CVL LEADS: MENTORSHIP AND LEADERSHIP
Robin Shader
Chattahoochee Valley (Georgia) Libraries Leadership and Development Sessions—or CVL Leads!—is a two-year in-house leadership program that began in September 2009. The program was developed with the following organizational goals in mind:
PLANNING
Deciding which organizational goals to address allowed us to decide which target group to include in the training. You may wish to develop new librarians, new supervisors, or some other category of staff. Another decision is whether to allow part-time staff to participate. The CVL Leads! program requires participants to attend one session per month, plus meet regularly with their mentor. Assigned projects require hours of work. Decide whether part-timers in your library have the time to participate fully. At CVL, we wanted to provide development training to staff members who showed interest and potential in order to create more opportunities to hire and promote from within, so we invited all staff members to apply. Out of eleven applicants, five non-MLS staff members were selected.
Plan your programs with your desired results in mind. Prior to the start of the CVL Leads! program, we defined measurable objectives to focus training efforts and to make it possible to determine whether the program was successful. For example, one objective is to develop staff so that we can hire from within. An obvious way to measure this is to track how many participants obtain promotions within three years.
Programs and projects were developed to address the following topics: customer service, leadership and supervision, project management, technology in libraries, and standards and best practices. Additionally, there is an independent project component so participants can pursue projects of particular interest that may not be covered during regular sessions.
BUDGET
The WebJunction report “Staff Training in Public Libraries: 2007 Fact Sheet” provided survey results from public libraries that offered training programs at that time.1 This report indicated that conference and face-to-face training were considered the most effective training options. With this in mind, CVL Leads! is designed to include mostly face-to-face training and requires participants to attend a national conference. An annual budget of $7,500 covers the following costs:
The bulk of the budget is spent on conference attendance and presenters. If funding is an issue, national conferences can be replaced with state or regional meetings, and sessions facilitated by in-house staff can replace outside trainers. Utilize the expertise in your region and do not limit your trainers to people who are strictly library trainers. Survey agencies in your service area to determine which ones provide training relevant to the library environment. Network with your state library leaders and identify trainers in nearby libraries. Many librarians would be honored to be invited to your library to offer training and may charge only expenses. We have been able to provide top-notch training at a reasonable cost by utilizing the outstanding talent in our region.
PROGRAM COORDINATOR
You need a program coordinator to oversee the program. The program coordinator is responsible for scheduling and evaluating sessions, meeting with participants and mentors to assess the success of the relationships, managing the program budget, and presenting some of the sessions. This person is also the liaison to the administration and keeps them informed of the progress of the group.
COMPETITIVE APPLICATION PROCESS
We required interested staff members to complete an application listing their reasons for applying to the program, what they hoped to learn, previous volunteer experience, and career goals. Completed applications, with names removed, were given to the administrative team for ranking. Scores were totaled, and the five highest ranked scores became the first CVL Leads! class.
GROWING OUR OWN
The program is designed to be two years in duration in order for the participants to become fully involved in the projects assigned. Our goal is not only to provide leadership and management theories but to enable participants to put these theories to use to help solve current library problems. Involving the participants in actual library projects enhances their learning and develops a larger pool of staff members who can be counted on later to manage projects. These experiences better prepare participants to fill management positions that become vacant, This is how we grow our own.
Mentors were assigned to give each participant help with assignments, provide advice, and help them learn about and navigate the organization. Each participant was required to name, in the application, up to three people who they would like to be their mentor. The mentorship component reinforces the value of seeking mentors and taking advantage of the human resources available within and outside the organization. Participants are encouraged to network and seek out mentors everywhere. When assigning mentors, keep in mind the following:
ORIENTATION
The first program was a two-hour orientation attended by the participants and their mentors and facilitated by the program coordinator. Program goals were discussed and each participant spent time talking with her mentor. A list of discussion starter questions was provided to the pairs, who were given thirty minutes to talk. An assignment during orientation was to create a list of personal learning objectives. These will be used to develop future programs to ensure a valuable experience for all participants.
INDEPENDENT PROJECT
During the course of the program, participants must complete an independent project of their choosing. This could be publishing an article, presenting a program at a conference, managing a library project, among other possibilities. The project must be approved by the program coordinator. The independent project encourages participants to explore topics they are interested in, then share what they have learned with their colleagues.
RESULTS
The first CVL Leads! project was to plan our Staff In-Service Day for 127 employees. This took several months and involved identifying presenters and completing contracts, budgeting, managing logistics, creating and compiling staff registrations, arranging for food, and acquiring raffle prizes and giveaways for staff. Post-program surveys were compiled and will be used to improve next year’s program. One member of the group was elected project manager. This project allowed the group to get to know each other and gave them experience working with widely different work styles. They now have project management experience from which they can draw in the future.
The program is only in its first year but has already achieved some of its goals. We have increased training for all library staff and increased involvement of nonmanagement staff in library projects and problem solving. Four of the five members have indicated an interest in obtaining a library degree. One member attended the PLA conference and another will attend and copresent a program during the Computers in Libraries conference.
CVL Leaders are involved, encouraged, and engaged in both local library issues and the profession. A commitment to growing our own will benefit our library and the greater library community.
1. WebJunction, “Staff Training in Public Libraries: 2007 Fact Sheet,” http://ia.webjunction.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=455478&name=DLFE-14557.pdf.