Goal 6: Professional Development & Self-Care

Professional development (PD) for librarians and staff is a complex topic offering both challenges and opportunities. Our workforce—like every one today—consists of multiple generations with widely differing values and capacities. As the large percentage of baby-boomer librarians retires, the field will be left increasingly wide open to a new generation of library professionals who will reinvent their work to keep pace with change. On one end of the spectrum, we need to think about educating these new librarians, so they’ll have the skills they need in their expanded, reinvented roles and how we might best equip them for success. On the other, we consider how to equip those already in the profession, particularly the most senior, with new skills that help them work productively and happily in an environment very different from the one in which they signed up to participate.

It is imperative to think both in terms of the big picture and the details with regard to PD. While we need to develop skills in working with technology and leadership and business skills, we also need to deliver training on specific activities, like partnering with the autism community or using assessments for planning library services. Two questions help make it easier to know where to start: “What are we already doing well?” and “What new activities will offer the greatest leverage in realizing our strategic goals?”

We are good at designing and delivering specific, operational training, something we’ve been doing for a long time. The new territory—and the place of highest leverage—lies in stepping back to consider where our profession is going and the skills our people will need in both the short and long term. We can then partner formally and informally with members of our community and others to see that our people have what they need to thrive.
Goal 6: We have the tools, time and know-how for professional development, personal growth and self-care.

As libraries reinvent themselves, taking on new roles and transforming old ones, a host of new and enhanced skills present themselves as necessary for success. These include the skill to facilitate the creation of content in addition to curation, the ability to collaborate and partner across the boundaries of cultures, disciplines and world views, entrepreneurial skills and the skills of negotiation, advocacy and outreach.

And of course there’s technology and the ability to use and manage it well. We need to be able both to use, and teach the use of, specific technologies like apps and tablets, and we also need to be comfortable with technology in general, since it is changing so fast that individual products quickly come and go. We may find that, while a certain comfort with technology is required of everyone today, it will be best to encourage some people to specialize here, younger “digital natives,” for example. In fact, this is increasingly true in all aspects of our work as we find that we can’t be all things to all people in a complex and technically advanced world.

So, what are some of the skills that will be essential for everyone to possess? At or near the top of the list is the ability to thrive in the midst of change, to be flexible, adaptable, always learning, willing to reinvent what we do and able to coordinate with others to invent and try new things. We must become comfortable with failure and view it as part of the creative process. We must also learn to deal openly and constructively with conflict and have skills for identifying and integrating the interests of our stakeholders. We will need to work well in autonomous teams, to have the skill to lead when appropriate and to support others in leading when it is their turn. And we must look—and go—out into our communities to assess the changing needs of our customers and to work with them to create new products and services to address those needs.

Another essential skill for the modern librarian is that of self care. Librarians and library staff spend admirable amounts of time and energy caring for their constituents. With ever-smaller budgets, this adds up to more than a full-time job. Stories abound about one staff that does the work of two and about librarians working past their limits and then caring for their communities, small children and aging parents. When asked what they do to renew themselves, the answer is frequently, “not so much” or “there’s no time.”

It may seem like the highest priority to learn new technologies or develop our advocacy skills; but the truth is that we cannot do any of these things well if we fail to care for ourselves. No one benefits when we are stressed and burned out, least of all us. It makes great strategic sense, therefore, to develop a greater awareness of our own needs and how we might meet them; and the good news is that it doesn’t have to cost a cent.

We can start by recognizing our need for self-care, and make it a part of the culture of libraries in New Jersey. Suggestions from our community have included a wide range of activities, including peer coaching and mentoring, scheduling regular breaks for meditation or walks, inviting yoga, tai-chi, massage therapists and other care givers to work on library staff in exchange for marketing, health fairs for employees, more social events, using our vacation time fully and having more fun. When we make our well-being a top priority, we will be much more capable of dealing with the challenges we all face. And we can start right now.

Five minutes of deep breathing, or a ten-minute walk will take little from our schedule and add much to our day. We can support each other in finding a balance between activity and rest, between caring for others and caring for ourselves. We can make self-care plans and share and hold each other accountable to them. And we can measure the return on our investment in ourselves by observing increased productivity and quality of life.

The most striking strategic benefit of self- care is that, when we do it, we are positioned to respond proactively, rather than reactively, to change. We are better positioned to see and seize opportunity. We are energized and able to make the choices that will serve us, and our stakeholders, best.

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