Lilburn Branch Library
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Check Your Ego at the Door
The Transparent Library: Check Your Ego at the Door
By Michael Casey & Michael Stephens — Library Journal, 7/15/2008
Egos create rules for rules’ sake. Egos complicate procedures and keep good people down. Egos squash good ideas and can take the best of an organization and turn it on itself.
…Appreciate those who bring issues and problems to your attention, even if you don’t really want to hear about them because it indicates that something needs to be fixed or improved. These people are valuable—they are not annoyances! Acknowledge that you don’t know everything. Ego makes us unwilling to admit when we aren’t familiar with something or someone, but being a good manager or leader means owning up to our limitations and knowing who to call for help.
…Understand that while we have very good reasons for doing things, we may not communicate them well. Staffers who question administration and decisions should not be perceived as threats but as reminders that we may need to reexamine how we communicate our strategies and our justifications.
Full collumn here (full text and free!).
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Article: For the Chief, a Little Skepticism Can Go a Long Way
By Kelley Holland at the New York Times:
Senior executives and directors “have got to be able to smell the smoke,” he added. “They have to have a certain level of cynicism and skepticism.”…
…Unfortunately, there are a host of reasons that leaders do not necessarily get all the information they need.
Simple human nature is part of the problem: No one likes to hear bad news, no matter how useful it may be. Managers who appear to blame the messengers bringing word of, say, poor sales or a competitor’s inroads, can easily discourage future reports…
…A top executive might say that “I’m very clear that I have an open-door policy,” said Craig Chappelew, a senior manager at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, N.C. “But for me to even get in, I have to get past the front desk, get a badge, and get past two levels of administrative assistants. I think they confuse open-door policy with interpersonal approachability.”
Read the full article here.
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Congratulations Tony!
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Beyond Blogs
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Hall County Public Library Opens New Branch
Hall County Public Library Opens New South Hall Branch
Originally uploaded by Michael Casey
My local public library opened their newest branch today, the Spout Springs Branch in south Hall county. It’s a very attractive new facility with a great open-air room that’s completely screened in for that outdoor feel without the bugs. Other things of note include a fireplace, a beautiful children’s area with two very large wall murals, a 3M RFID system, plenty of customer computers in several separate computer labs, three study rooms perfect for three or four people needing to work together, and much, much more. Kudos to Adrian Mixon, Hall County’s director, for opening this beautiful new library right down the street from me.
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No Chewing!
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Embracing Service to Teens
The Transparent Library: Embracing Service to Teens
By Michael Casey & Michael Stephens — Library Journal, 5/15/2008
When did it become an acceptable customer service response to try and push out an entire age group of users? Never, but that’s happening at too many libraries. Can we remain transparent, open, and focused on the core value of access and still tell young people to find another place to be social online?
…When we advocate bringing teens into the library, we don’t acquiesce to rowdy teen behavior, as some suspect. Behavioral problems are never acceptable in the library. Foul-mouthed teens need to be booted out for the day, and problem teens for longer periods. Sometimes this means hiring security guards, and sometimes this means setting a firm tone at the beginning.
But don’t misunderstand; teens will be teens–they need to talk and socialize–so don’t expect a library with a lot of teens to be quiet. Carving out a teen area is great, if you have the room. If not, try to find an area that can be kept relatively quiet and offer it to those users who need a sanctuary.
Issues with teens are often larger community challenges. Kids need interesting and safe things to do. The entire community should be a part of the solution.
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A Visit to the Georgia Tech Library
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can you tell we’re Apple geeks?
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