PVLD Director's Blog

Unattended bags

Like many public libraries PVLD has an ongoing problem with people leaving their bags and personal belongings unattended in the library and then being shocked when something goes missing. Even though we try to maintain a safe environment we have lots of area to supervise and over 50,000 people walk through our doors each month.

We are visiting NY and today I saw this sign in Central Park...I guess if people have to be reminded not to leave their personal belongings unattended in an urban park with a known crime problem I shouldn't be surprised that they leave stuff lying around the library!

Ineffective action

This post from Michael Wade of Execupundit  was a funny and cogent description of how many workplace issues are handled -

Ineffective Action Index

• Number of staff members who received the boss's memo: 20
• Number of staff members who needed the directive in the memo: 2
• Number of staff members who will heed the message: 18
• Number of staff members who would have complied anyway: 18
• Number of staff members invited to training on the subject of the memo: 20
• Number of staff members who will fail to attend the training: 2

I would add the following to Michael's list -

• Number of staff members annoyed about why they got the memo and had to take the training - 18

Apart from making me chuckle, Michael's post made me think about how easy it is as a leader to fall into the trap of thinking that a generalized approach will solve a problem when the real solution lies in the  difficult work of dealing with individual behaviors on an individual basis.   I found it a timely reminder.

P.S.  This may be the last post for a few days as I head off on vacation!

Continued tough times for public libraries

I just got back from a meeting of the Southern California Library Cooperative's Administrative Council, made of of the Directors of the 45 member libraries.  The meetings always end with a "roundtable" where each Director present gives a brief update on their library.

In one sense the news was truly depressing as budget updates dominated the reports.  The most fortunate libraries, among which I number PVLD, reported cuts to their budgets for library materials, hiring freezes, and relatively modest cuts to hours and services.  Less fortunate were those that reported overall budget cuts of up to 15% in 2010/2011 after already cutting budgets this year, staff furloughs and associated pay cuts of as much as 10%, devastated library materials budgets, and significant cuts to library hours including several libraries that are closing one or two full days/week (which in some cases means libraries that are only open 4 days/week)...and sometimes all of these at the same library.

Although Los Angeles Public Library was not represented at today's meeting, the local news media has been full of articles like this reporting on their budget cuts.

This comes at a time when demand for library services remains very high.

It's not all bad news though, as Directors reported on Friends of the Library groups, Library Foundations, and community organizations that have stepped to provide additional funding; staffs that have chosen to take pay cuts and/or furloughs in order to avoid layoffs; and staffs that have organized their furloughs to protect library hours.  Even though stretched thin, staff members at all of the libraries are continuing to deliver excellent programs and services and we heard about a number of great programs and events. 

It made me proud to be part of a culture where despite all of the pressures employees maintain their professionalism, dedication, and willingness to support the greater good.  That is definitely true here at PVLD, and today's meeting reminded me that it is true of libraries everywhere.

Does money motivate?

People who know me know that I am not a fan of incentive-based compensation.  My views are based both on my experiences in corporate life, where I witnessed firsthand how financial incentives can drive some truly counterproductive behaviors, and my knowledge of what motivates me.  Suffice it to say that if I was motivated primarily by money I would still be a corporate executive instead of a Library Director!

Dan Pink's recent book Drive provide a cogent, research-based argument that largely validates the views I have formed based on my personal experiences.  The contents of the book are even more cogently presented in this video.  Take a look (hint - double click on the video to get the full-sized version on YouTube) and tell me what you think!

Libraries as the sharers of wisdom

At today's six-month "check in" for the Eureka Leadership Fellows our lunch time speaker was journalist, author, and television personality Richard Rodriguez (I'm writing this on my Iphone and haven't figured out how to link to web pages, so you'll have to look him up yourself!)

His talk was thought-provoking and challenging and left me with a lot to think about. At the very end he said something that really struck me - that the role of libraries is "maintaining memory and passing on wisdom".

Not five minutes later I checked my email and found an email from a PVLD customer that our Circulation Manager, Eve Wittemyer, had forwarded. The customer was thanking Eve for resolving an issue for him, and went on to express appreciation to the staff for doing "a great job sharing such wisdom with the city"

How's that for a bit of synchronicity! And isn't sharing wisdom a wonderful way of expressing what libraries do?

What I accept, I approve

I've just arrived in San Jose for the mid-year get together of the participants and mentors from the Eureka Institute for emerging library leaders in California.  For this and other reasons, the topic of leadership has been on my mind more than usual and I've had more than a few reasons to think about my mentor, Karl Stewart.  Karl was the Managing Director of Comalco Smelting, and the person responsible for the 9 life-changing years Don and I spent in Australia.

Karl has an amazing grasp of what it means to earn the right to be a leader and how one's behavior influences others.  Among the many things he taught me was to distinguish between what he called role-vested authority and earned authority.  In other words, leadership you earn is much more valuable than leadership you inherit by virtue of your organizational position. 

He also taught me about the responsibility the leader has to the team as a whole, and what the impact on the team is when counter-productive behaviors are tolerated.  He did this by example, but also via a simple phrase that has had a profound influence on both my work and personal lives, and one that has been particularly on my mind lately.

That phrase is "What I accept, I approve".  

It is powerful leadership tool in many ways, not the least of which is it forces you to think about what is really important....what you simply can't accept in terms of your own situation and the behavior of others, and what it is ok to let slide.  And then, having decided what you cannot accept, it makes you responsible for doing what is necessary to address the situation. 

It's also a powerful tool for taking responsibility for what happens in your personal life, and like most things that seem simple on the surface it is actually really hard to put into practice.

I am sharing it here in the hope that others will find it as useful a reminder of the responsibility that goes with leadership, and with life, as I have.

    

Quote for the day

Busy week, no time to read much less to post, but with continued bad news about cuts to library services across the country I thought this shirt, as seen on Stephen's Lighthouse was worth sharing.

Since I'd never heard of Eleanor Crumblehulme, the person to whom the quote is attributed, I did some digging.  It seems she is a library employee at the University of British Columbia who posts stuff on Twitter, and this seems to be was one of her "tweets".  She only has about 60 Twitter followers, and judging by all of the references when you search her name on Google, not to mention the T-shirt,  her words are having a bigger impact than she probably ever expected.

It's not only a great quote for a t-shirt, its a great example of the power of the Internet to spread an idea far beyond what would have been possible just a few short years ago.

You can buy it here

Get your groceries at the library?

I am always keeping an eye out for creative ways to reinforce the role of the public library as a vital center of community life, so this piece on National Public Radio really caught my attention.

It's about public libraries in Baltimore that are serving as grocery distribution centers in neighborhoods that don't have convenient access to supermarkets with healthy food options and, prior to this program, were forced to rely on convenience stores with their more limited and often less healthy options.

Under the program people can order their groceries online, including fresh fruits and vegetables, and have them delivered to their neighborhood library with no delivery charge. 

What a great way of giving people access to healthier food options, and at the same time reinforcing the library's central role in maintaining the vitality and well-being of the community. Awesome!