach demanded a broad-based 10-month projectwith two distinct phases, Phase 1: Futures Ready and Phase2: Futures Planning.

For all staff to fully participate in envisioning and planningthe library’s future, they needed to be “ready.” Planningis a process that, to be done properly and deliver qualityresults (a practical, progressive plan), relies on specific skills,different types of thinking and rigour. We wanted everyoneto have the “planning muscle” to actively, confidentlycontribute, and the Learning Development Committee seizedthe opportunity to build the 2011 Learning Development Planas the exercise program for building this muscle.

The Learning Development Plan incorporated a varietyof “Innovation Intensive” events to build competenciesfor futures planning. These ranged from weekly videosstreamed in the staff room over lunch for staff to view anddiscuss, to more formal lunch ‘n learns with researchers,faculty and students invited in to talk about their researchprojects and activities. It’s important to keep in mind thatwe asked them about how they approached their work andsteered away from asking them about the library. Our goalwas to understand their behaviours and preferences, andthen for library staff to discuss these and interpret how bestto underpin these behaviours. The Learning DevelopmentPlan also included workshops (Critical Thinking Workshop;the University of Guelph’s Innovation Bootcamp, etc.) andinformal monthly sessions to which all staff were invitedto update each other on their work and projects and justbasically get to know each other better. Using Blackboard asthe communication venue and repository for all InnovationIntensive documents, videos, links and discussions provideda double-pronged opportunity: to use a platform that alreadyconnected all staff, and to build everyone’s familiarity withthe e-learning backbone used by faculty, instructors andstudents.

Futures Planning: standing in the futureOne of the essential elements of planning for the future

is to scan the broader environment, identifying signals,events and trends that may impact the organization. TheFutures Planning Phase was led by a cross-functional

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How UTM Library Staff Imaginedthe Future and Collaborated on thePlan to Realize the Vision


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Coordinating Team (CT) whose members held different levelsand different types of roles as well as different years ofexperience to bring together varied perspectives andperceptions. They were also the voices of their functionalareas and work groups, keeping the lines of communicationopen about the planning with their work teams, and theyhelped manage the overall project. The CT organized allstaff into Exploration Groups, and each Exploration Groupscanned one of these eight areas: teaching behaviour,learning behaviour, technology, content, economy, politicalscene, global education, and academic research. Overthree to four weeks, each group investigated its topic inthe media, blogs, journals and videos to identify emerging“signals” and trends to be factored into the library’splanning.

Their findings were discussed at the first of two all-daystaff sessions. At the Context Setting Session, staff surveyedand deliberated the top trends in each topic and theirimplications for the library. They then identified what, inview of these implications, the library needed to considerchanging, stopping or continuing in the future. Equippedwith these rich insights, the CT drafted a future scenario forthe library. This draft was sent to all staff in the pre-work forthe “Drafting Our Preferred Scenario” session to give themtime to consider and adjust prior to the session discussions.The pre-work also asked them to draft their own preferredscenario.

One of the most engaging parts of the session waswhen staff “stood” in their ideal future. This methodology,referred to as “idealized design” or “standing in the future,”has been used by Dysart & Jones Associates and manyorganizations for years. It is based on the knowledge thatthe more actively and physically people are engaged indesign, the more details they can visualize; and it is thedetails that bring a design to reality. Those details includethe problems and the barriers. The more barriers groupsdefine, the better they can build contingencies and “barrierbusters” into the plan. At one point, one of the librarytechnicians spoke of her draft scenario so eloquently,passionately and descriptively that she received a well-deserved standing ovation. By the end of this second staffsession, the CT had a draft future scenario that had beenremodelled and detailed by many voices, eyes, opinionsand experiences.

2017 Future ScenarioThe final outcome of the Futures Ready and Futures

Planning phases and the two day-long retreats was thedevelopment of the draft 2017 Future Scenario. A full year’sworth of discussion, visioning, condensing and debatingwas distilled down to a two-page scenario—a descriptionof how we want to look, operate and partner with ouracademic community in 2017. This vision of our library in2017 would guide the development of the library’s five-yearAcademic Plan.

Before the writing of the Library Academic Plan couldbegin, however, we needed to test our Future Scenariowith our community to see what resonated with them and,perhaps even more importantly, what didn’t. The CoordinatingTeam set about a series of individual and group meetingswith our campus community to discuss the 2017 FutureScenario. Meetings were held with the the key leadershipteam on campus, with the deans and chairs of the academicdepartments, and with our various advisory boards.Additional meetings were held with the Dean of Research,the Dean of Graduate Students and the Chief Librarian ofthe entire University of Toronto Library system.

Response from the various groups and individuals wasextremely enthusiastic, with many questions and comments.Perhaps the biggest compliment has been the campusacknowledgment that we are great partners and collabora-tors committed to enriching the student and facultyexperience. Pitching the 2017 Future Scenario to ourcommunity was an opportunity to discuss their needs andexpectations with our vision of how we could partner withthem for greater success—how we saw ourselves evolvingin the future. The interviews and discussions were carefullyscheduled to align with the drafting of the departmentalacademic plans, which was also underway, in order thatthe academic departments could incorporate our serviceofferings into their plans and vice versa. Comments andideas from these interviews were then incorporated intoa final draft of the 2017 Future Scenario.

The 2017 Future Scenariowas critical to the developmentof the Library Academic Plan 2012-2017, the final phase ofthis planning odyssey. The Library Academic Plan has tobe both broad enough to frame goals for the next five yearsand detailed enough to drive the development of all of thelibrary’s annual goals and objectives for the next five years.


Armed with the final 2017 Future Scenario, once again thelibrary staff broke into planning groups. Five teams werecreated based on those developed during the FuturesPlanning stage: experience spaces, integrating resources,enriching research, boundless learning, and the team.These teams have been able to draft a Library AcademicPlan 2012-2017 that will enable the library to achieve thevision articulated in the Future Scenario.

Envisioning and planning our future together—acollaborative, consultative, inclusive process from startto finish.

Susan Senese ([email protected]) leads theResearch and Information Technology Services mandatewithin the University of Toronto Mississauga Library.She is responsible for the following areas: public and staffcomputing, emerging technologies, collections, scholarlycommunication, digital research services with an emphasison digital humanities, the library website, digital signage,

and project management leadership. Susan is a seniorleader in the library for the past six years and previouslyspent nineteen years with ExxonMobil Canada in variousroles from business research librarian, corporate archivist,electronic documents management analyst and b2b internetservices manager.

Rebecca Jones, ([email protected]) MLS, isPartner in Dysart & Jones Associates specializing instrategic planning, organizational design and facilitatingdecision-making and problem-solving. She is formerDirector Professional Learning Centre of the Universityof Toronto’s iSchool and an SLA Fellow.

UNOFFICIAL WISDOMSelected Contributions to Feliciter 1995-2009

The reviews are in…

“I recommend this for libraries which have collections on library science already on theirshelves, or staff collections promoting professional growth and development. It is usefulfor those wanting to browse through a wider range of library-based articles, and for thosewanting to find a little professional enlightenment through serendipity. This book has thecapacity to inform and enlighten library and information professionals with interestingstories, hidden gems and thought-provoking points.”

Alison Fields, Senior LecturerInformation and Library Studies, Open Polytechnic Kuratini Tuwhera,LIANZA – The New Zealand Library & Information Management Journal

“Written in an easy and, at the same time very informative style, the articles made methink that the book would be a great preparation for many tests and examinations forthose taking on the wonderful world of librarianship.”

Jean OrpwoodELAN – Ex Libris Association Newsletter

Discover for yourself why Guy Robertson, highly respected Feliciter columnist, for the past 16 years, continues to delight and sharehis “unofficial wisdom” with readers. Order your copy at: online at www.cla.ca at Shop CLA or [email protected]

UNOFFICIAL WISDOM, Selected Contributions to Feliciter 1995-2009Guy RobertsonISBN: 978-0-88802-334-6 • Publisher: Canadian Library Association • Price: CLA member: $26.95 (non-member: $29.95)

Theme Feature


by Guy Robertson

Lisa moves at the speed of light, or so it seems. She iseverywhere at once in the corporate library she manages indowntown Vancouver. Her fingers flash across keyboardsas she fields conference calls on her headset. Her staffmarvels at her ability to meet the information demands ofhedge fund managers in London and financial analysts inHong Kong. Every morning her research reports and updateson weather trends, oil prices and gold mines zip across timezones to four continents. She is unstoppable.

Lisa is 40-ish, a graduate of the University of Toronto,and generally considered one of the Canadian libraryprofession’s outstanding practitioners. She is a brilliantpublic speaker, the author of a dozen fine articles ininvestment magazines, and the owner of a new BMW.And she has a secret, something that she has not revealedabout herself until now, and only under the condition ofstrict anonymity.

Simply stated, she owns large quantities of hardcopybooks and other printed matter. Her upscale condo(“2 bdrms + den / 1½ bthrms / view”) is crammed withthousands of volumes loaded onto creaking shelves.There are books stacked in corners on windowsills, booksin closets and behind sofas, books from floor to ceiling.

“I haven’t catalogued a single title,” says Lisa. “I don’tintend to. I love coming home to this great big comfortablemess. It’s like the penthouse in the Tower of Babel.”

The lure of the sofaLisa believes that her fellow information professionals

would not approve of her book accumulation habits andhaphazard domestic librarianship. In an age of e-books sheis aware of the risks involved in adhering to old-fashionedways.

“Younger librarians can be very judgmental about thesethings,” she says. “Many of them wouldn’t understand mydesire to hang out in bookshops and buy the hardcopy itemsthat really appeal to me. I have nothing—absolutely nothing—against e-books. In fact, I use an e-book reader at my

office, and take it with me when I travel. It’s one of mysources of work-related information. I couldn’t do without it.But when I’m in the home library that occupies every room,I want my old hardcovers and paperbacks. I want to stretch

For Your Eyes Only: Love and Disorder inOur Domestic Libraries

Feature Article

There is always room for another volume. The more you cramonto a shelf, the less space there will be for dust to settle.


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out on a sofa and read something that doesn’t appear on ascreen. I’m not setting a bad example and I’m not breakingany laws. I’m doing nothing more than people have beendoing with pleasure for centuries. And if my condo shelvesare chaotic, so what? My office shelves are in perfectorder.”

Lisa’s boyfriend Derek has come to accept her hardcopyhabit. A corporate lawyer and heavy reader of history andbiography, he not only condones but also feeds Lisa’s habit.

“We’re co-dependent in the best sense,” he says.“Librarians are supposed to devote themselves to tidinessand control, and you won’t find any of that at Lisa’s. I canrelax here. I really like her place. I’ve told her that once sheruns out of space for books, we can start using my housefor overflow. We will never be bored.”

SerendipityLisa is not alone in her preference for hardcopy books.

Other librarians share her affection for shelves that riseto the ceiling and groan with heavy loads. Many of theselibrarians are near the end of their working lives, or retired.For example, Rhonda has worked for almost 30 years atspecial, school and college libraries in Metro Toronto.A widow, she lives alone in a little house that reminds herfriends of a second-hand bookshop. There are shelves inevery room; a shelf in the pantry contains what Rhondacalls “extras”: dozens of paperbacks that she has found inyard sales and thought she might like to read in future.

“I’m a dedicated reader, but I doubt that I could ever getthrough all of the books in my house,” she says. “But I enjoythe serendipity of coming across a book that I forgot I had,or a book that I read years ago and want to re-read. I likebeing surrounded by books. That’s why I became a librarian.I suppose that by current standards I’m out of date, but onceyou reach my age you don’t care so much about what otherpeople think.”

Rhonda does not believe that age necessarily determineswhether a librarian will be a hardcopy fan. She speaks of“the young info-science crowd” who visit her occasionally.These are recent iSchool graduates who spend theirworkdays online and carry laptops everywhere. At Rhonda’s,however, they relinquish their technology and browsethrough her collection.

“It’s not true that younger, tech-savvy librarians despisehardcopy titles,” she says. “I think what we’re seeing is theformation of a new and misleading stereotype here.” She

denies that frequent use of technology will prevent anyonefrom enjoying hardcopy. As an example, she mentionsone of her 20-something friends—a school librarian—whoaccesses daily news and technical reports online, but whoin her spare time devours Westerns.

“Why anyone reads one Max Brand title after another,I do not know,” says Rhonda. “She won’t read them on aKindle, either. They have to be second-hand paperbackswith cracked spines and maybe a coffee ring on the cover,the sort of thing you pick up for a dime at a church bazaar.”

Swedish equipmentRhonda suspects that her friend could become a hard-

copy accumulator if she’s not careful. Recently they wentshopping together for shelves at IKEA. They walked past theattractive, dark wood bookshelves that would suit a frontroom, and selected heavy-duty shelving that holds tools andcleaning supplies in a basement or garage.

“A big collection demands sturdier shelves, preferablywith extra bracing,” says Rhonda. “You can paint them ifyou want, but I don’t bother with mine. When they’re loadedwith books, you don’t see the shelving so much. My Western-reading friend agrees. She bought a big shelf for herapartment, and now she has room for all of those Max Brandtitles. I guarantee that she’ll return to IKEA next year to buyanother shelf. Gradually her apartment will fill up.”

To a hardcopy addict, there will always be more booksto acquire. One does not have to be a collector. In fact,among those librarians who assemble large libraries intheir homes, true collectors are rare. Accumulators are less

Shocking disregard for ergonomic standards. But cosy.


Feature Article

inclined to study dealers’ catalogues and to pursue elusivefirst editions and signed copies. While collectors prefertheir purchases to be in the best possible condition, accu-mulators are less fussy. As long as the book is completeand legible, it will find a place on the accumulator’s shelf.

Space and shelving are constant concerns for keepersof large domestic collections. Usually shelves spreadthrough domestic space like kudzu. A shelving unit fills up inthe front room, forcing the owner to find another unit, andanother.

“The growth of a personal collection can be insidious,”says Don, a 60-year-old Calgary academic librarian whosehouse has shelves in every room. He left library school in1984 with a copy of The Sears List of Subject Headings, aGage Canadian Dictionary and “a few feet of sciencefiction.” He still has most of these books, in the brick-and-board shelf unit that he assembled during his student days.

“The problems started when I had a few extra dollarsand time off from my job,” he says. “I started to browse inbookshops. I found treasures for next to nothing in thriftsales. And people gave me books, assuming that becauseI was a librarian I would automatically enjoy them, or find ause for them.”

He came in through the bedroom windowDon was slow in initiating a home weeding program.

He is embarrassed to admit that five years ago, he couldno longer open the door to his spare bedroom because acollapsed shelving unit was blocking the door. He crawledinto the room through a window. He discovered that a60-year-old set of Collier’s Encyclopedia had been too heavyfor the unit, which had buckled at the base and caused abiblio-avalanche across the doorway.

“I realized at that point that much of my personal librarywas an impediment, not an asset,” says Don. “I startedweeding. I donated around 3,000 volumes, including Collier’s,to a local charity. I gave another 500 volumes to a hospital—mostly paperback fiction, the kind that volunteers distributeon little carts to patients.”

For a brief period, Don’s home library contained littlemore than the books with which he left library school, butsoon he returned to his habit of browsing and bringing lotsof books home. He worried that he would find himselfcrawling through another window to dig out anotheravalanche, when he met his current partner, a publiclibrarian named Louise who helps him to control his

acquisitions. She set a limit on the shelf space that Doncan maintain. When there is no more room on the threelarge units in Don’s study, Louise donates any unshelvedvolumes to a local church.

“That woman is merciless, which is probably a goodthing,” says Don. “I need the discipline. But I still miss someof the items that I’ve given away. For example, Collier’s.Doesn’t make sense, does it?”

NeurosisInevitably any discussion of domestic book accumulation

turns to the psychology of those who indulge in it. Are theyhoarders, depressed, lonely and unfulfilled? Are theyinsulating themselves from the outside world, with its newtechnologies and different ways of processing information?Could domestic accumulators be in denial? Are theyhopeless dreamers?

It is possible that they could be all or some or none ofthese things. People who hoard possessions in theirhomes—vast piles of newspapers, books, crockery andkitchen utensils, old clothes—might be depressed andneed professional counselling. Or they might be harmlesslyeccentric, and happier than most of us. Librarians whohoard hardcopy could be neurotic, or they might simplyenjoy being surrounded by large quantities of books.Pathologizing all accumulation habits is unnecessary andin many cases inappropriate, especially in the case of alibrarian.

“I’d like to know how many books are too many,” saysRhonda. “I’ve known a couple of librarians who have fairly

Warning: Biblio-Avalanche Area


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serious personal issues, and who indulge in impulsivebuying for their personal libraries. But I don’t considermyself particularly neurotic because I have a big personallibrary. There is no absolute correlation between emotionaltrouble and accumulating books. I’ve also known artcollectors whose oil paintings and watercolours fill everyinch of their residential wall space. There was an entomolo-gist at a local university who used to cram his home fridgeswith bottles full of insects. Are these people disturbed, orsimply enthusiastic about their hobbies and professionalactivities?”

Accumulators bristle at the suggestion that the textsof their hardcopies will soon be available online, and thatshelving will soon be obsolete. They point out that there aredifferences in the ways that one perceives online texts andtexts in hardcopy.

“The topic of how we physically relate to books indifferent media deserves a lot more attention,” says Lisa.“Information science might provide a partial answer,but I believe that neuroscientists who have a deeperunderstanding of brain activity need to get involved in thediscussion. Readers have different ways of perceiving a textonline and in hardcopy. Perhaps they remember one morethan the other. Perhaps they notice different things about atext when it is presented in a different medium. Anyway, asstrong as the claims are for the benefits of e-books, I can’tsee hardcopy dying out. In my case, both are welcome anduseful in different ways.”

As long as hardcopy survives, there will be librarianswho fill their residences with countless volumes. Theircolleagues may demur, and possibly question theiremotional health. But IKEA will continue to sell themindustrial-quality shelving, and patient partners might weedthe overflow as required. While our workplaces move atthe speed of light, some of our home libraries will grow atno more than a few—or few dozen—volumes a week.A change of pace is always welcome.

Recommended ReadingFor further discussion of domestic libraries, reading and

the future of the book, the following recently published itemsare highly recommended:

• Jacques Bonnet, Phantoms on the Bookshelves,translated from the French by Sian Reynolds(New York, 2012).

• Jean-Claude Carriere & Umberto Eco, This Is Notthe End of the Book, a conversation curated byJean-Philippe de Tonnac, translated from theFrench by Polly McLean (London, 2012).

• Alan Jacobs, The Pleasures of Reading in an Ageof Distraction (New York, 2011).

Guy Robertson ([email protected]) is a Vancouver-based librarian. He sleeps with a Kindle under his pillow.He owns no books. He tells no lies.


“Wow, I’m exhausted!” I turned from my desk to see myco-worker, Nona, drop two large book bags down on thefloor beside me. “You do look tired—where were you thismorning?” I asked.

“I just got back from the Vancouver Kidsbooks storewith 12 excited kids and their parents. They had so muchfun choosing books for the library,” Nona said. “Oh!” Iexclaimed, “I didn’t know you were going there. What agreat idea. Did you take any pictures?”

“Are you kidding? It was enough just to get over thereand get those books bought. Once we arrived at the store,it was like herding cats. I was too busy running around afterthose kids and their parents.” “Well, it sounds like a greatpartnership opportunity for that local business,” I said.“Who else knows about this program?”

“Aside from me and the few families I talked intoparticipating? No one,” she said.

As I chatted with my exhausted co-worker, it occurredto me that libraries create innovative community activitieslike this one all the time, but often don’t put much thoughtinto the communications and event planning, therebymissing fantastic opportunities to promote themselvesand develop further partnerships with local businessorganizations.

Communications planA communications plan doesn’t need to be elaborate,

but using the framework can help staff look at all theirprogramming and community engagement activities andprioritize those that support the library’s key message andhave great media relations potential. It can help outlinewhen an event will require extra time and staff resourcesto meet that potential. It can also create a game plan forthe event itself, which can help streamline the activitiesand assist the programmer in getting the most out of theevent, regardless of the number of staff assigned to it.

In the case of this outing, a kid-led book-buying trip to alocal bookstore, the library devoted time and resources tomaking arrangements with the local business, creating

posters for the event and obtaining photo release forms forthe children from their parents, but did not follow through onthese investments by distributing advertising to its businesspartner and other community agencies or documenting theactivity. The new “kid-led book buy” program is unique andhas a wonderful human interest aspect that would appealto local media looking for a brief feature story. A simplecommunications plan, along with a few event managementguidelines, could have made all the difference in promotingthe event, capturing its best moments and getting mediacoverage for the library and its partners.

Some tipsAnyone who has hosted a birthday party knows that

events that include children require a special kind of stamina.To make the most of the kid-led book buy, which wasbasically a field trip that needed the best documentationpossible, the library could have borrowed some eventplanning tips from the pros—teachers and weddingphotographers.

Top tips from teachers for outings with kids:1. Experience the site beforehand.2. Engage all the adult help you can get. Assign

another person to come and document the activity.Give your chaperones specific tasks.

3. Develop a schedule of activities within the event.4. Arrange for special equipment (cameras, lighting).5. Prepare name tags for students and chaperones.6. Create an evaluation journal about the event to use

as a reference for future events and to share withcolleagues and partners.

Top tips from wedding photographers for capturing anevent with kids:

1. Scout the location.2. Have a “shot list” (close-ups of individuals, group

photos with business partners, group photos withand without the parents, photos of kids with theirchosen items, photos of kids “doing” the activity).

Feature Article

Herding Cats: PR-Friendly Library Events with Kids

by Anne Dodington


Feature Article

3. Set expectations for participants; tell them theschedule of events and photos.

4. Assign a coordinator who can round everyone up,help get them in the shot and keep things moving.

5. Share your images with participants as soon asyou can.

6. Expect the unexpected and be prepared with extraequipment and a backup person.

7. Get children to interview each other about the event.The pros agree that engaging another person to share

the hosting and documenting duties is key, as is schedulingactivities, communicating expectations with participants,and sharing the evaluation and results of the event withstakeholders. These objectives are not new to those in thepublic relations and event management field but are notprioritized by programmers in the public sector.

These event planning tips, along with a communicationsplan identifying the library’s key messages and targetaudience, could help the staff hosting the next kid-ledbook-buying trip to create a great “story” with a media-readypackage that shows both the library and its business partnerin their best light.

Anne Dodington ([email protected]) works as a LibraryTechnician in Vancouver, BC. She is studying PublicRelations at Simon Fraser University.


There is no doubt about it—leading is hard. Having to leadpeople, let alone an entire organization, can be unnervingto new librarians. Of course, like most aspects of our field,no one has to go down this road alone. Besides currentleaders being more than willing to mentor others at anystage of their career, librarians of the past have left us witha strong legacy of leadership. It is these real-world modelswho can teach us some of the best lessons about libraryadministration.

Juliette Hampton Morgan, Emily Wheelock Reed andPatricia Blalock are three librarians who embody leadership.All three came into their leadership roles in the middle of thecivil rights movement in Alabama. Each faced managerialdifficulties much more profound than the typical budget cutsor staffing issues. They worked in an environment of hostilestakeholders, where physical harm was a reality. They alsoworked alone, receiving no help from any outside agency,including the American Library Association. Each wasforced to make extraordinarily difficult choices, knowingthat the fate of many depended on them. The solutionseach of these librarians found have left a powerful legacyfor potential managers to take note of when their owncircumstances appear untenable.

Death threatsJuliette Hampton Morgan presents a unique model as

she was not officially in a leadership role. Working as areference librarian at Montgomery’s Carnegie Public Libraryin the 1950s, Morgan possessed what is known as “referentpower”—the type of influence that derives from the respectof others, and not from any formal management position.As the 1960s approached, Morgan found it untenable thatpublic libraries professed to be institutions of democracyand freedom, but excluded half of Montgomery’s populationdue to the colour of their skin.

Clearly seeing that segregation prevented Montgomery’spublic library from fulfilling its mission, Morgan expressedher concern in a letter published in Montgomery’s news-

paper. This simple act created an overwhelming amountof hostility towards her, and the mayor demanded that heremployment be terminated. The library she worked at wasalso boycotted, with numerous members tearing up theircards in a mass protest. Morgan also received numerousdeath threats both at work and at home.

Leadership is often defined as the ability to instill a highlevel of confidence in others, and Morgan was doing justthat. She had won over the library board, which refused tofire her. By insisting that the library live up to the values itprofessed to have, Morgan expressed principles thosearound her wished to follow. She was leading.

Sadly, Morgan’s mental constitution was not as strongas her convictions. Returning home one day from work,she found all her windows smashed and a cross burning onher front lawn. Overcome with fear, she committed suicide.The vision she had shared so eloquently in the newspaperinspired more than just the library board; her funeral drewa massive crowd. The Montgomery Carnegie Librarydesegregated soon after, and is now called the JulietteHampton Morgan Memorial Library.

CensorshipEmily Wheelock Reed presents another leadership

model. Reed had an impressive background, having workedat numerous academic and public libraries, before sheaccepted the directorship of the Public Library ServiceDivision for Alabama in the late 1950s. Reed found herselfalmost immediately under fire. A citizens group led byAlabama State Senator E.O. Eddins demanded that Reedremove the book The Rabbits’ Wedding by Garth Williams.Although it is a children’s picture book, the senator claimedit was dangerous because it promoted interracial marriage.

Finding nothing objectionable about the book, whichshows a black bunny marrying a white one, Reed felt aprofessional responsibility to defend it against censorship.Eddins responded by threatening to stop the approval ofReed’s budget. This brought Reed to a critical leadership

Feature Article

Librarians as Leaders

by Mike Selby


moment, when the fate of many depended on her decision.Her professional commitment to intellectual freedomcollided with the financial needs of Alabama’s libraries.

Reed chose to stick to her original decision, tellingSenator Eddins that even if the book did promote racemixing, she had a professional obligation to provide readerswith alternative points of view. The senator dragged Reedin front of the Alabama legislature, charging her with usingher position to fund a private agenda of race mixing. Reedreplied that the senator was confusing a library’s ownershipof a book with the endorsement of the book’s ideas.Although Eddins continued to demand Reed’s termination,the book stayed available to all Alabama libraries.

Career on the lineOne of the best leadership examples to come out of

the civil rights era has to be the one set by Patricia Blalock.Blalock was appointed director of the Selma CarnegieLibrary in 1963. Her first act as director was to complete astrategic assessment of the library’s environment. Herassessment brought her to the only conclusion possible:The library needed to be desegregated.

During the very first meeting she had with Selma’slibrary board, she told them this was to be their first concern.Met with uncomfortable silence combined with fierceresistance, Blalock brought the subject up again at hersecond meeting with the board. Still greeted with opposition,Blalock met individually with each board member, reiteratingwhat the library’s top priority needed to be. Engaged inforward thinking, Blalock knew integration was coming.She also knew that change in an organization—particularlythis change—was seen as a considerable threat by theboard members. To help facilitate this change, she needed adelicate yet convincing approach. One of the most admiredqualities in a leader is helping individuals adjust positivelyto change—assisting them in seeing change not as a threatbut as an opportunity.

Still meeting with fierce resistance, she called anemergency meeting with the board members and laid it allout for them. “I think we need very badly to get this libraryintegrated,” she informed them. “And I don’t believe I canopen up on Monday until we’ve made a real decision.”Blalock had put her entire career and livelihood on the line.

The following day, the Selma Carnegie Library openeddesegregated.

To help her staff adjust—no easy thing—she held ameeting every single day where staff could voice their

objections and resentments about her decision. It took awhile, but Blalock’s vision for Selma’s library became theaccepted norm.

SilenceOne final note regarding the librarians profiled above

is that they faced their incredible trials alone. The AmericanLibrary Association, which all three librarians belonged to,offered no help or support. Rice Estes took the ALA to taskfor this, writing in Library Journal, “When a book is bannedin the smallest hamlet, there is a vigorous protest… butwhen a city takes away the right of citizens to read everybook in the public library, we say nothing.” Eric Moonechoed Rice Estes, wondering why the ALA was so silenton the issue. Both the ALA and their Intellectual FreedomCommittee were opposed to library segregation, but neithertook any action to help those who needed it the most.

Not all was lost, though. While Morgan, Reed andBlalock received no immediate assistance from the ALA,their actions forced all members of the association to take ahard look at their profession’s ethics. Today, the ALA’s firmand unwavering commitment to intellectual freedom wassparked by these women’s leadership decisions.

One of the greatest challenges leaders face is gettingothers to accept and embrace change. Yet three individualAlabama librarians did exactly this—so much so thatthey remain superb models of leadership well into the21st century.

Recommended Reading

• Patterson Toby Graham, A Right to Read:Segregation and Civil Rights in Alabama’s PublicLibraries, 1900-1965 (Tuscaloosa: University ofAlabama Press, 2002).

• Robert M. Hayes,Models for Library Management,Decision-Making, and Planning (San Diego:Academic Press, 2002).

• Michael Useem, The Leadership Moment: Nine TrueStories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessonsfor Us All (New York: Times Business, 1998).

Mike Selby ([email protected]) can befound working at the information desk at the CranbrookPublic Library. Currently a second-year MLIS student at theUniversity of Alabama, he is also the author of the popularnewspaper column Mike’s Booknotes.

Feature Article


The Black Belt Librarian:Real-World Safety & SecurityWarren Graham. Chicago: AmericanLibrary Association, 2012. 80 pp., $45.ISBN 978-0-8389-1137-2.

Security professionalWarrenGraham, having worked in publiclibraries for several years, offers his highly personal andinsightful view of security best practices for public libraries.The style is breezy, with many entertaining examples ofill-behaved patrons and staff reactions, effective or not.

This softcover book features chapters on self-confidence,the consistent application of rules, good building design anddocumentation, selecting security personnel, and how toapproach various situations in a non-confrontational manner.Graham’s advice is solid, as is his knowledge of challengesfacing libraries and librarians. His tone is challenging yetreassuring, and he is able to directly yet gently addresslibrarians’ perceived lack of assertiveness, sharing storiesabout his own early introversion and mistakes.

Some librarians may be put off a little by his rigidity.He suggests that playful kids’ areas and teen hangoutslend themselves to behaviour problems, and that only“reading, research, studying, and learning” be permittedlibrary uses—what about playing computer games? Buthis messages on consistency, education and techniquesare worthwhile reading for any public librarians who feartheir library is out of control.

Reviewed by Todd Kyle, CEO, Newmarket Public Library,Newmarket, Ontario.

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Displays! Dynamic DesignIdeas for Your Library Stepby StepSusan P. Phillips. Jefferson, N.C.:McFarland & Company, 2011. 238 pp.,$49.95. ISBN 978-0-7864-4024-5.

This book presents 45 display themes, with backgroundon the subject, details on creating the display, sourcesof materials and expansion ideas. Shorter descriptions of77 additional ideas and a bibliography are also included.

However, anyone looking for visually appealing andfresh ideas to display and market library collections willbe disappointed. The themes—such as Yosemite, Autismand Jersey Shore—are dated and lack popular appeal(especially for Canadian libraries). These are “display case”exhibits, with many types of artifacts (including some books)to commemorate a topic, not to highlight and promote useof library collections. Even so, the whole thing could havebeen done better.

Each display only has one black and white photoillustrating it, plus two to three pages devoted to anencyclopedia-type article on the subject, which isunnecessary. To prepare a display on Japan, one doesnot need to read about its economy and population. Theauthor further wastes space by recounting a personalanecdote about her connection to each topic. More visualsand much less text would make this a more useful book.

The sections on assembling the displays are detailedbut separated from the photos, so one has to keep flippingback to see what is being described. Offering severaldisplay ideas for each theme would have added interest,as would have a concise presentation of basic displaydesign concepts.

Overall, this book is uninspiring and lacks the visualappeal that should be a key element in any work on thistopic. Not recommended.

Reviewed by Heather MacKenzie, Branch Manager, KeshenGoodman Public Library, Halifax Public Libraries.

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Going Mobile: DevelopingApps for Your LibraryUsing Basic HTMLProgrammingScott La Counte. Chicago:American Library Association, 2012.64 pp., softcover, US$45.ISBN 978-0-8389-1129-7.

“For the first time, there is a group of people who can haveeverything they could ever want in the palm of their hand.”Scott La Counte, a librarian at Anaheim Public Library anddeveloper of LibFind, a mobile app providing contact infor-mation for public libraries across the United States, presentshis intended audience (librarians) with a step-by-step guideon developing mobile apps for a library environment.

Book Reviews


Book Reviews

La Counte’s book is certainly timely, raising awarenessof mobile development in our technologically enhanced21st century, and providing encouragement to libraries tojoin Generation Mobile (the author’s moniker for thosepossessing hand-held devices) and open an untappedpotential marketing opportunity. Writing in a narrative for-mat, La Counte organizes his report into eight chapters,beginning with a somewhat textbook-like definition of mobileapps, and concluding with a number of suggestions orstepping-stones for librarians delving into the mobile world.He thus echoes Comenius’ (Moravian educational reformerand theologian, 1592-1670) orbis pictus principle (you learnby example). While some of the author’s recommendationson mobile site optimization may seem obvious, perhapseven trivial, they can easily be forgotten in the rush to createcontent. La Counte cautions the reader that creating amobile app or producing a mobile-optimized website is notabout merely transferring content. Mobile devices take onmany different shapes and forms, do not necessarily supportJavaScript, and contain a number of varying features.Perhaps the most universal piece of advice that the authorgives is “keep it simple.”

With the influx of Web 2.0 websites, coupled with easyto manage WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)editors, it may seem counterintuitive to revert back to HTMLcoding for mobile app creation. However, La Counte, withhis clear instructions, supplemented with numerousscreenshots, tables and figures, makes no assumptionabout a librarian’s technical ability, choosing to ease thereader into the app creation and development process frominitiation to conclusion. The final three chapters containnumerous tips, HTML codes, templates and the author’spersonal remarks on WYSIWYG editors to get libraries onboard with mobile technology.

Although written by a public librarian, this book willappeal to librarians in any setting. Librarians no longer needastute technical know-how, nor should it be necessary forthem to hire an app programmer to meet their needs. Rather,following the author’s advice and taking advantage of thewisdom he has to offer should at the very least get librarianstalking about opportunities to take the library into the mobileera. Delivering a realistic portrayal of mobile app develop-ment, La Counte admits that “for every excellent app, thereare at least ten apps that fail.” However, “unless yourmission in developing an app is to do something cool andflashy and short lived, think interactive.”

Reviewed by Marcus Vaska, Librarian, Health InformationNetwork, Calgary.

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How to Fix CopyrightWilliam Patry. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2011. 323 pp., $21.95.ISBN 978-0-19-976009-1.

William Patry, the chief copyright lawyer for Google, isan international authority on copyright with several majorpublications on this issue. In a disclaimer, Patry states quiteexplicitly that this work is his alone and does not reflectthe official view of Google. The intended audience for thishardback book are policymakers on copyright on a world-wide basis.

There are 12 chapters, with an introduction and copiousreferences, written in a lively eclectic style with referencesfrom Socrates to Big Brother. Patry seeks to challenge thecurrent paradigm on copyright, which is dependent upon anold economic model based on scarcity, gatekeepers andmonopolies. His goal is to bring copyright legislation more inline with the digital age. He calls for pragmatic solutions tocopyright problems based on political and economic factors,where costs are lower, Internet access is worldwide, andstreaming along with cloud computing has obscured theold copy model. He seeks to ensure that copyright holdersget remunerated, the length of copyright time is lessenedand access, sometimes for cultural heritage purposes, isencouraged.

The clarion call for reform of copyright is clearly made;however, much less space is devoted to specific practicalsolutions. Patry places the emphasis more on calling for thedevelopment of economic models tailor made to suit specificcases. This work would be most useful in an academic orbusiness library.

Reviewed by Gordon Burr, Associate Member, School ofInformation Studies, McGill University.

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Book Reviews

The Librarian’s Guide toMicropublishing: HelpingPatrons and CommunitiesUse Free and Low-CostPublishing Tools to TellTheir StoriesWalt Crawford. Medford, N.J.:Information Today, Inc., 2012. ix +172 pp., softcover, $49.50.ISBN 978-1-57387-430-4.

Unlike vanity publishing, micropublishing has no upfrontcosts to the author and uses print on demand (POD) fulfill-ment services to print individual books as needed. In thispractical guide, Walt Crawford recommends micropublish-ing to anyone with a book worth publishing, a small audienceor market (one to 500) and a limited budget—from genealogyenthusiasts, family narrative keepers, hiking groups, teenwriting groups or local historians to specialists. He believesthat libraries and librarians have an important role to play inhelping patrons and community groups share their storiesand knowledge by becoming micropublishing facilitators oreven micropublishers themselves.

Drawing on his own extensive micropublishing experi-ence, Crawford takes libraries and their communities throughthe essential steps for micropublishing a print book (andderiving an e-book version), using tools most librarians andpatrons already likely own, such as MSWord. He showshow to get from a “good enough” self-published book to amicropublished book almost as good as any trade-publishedbook, at no or very low cost.

This relatively short book succeeds in showing thatmicropublishing is a valid publishing option and that librariesshould be involved. But since its focus is layout andtypography, its coverage of writing, editing, proofreading,indexing, cover design, printing and binding, distribution,sales and fulfillment is brief, leaving novice Word usersand never-before-published readers short on details andneeding to consult alternative reference works.

This title is a timely one as public and academic librariesseek meaningful new services for their patrons.

Reviewed by Diana Kichuk, Electronic Resources Librarian,University of Saskatchewan Library, Saskatoon.

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Working in the Virtual Stacks:The New Library andInformation ScienceLaura Townsend Kane. Chicago: AmericanLibrary Association, 2011. xi + 167 pp.,softcover, $47 ($42.30 for ALA members).ISBN 978-0-8389-1103-7.

This book is a sequel to Straight from the Stacks:A Firsthand Guide to Careers in Library and InformationScience, published in 2003. Laura Townsend Kane haswritten this book because so much has changed in librariessince that time. “This is by no means a comprehensive list ofpossible careers in librarianship.... It is my hope...that thisbook and its sampling of career possibilities will inspire twogroups of people: those considering librarianship as acareer and those considering a mid-career change.”

It is divided into five chapters: Librarians as SubjectSpecialists, Librarians as Technology Gurus and SocialNetworkers, Librarians as Teachers and CommunityLiaisons, Librarians as Entrepreneurs, and Librarians asAdministrators. Each chapter begins with a section byKane that generally contains subsections on environments,education and training, professional associations and, insome chapters, skills and responsibilities. This is followed by“Spotlights,” her interviews with several of the 34 Americanlibrarians included in the book. There is a seven-page index,which for a book of this size indicates an ability to quicklyaccess specific topics.

I would highly recommend this book if I were writingthis review for a U.S. publication. However, I have somereservations about its use in Canadian libraries and schoolguidance councillors’ offices. A person very knowledgeableabout Canadian librarianship would need to be availableto add Canadian content with respect to some parts ofthe book.

Reviewed by Jean Weihs, Technical Services Group,Toronto.


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Fundamentals of Library InstructionMonty L. McAdoo

Being a great teacher is part and parcel of being agreat librarian. In this book, veteran instruction serviceslibrarian McAdoo lays out the fundamentals of thediscipline in easily accessible language. Succinctlycovering the topic from top to bottom, he:

• Offers an overview of the historical context of library instruction, drawingon recent research in learning theory to help the instructor choose themost effective strategies for any situation

• Shows readers how to assess the information needs of a given audience,how to develop a curriculum for teaching information literacy, and how tofit an appropriate amount of content into the allotted time

• Addresses the pros and cons of online versus face-to-face instruction• Includes methods for publicizing the availability of the library’s learningopportunities

With expert guidance for putting theory into practice, McAdoo’s book helpslibrarians connect with students as effectively as possible.

Price: $66.00 • CLA Member Price: $60.50 • 128 pages • 6" x 9" • Softcover •2012 • ISBN-13: 978-0-8389-1141-9

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Fundamentals of Managing ReferenceCollectionsCarol A. Singer

Whether a library’s reference collection is large orsmall, it needs constant attention. Singer's bookoffers information and insight on best practicesfor reference collection management, no matter thesize, and shows why managing without a plan is arecipe for clutter and confusion. In this very practicalguide, reference librarians will learn:

• The importance of collection development policies, and how to effectivelyinvolve others in the decision-making process

• New insights into selecting reference materials, both print and electronic• Strategies for collection maintenance, including the all-important issueof weeding

This important new book will help librarians make better referencedecisions, aligned to customer needs and expectations, especiallysignificant with today’s limited budgets.


Fundamentals of ReferenceCarolyn M. Mulac

The all-in-one “Reference reference” you’ve beenwaiting for, this invaluable book offers a conciseintroduction to reference sources and services for avariety of readers, from library staff members whoare asked to work in the reference department tomanagers and others who wish to familiarize them-selves with this important area of librarianship.Written in an accessible style and designed for

everyday use, it presents an overview of the basic tools and techniques ofreference work, including:

• “Reference Services,” a section addressing such important topics astelephone reference, the reference interview, and electronic reference

• “Reference Sources,” chapters which focus on types of referencetools, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, handbooks,and almanacs

• Appendixes with key documents prepared by the Reference and UserServices Association (RUSA) and an annotated bibliography

An excellent training tool for both new and experienced staff,Fundamentals of Reference will quickly become your fundamentalreference!


The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guideto the Medal and Honor Books, 2012 EditionAssociation for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

Updated to include the 2012 award and honor books,this new edition of the annual guide to the Newberyand Caldecott awards gathers together the booksdeemed most distinguished in American children'sliterature and illustration since the inception ofthe renowned prizes. Librarians and teachers every-where rely on this guidebook for quick reference and

collection development and also as a resource for curriculum links andreaders' advisory. With an easy-to-use streamlined look and format, the2012 guide also includes:

• A new essay by Deborah Stevenson, Director of the Center for Children'sBooks, on how the awards are consistently a big moment for children'sbooks to be noticed and celebrated outside the library world

• Explanations of criteria used to select the winners• Updated bibliographic citations and indexes for the award winners

This perennial guide for locating information about the best in children'sbooks is valuable for every collection.


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