Operational Plan – The End!

Yay!  I finally finished the assignment that’s driven me crazy over the past weekend.  It had to be 8 pages minimum, not counting the cover page and references… mine ended up being 10 pages, so not too bad.

Creating this plan was a lot of work, but it was good work.  Too often teachers assign busy work to fulfill a writing requirement or because they don’t know what else to do with us.  I really feel like this particular assignment will be useful in my library career.  It’s given me practice at interpreting a Strategic Plan to see where my department fits in.  I really had to think critically about what I would like to accomplish in a fiscal year as opposed to what is reasonable for a medium-sized library.  My experience working in a library of Kichalda’s size helped me understand what is really do-able. I doubt it would have been as easy if I didn’t have the real-life experience to supplement the theoretical stuff I’m learning in school.

Next assignments:

• Evaluation of Information Retrieval Interfaces – 6 pages, single spaced
• Evaluation of the Group for the Strategic Plan – 1-2 pages, double spaced
• Analytical Research Paper – 15-20 pages, double spaced

Operational Plan – II

I’ve settled down a bit with this particular assignment.  I decided that before this plan was created, the Kichalda Library was beginning to take advantage of their bilingual staff members’ abilities to create signs and explain library policies, but that they simply hadn’t gone far enough with it.  That made it a bit easier to get started.  Now all I have to deal with is creating the individual measures for the plan, assigning responsibility, and figuring out a budget and timeline.  Sounds like “real” work to me.

I wonder how much the decrease in intimidation has to do with the looming deadline for this project.  Isn’t it funny how a sense of calm can come over you at the most stressful moments?  It works that way for me sometimes; and then everything becomes clear.

So I created the measures to go along with the first goal from the Strategic Plan: create/receive supplementary funding.  Each group member must tackle the goals from a unique perspective, and mine happens to be that of a Circulation Supervisor.  The Kichalda Library doesn’t have a particular person designated to manage donations of time, money, or materials, so I really had to think about what a circulation staff person could do with this goal.  The Kichalda Library also doesn’t have a Friends organization to oversee these topics.  I had to make sure that the measures wouldn’t detract from (or even take over) their daily duties, and that the work would also be meaningful.  In my opinion, there’s nothing worse than being assigned “busy work” because the supervisor doesn’t know what else to do.

Several of the ideas I came up with were things that general circulation personnel are not trained to handle, and really go beyond the scope of their current job duties.  I mean, exactly how would circulation staff create partnerships with community leaders, businesses, and secure grants?  It’s just not feasible for most of them.  But circulation staff can handle things that relate to “passive fundraising.”  They can collect small monetary donations, they can sell library-related items, and they can be knowledgeable about the ways a patron can donate to the library.  Even these small measures can help with raising the money necessary to achieve a library’s goals.

Well, I should really get back to work.  I have to tackle the next goal: create a welcoming atmosphere.

Operational Plan

I’m sitting here at my favorite coffee shop, Eon Coffee, and enjoying the beautiful weather, good food and awesome coffee, all while trying to do my homework.  For this particular assignment I must create an operational plan for one department based upon the 41-page strategic plan my group wrote for the fictional Kichalda Library.  It’s a bit more difficult than I thought.

I’m having some problems because the library is fictional.  It sounds silly to say this, but with a “real” library I would be able to tell what measures are already in place, and I could see how they might be changed to achieve the critical success factors.  With a fictional library… well, I can make up anything I want and it’ll be right.  It’s a bit daunting.

So, I need to look at how the Kichalda Library’s circulation services department can help with:

• finding/receiving supplementary funding
• creating a welcoming atmosphere
• mentoring and empowering youth through technology
• expanding volunteerism/awareness
• increase communication between patrons and staff
• improve customer service and staff morale

Sounds like a lot of work to me, but I know it’ll definitely be useful for my library career.  One thing’s for sure, very little of this program so far is theoretical, and I appreciate it.

Outsourcing Collection Development

One of the optional readings for my Info & Society class dealt with the idea of outsourcing a library’s collection development.  This doesn’t necessarily mean sending the selection process overseas.  It simply means that a part (or the majority) of the collection development is performed by a company outside the library. (http://www.libraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6471081)

I can see how this idea came about, after all library budgets are continually shrinking, while the costs associated with developing and cataloging a collection are rising.  Libraries need to think creatively about ways they can cut costs while still maintaining a high level of customer service.  But is outsourcing collection development the answer? 

I don’t know if it is the answer for every library, but for a select few it may be the best thing since sliced bread.  Using an outside service for things like mass market paperbacks, popular fiction, and new-release dvds will free up a library’s collection development team and allow them focus on fine tuning the collection for the community.  The outside service might also help keep the library’s collection balanced, so that too much money isn’t spent on one topic or genre.

Unfortunately, outsourcing collection development might not work as well for some community libraries.  One librarian in the article noted that a “best seller” might not circulate very well at their library, while an obscure title will have a holds queue a mile long.  Another noted that Republican titles are very popular, but they can’t stock ONLY these titles because the library wouldn’t be representing the entire community.  These little nuances are something outside companies may not understand, which may frustrate a library and its community.

I believe that as these programs become easier to tailor, their use will probably rise.  Do you think that this is a good thing for libraries or their communities?  Why?

Library podcasts

Well, I’ve decided that since the library gave me an Ipod, I should download some library-related podcasts.  Does anyone have a favorite?  Or even one they’ve heard is good?  Let me know!

New Job

In a little under a month I’ll be starting another new job.  I was just hired as the Library Circulation Supervisor for another library in my system.  I’m super excited about starting this new position, but I feel terrible for leaving my current position after such a short time.  I guess that’s just how the world works sometimes, right?

Poverty, Poor People, and Our Priorities

Poverty, Poor People, and Our Priorities is an article written by John Gehner for a periodical called Reference & User Services Quarterly. The article was published in the Winter 2005 issue.  It was assigned reading for Dr. Maret’s Information and Society class, taught at SJSU.

Info and Society Paper

My Info and Society professor requires a final paper, which I’ve started researching now.  The prof asked that we send in annotated bibliographies with a positional introduction.  So, here’s what I wrote for a nearly perfect grade – I forgot to include the database info for the articles so I’ll make sure to include it in the final paper.  So, that’s what’s below…

Welcome to 2.0

My hunny went to a work-related conference where they stressed the importance of a professional web presence, especially in a web2.0 world.  So, he jumped in and created his first blog about professional development.  It’s about computer stuff, so beware if you’re not interested in technical talk.

School: midsemester

Well, it’s been a week since Spring Break and school is still going full-swing.  So far it’s a lot like my undergrad work, except completely online and with a lot more papers to write.  Have you ever done group work online?  It’s an experience to say the least…