COMPETENCY D

“WORDS ARE ALSO ACTIONS AND ACTIONS ARE A KIND OF WORDS.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

D.
Apply the fundamental principles of planning, management and marketing/advocacy

     Every great library has a plan. Starting with a mission statement, a library creates their visions, values and goals to help the library run smoothly and to achieve the right environment for their patrons and the community. In Library 266, Collection Management, I created a collection development policy for a nonexistent library located in Cavendish, PEI (Library 266 Collection Development Policy). In order to create the policy I called on the knowledge I had learned in Library 204, Information Organizations and Management. In Library 204, I learned about environmental scans. I created an environmental scan for the Dublin Public Library. I researched the city of Dublin to learn about events in the community, demographics and statistics. I then visited the Dublin Public Library to access the needs of the community, which events are held at the library and who uses the library the most. I observed the neighboring business and used all the knowledge I had gained to compile an environmental scan to use in the created of a strategic plan for the library. In regards to the collection development policy, I was not able to visit the library because it was non-existent, so instead I researched the city of Cavendish and chose a place in the center of town for the library to be located. I then went about created a collection development policy that would bring in books and media that would match the needs of the community.
     Great management can help make a library successful. In Library 204, Information Organizations and Management, we covered the topic of management styles and skills. I wrote a paper on the importance of motivation in the management style (Library 204 Motivation). I compared different articles on management styles and motivation techniques. In the first article by Nigel Nicholson entitled “How to Motivate Your Problem People,” the focus is on how management reacts to problem employees. Nicholson discusses how employers usually react and how relationships with problem employees can be improved.  The second article I discuss is by Abraham Zaleznik. In the article “Managers and leaders are they different?” Zaleznik sheds light on the differences between management and the employees. He feels the manager is held in a higher regard and therefore holds himself to a higher standard. Managers are level headed and goal orientated compared to the employees who work for rewards.
     Despite the two different views on managers, both articles focus on ways to encourage employees to do their best and how managers can work harder to create better relationships with their employees. Motivation is required for any employee to succeed. If a situation arises and a staff member is not working to their ability, kindness and understanding should be shown along with encouragement and further training. Having staff members in charge of certain areas of the library and programs can help keep up motivation and allow a feeling of pride and success in reaching a goal.
     Marketing is an important tool to keep patrons informed on library and events. I covered how each event in the programming plans is marketed to bring patrons in and add interest. There is always room for improvement in a marketing plan and in Library 204, Information Organizations and Management; I worked on a group strategic plan of the Albany Library (Library 204 Strategic Plan). The strategic plan covered information and ideas on how the library could market itself better. They had an online website that had a calendar of events, but nothing caught the eye and invited you to explore the website further. Marketing to the county website, city website and at schools around town can help bring in patrons. The strategic plan proposed by my group looked at the future plan of the Albany Library, where they wanted to be in five years and how the library would grow. Research showed where the library had been and how making a coffee shop or access to the community center could help improve interest and drive in traffic to the library.

References

Library of Congress (2006). On These Walls. Retrieved July 20, 2011 from http://www.loc.gov/loc/walls/

Nicholson, N. (2003). How to Motivate Your Problem People. Harvard Business Review,  81(1), 57-65.

Zaleznik, A. (1977).  Managers and leaders: are they different? Harvard Business Review, 55(3), 67-78.

Evidence:
Libr 204: Motivation Management
Libr 204: Strategic Plan
Libr 266: Collection Development Policy and Public Service Announcement