Category Archives: Training

Training

Episode 410 Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm can be easily overlooked as a significant leadership competency. As long as you have a mission, a strategic plan, and a staff – do you need anything else? Well, yes. Yes, you do. Any leader can immediately tell you the difference between a staff or a group that is only reluctantly going along with you to accomplish goals, and one that is excited to make things happen.

Leaders are not the only cause of a good workplace, but a leader with enthusiasm for the library, for the mission, for the staff, and for the patrons, can make a positive difference in it all.

 What do we mean by enthusiasm? It does not have to be overly syrupy, saccharine-sweet cheerleading. That can get old, fast. Instead we mean optimism, positive emotional connection to whatever you are working on in your library.

Check out our full shownotes page here!

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Programs, Training

Training Tips: Doing a Great Program!

Programs are great! Programs are one of the three things libraries provide to their communities. (Books and services are the other two.)

There are many people in your community who do not want to read books, and are not looking for help with computers or tech  – but they will come to you for interesting programs. It is a good way to let people know about the value libraries bring to the community!

What kind of programs are right? It can be anything! There is no need to even make it loosely library-related (though, offering up books on your program topic is a nice touch).  Just find out a few interests in your community, and have a program. It can be you running it, it can be someone from the community, or it can be an outside expert. Anyone is fine, as long as they can hold the interest of an audience.

If you are new to programming, you may have a bunch of questions. No worries! We will walk through some basics here, and then you can improvise and build on these ideas to make things special for your group.

  • Figure out what to do. Ideally this will come from community interest – maybe your patrons mentioned something specific, or you read about a person doing a cool thing, or you heard about from a podcast about people like those in your community. Great! Do that.
    It’s also entirely fine to just do a program because it’s something you like. Do you knit? Change car tires? Do yoga? Awesome! Do that.
  • Plan it out. Okay, this is a step that gets skipped sometimes, especially when you are in a hurry. But ideally you will want to think through the program. I like to visualize things: what will the first minute look like? What happens half way through? What do I do when things start to go wrong? How do we wrap it up? How long is this going to be? Will I ever get the glitter out of the carpet? (Spoiler: Nope. Just live with it.) Thinking through everything can remind you of the parts you may have glossed over when it all seemed like a great idea that would just happen on its own.
  • Be creative! You don’t necessarily need to have artistic skills, but be ready to be flexible with the program. If the room you want is booked, can you meet outside? If it’s raining outside, where else would you go? How can you accommodate people with not only different abilities, but also different interest levels in your program? Can there be a side activity for kids, or for adults, or for teachers? Unless it was clearly a flop, try something a couple of times before you decide it is definitely not going to work. Part of good programming is being ready to bend and adjust it to fit the unexpected situations that will arise!
  • Advertise! You can be very formal, and for a semester-long program series, that would be a good idea. Or it can be a note on your website, on your parent organization’s page, flyers on the walls of the library, notes sent home with books checked out, or just you emailing everyone you think may be interested. Specifics are not so important, and you will get more ideas on this as you get more knowledgeable with your community. Just remember to do it, so you aren’t left sitting alone with 300 lime jello packets and a glue gun. (Unless you make that persona choice, and we are not judging if you do!)
  • Evaluate and Share: Again, this does not need to be very formal, though of course it can be. At least solicit some feedback and write up your own impressions of things that went well and that went not-so-well. Numbers are powerful, and can show interest in your work. Stories from your patrons, and from you, can be even more attention-getting. Try to include both types of ideas in your evaluation process for the best information to share with everyone else!

Still looking for some programming ideas? We have a whole series of suggestions right here!

Training

Training Tips: Take a moment. Breathe.

Election season is beating in on all of us. People in schools are hitting that mid-semester deluge. And then things are always just…exciting and interesting.

If you join me in feeling kind of overwhelmed by all of this, then join me in working past it.

We have talked about stress management in our podcast episodes, and in some of our other material. And it’s always worth talking about again.

Stress is an ongoing issue in our profession. When your job is helping people, solving their problems, and fixing things for them – it drains you. It’s important to take time to refresh and recharge – not just as a nice idea, but as a fundamental thing you need to do to keep doing your best work.

Let’s walk through some ideas for reducing your stress levels, and increasing your happiness levels.

  • Stop. Take a deep breath. Breathe out. Do it again. This sounds simplistic, but ceasing movement and bringing in extra oxygen will help to give your brain a quick boost.
  • Smile. I’m usually annoyed by this as advice; but if you are in a momentary situation, a quick smile will tell your brain to change directions at least for a minute or so.
  • Walk. Or run, jump, skip, hurdle, row, cycle – whatever movement you enjoy.  Movement will get blood flowing around your brain, bringing it more oxygen and other good stuff. Exercise over time will help your brain to keep its chemicals balanced, which will let you feel happier and less stressed and anxious. You don’t have to be a great athlete – just move around until you are a little breathless.  Do that each day. It will help.
  • Watch some calming videos. I definitely enjoy Kitten Academy – tiny kittens playing together until they are adopted to their fur-ever homes to be spoiled and happy.  I also like to watch relaxation videos on YouTube. Just type that into the search, and you will be presented with tons of choices.
  • Close your eyes. Meditation or prayer can help you to get hold of your racing emotions, thoughts, and wild ideas. Doing this regularly can cause structural changes to your brain that will help you to be calmer, more balanced, and more centered. It’s not a trick – it’s science. Go with it.
    • You can freestyle this, doing what makes you feel good here, or there are a ton of apps that are helpful. I’m using Headspace right now, and it has absolutely helped me to be calmer and more balanced. (I get nothing at all if you download, or if you pay them – you don’t have to; so enjoy if you wish, or find another app that helps you!)

You might be drawn toward less-helpful strategies to temporarily help you to feel better. Binging on Ben and Jerry’s, alcohol, or other drugs may be relaxing in the moment.  It may not be a good long-term solution for you, so give some thought to strategies for stress management that don’t have negative side effects.

We like you, and we need you to be here and wonderful for libraries. The fewer negative side effects we can all have, the better off we are all likely to feel.

Hang in there. Breathe. Do it again. Don’t forget that part.

We are a big community of library people, all working toward a wonderful library world. You are part of it.

Relax. Breathe. Feel good.

Training

Episode 408 Flexibility

Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This week we are going to talk about Flexibility as one of the most important skills leaders need to be successful in their workplaces.

Check out our full shownotes page here, for all the info and links to the books we discuss.

Joining us is Bethany Kauffman, Media Specialist and Book Club Advisor from Rogers High School.

This is another one of those leadership competencies that may not seem important at first glance. But it is an important tool people can use to meet the needs of the communities they are serving. Everything we discuss here goes back to getting the job done, and flexibility is one of the tools you need for that!

What do we mean by flexibility? For us it means the ability to change course when necessary to achieve your goals, and changing plans to be successful.

Check out this episode!