Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal June 2007 Volume 5(3)

Aiming Higher

Time for a skills review

Periods of restructuring or refurbishment are a good time to reassess skills, writes Jill Evans.

Many libraries, learning resource centres and information services are reviewing their services with re-alignments, restructuring, refurbishments, rebuilds and perhaps migrating to a shared campus with another sector.

While these discussions and transitions are going on, it is time, I would suggest, to consider the skills that we need in our portfolio to ensure that we are best prepared to meet the changing roles and developments that will occur. Underlying any development of a library service remains the core function of providing services to our users - to assist their guidance with the retrieval of information.

A few new library, or learning spaces, developments with which I have been involved indicate that the library occupies the central area of the new building’s footprint. This emphasises the core function of the library’s collection. It ensures that its print collections, and perhaps access to the electronic collections are centrally positioned, and crucially, that the library staff are visible and accessible for providing assistance and guidance to their users.

The central position of the library will also confirm and convey a sense of ‘intellectual common ground’ when a number of disciplines, subjects and faculties share the same space, perhaps for the first time, to foster a sense of academic community. Librarians are a superb example of fostering skills of enquiry to our users providing them with tools for fruitful enquiry.

So we need to add new skills to our existing portfolios. To meet the changing delivery of library services these new skills include marketing, risk-taking, business continuity, staff management, financial management and change management. However, I would suggest that we also need the additional skills of stability, belief, flexibility, initiative, trust and advocacy. Similarly, when one applies for a new post and accepts the offer of the contract, one has to believe in the change, and trust one’s judgement that the correct decision has been made.

A new post will bring new responsibilities, perhaps a new organisation, a new location, new colleagues, and stability will be sought. This analogy could be applied to sharing a new building with another library sector, or developing a library service to deliver to a new discipline, faculty or user group. We have to believe in the change and make sure we are able to absorb new strategies and respectfully dispense with actions or policies that have become irrelevant.

CILIPS representatives were invited to attend a conference in Finland and Estonia recently. I was fortunate to attend “Making a Difference: moving towards library 2.0”, the Library Forum in the twin cities of Helsinki and Tallinn with nine colleagues from Scotland. Anne Poulson, Librarian of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, presented a paper and spoke passionately of ‘Skills for Leading Effective Change in Your Organisation’. One of the main arguments was to stabilise any change and make your colleagues believe in the change. Anne also stated that it was vitally important to take and make time for the change in direction by working with colleagues, and sharing the implications of the new service delivery. Communication and active collaboration were imperative.

A building block in this structure of change is trust. The organisation’s complement of staff which, I believe, is the organisation’s most important asset, must include colleagues who demonstrate trust in people and who believe in each other’s judgement. We were invited to encourage openness, debate, and winning hearts and minds during the new challenges that accompany any period of change. Change sometimes appears to present obstacles to the current skills and expertise which we possess. If we take time to share and adapt our flexible skills-set we will demonstrate that the library is an indispensable component of the organisation.

The final statement at the Twin Cities Conference in Finland from Mr Kai Ekholm, Director of the National Library of Finland, was apposite – he urged us never to underestimate the wisdom of a librarian.

Information Scotland Vol. 5(3) June 2007

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