Better Library Leaders-- Library Leadership Skills

Ellen Mehling of Library Career People shares some good advice about job seeking no matter where you are in your career, and I explain where I've been the last couple months.  https://librarycareerpeople.com/

In which we are ALL blind people grasping at parts of the elephant, and i discuss what to do next. Show notes and companion blog post: Betterlibraryleaders.com/BLL12 Collaborative Leadership Course: betterlibraryleaders.com/LJA

Welcome back to Better Library Leaders! I didn’t intend to take October off from blogging and podcasting, but when I look back at the things I KNEW I had on my to-do list, not to mention a couple surprises that came up, I really should have given myself the grace to take a bit of an official hiatus. But hey, I finished the outline and general topic of my very first online course, which I’m going to be teaching through Library Juice Academy at the invitation of friend of the show and librarian entrepreneur extraordinaire Rory Litwin. I’ll give you the full scoop in this short and sweet episode, and I'll also share my thoughts on how we can do a better job of managing overwhelm. Sign up for my Collaborative Leadership Course: betterlibraryleaders.com/LJA

Welcome to Episode 10 of the Better Library Leaders Podcast—in which Ingrid Abrams talks about being the Magpie Librarian, I get my Rant on over a scuffle in Kansas City, and I talk about Leadership Books that don’t suck.

Lots of good news (and one slightly embarrassing bit from local politics), a GREAT interview with prison librarian Jameson Rohrer, and I have a question for all of you in the spotlight segment. Hang around after the end, I've got a great bonus bit from my conversation with Jameson about why you should become a corrections librarian. full show notes: betterlibraryleaders.com/episode9

After a brief post-launch hiatus from the microphone, I'm back! Several nifty things happened while I was away on my little rest, including my first iTunes review, an interview for the Library Career People blog, and more. Today's Interview is a fascinating look into the world of Library Politics, with Patrick Sweeney of EveryLibrary. Hear him tell some fascinating war stories, and share some useful tips for becoming a more effective political advocate for your library. Finally, webinars are in the spotlight for the final segment of the show--how to be a good presenter AND a good attendee. Enjoy! full show notes: betterlibraryleaders.com/episode8 Subscribe in Itunes: betterlibraryleaders.com/itunes FREE Mini-Course on mastering Difficult Conversations: betterlibraryleaders.com/subscribe

This week I’ve got former colleague and current writing program director Sara Beam from the University of Tulsa here to talk about the ins and outs of partnerships between the library and other organizations, and about our specific collaboration the last few years developing a joint workshop series for senior capstone students. I’m also excited to share my spotlight segment, in which I go off on a bit of a rant about why imposter syndrome is neither a syndrome or related to being an imposter. But I’m even more excited today because this is my LAST WEEKLY EPISODE. My blog post as usual for this launch series will be coming out on Thursday, and then after a week off, I’ll be starting my new content release schedule. Starting on September 6th, I’ll be releasing a podcast episode every other week, alternating with blog posts at Better Library Leaders.com. I’ve enjoyed the everyday tools for library leaders series, and I hope I’ve introduced you to some nifty resources, but this new release schedule will let me really dig my teeth into some big-picture concepts and issues we all need to grapple with to become better library leaders. When you're done listening,don't forget to donate to the Feminist Library in London, which is trying to raise money for a new location for one of the most unique collections on feminism in the UK! Full Show Notes: betterlibraryleaders.com/episode7 FREE Course on mastering difficult conversations: betterlibraryleaders.com/subscribe  

How can librarians provide excellent services to a community that is almost certainly more diverse than our profession? How do you go about developing a collection of zines? What can you do on the days when it feels especially lonely at the top? This week I explore the debate around a hot-button article about reading outside our comfort zones. I also interview Zine Librarian, former AFI Intern AND radio host Ziba Perez Zehdar from the Long Beach Public Library, who even found some spare time to win an Emerging Cities Champions fellowship from the Knight Foundation to build a book bike. (Go Speed Reader, GO!) Full Show Notes: Betterlibraryleaders.com/episode6 BLL Community: betterlibraryleaders.com/facebook FREE Mastering Difficult Conversations course: betterlibraryleaders.com/subscribe

If you can't beat the election obsession, join it! After a brief programming note about the change to an every-other-week schedule that will happen later this month, I bow to the inevitable, and talk about Presidential Libraries in the news segment. That's just a warmup for a GREAT interview with Justin Brasher, of Brash Librarian fame. he had me in stitches while talking about how a struggling actor becomes a public librarian, social media expert AND blogger. And we didn't even get into his partnership with menswear designer Combatant Gentleman! Oh well, I'll just have to bring him back. I wrap things up in the spotlight segment with the ONE thing you can do right now to escape the "busy trap." Full Show Notes with Links: betterlibraryleaders.com/episode5  

Library leaders get frustrated sometimes, and last week on the Facebook group they shared some of those frustrations. The interview segment is a good one, with our first non-librarian guest, Amy Gravino, dropping by to talk about how librarians can best work with patrons and colleagues on the Autism Spectrum. Last but not least, I share some tips on efficiently and effectively hiring volunteers and student workers, a chore that many librarians are thinking about as summer begins to turn toward autumn. Full show notes: betterlibraryleaders.com/episode4 BLL Facebook Community: betterlibraryleaders.com/facebook FREE Course on Mastering Difficult Conversations: betterlibraryleaders.com/subscribe

I hadn't planned it this way, but current news events in libraryland combined with a wonderful conversation with Sarah McNicol, PhD (Editor of Critical Literacy for Information Professionals, for which I contributed a chapter based on my dissertation work) gave me the idea to go all-in on the theme of Critical Librarianship. As for the brief Olivia Newton-John interlude, sorrynotsorry. ;-) News: Donate Books to Prison Libraries: http://action.everylibrary.org/sign_up_to_donate_books_to_prison_libraries Jail Time for losing Dr. Seuss?!?! https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterlibraryleaders/permalink/1151449734913364/ Circulating Ideas Episode 92 (Jake Berg and I talk Information Literacy): https://circulatingideas.com/2016/05/10/episode-92-jacob-berg/   Interview: About Dr. McNicol: http://www.esri.mmu.ac.uk/resstaff/profile.php?surname=McNicol&name=Sarah Buy Critical Literacy for Information Professionals: www.facetpublishing.co.uk/title.php?id=300822 (UK) http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=11687 (US)   Spotlight Segment: Critical Librarianship for Library Leaders: http://betterlibraryleaders.com/critlib My Dissertation: http://betterlibraryleaders.com/Dissertation    

Back by popular demand (and because I already had the interview recorded), it’s Better Library Leaders Episode 2! As a way of helping more folks discover the show I’ll be putting it out weekly through the end of August before my long term schedule of every other Tuesday (the ones that aren’t Circulating Ideas episodes).  After announcing the winner of last week’s drawing for an Amazon gift card and our other Episode One show sharers (the list includes two of my podcasting role models AND a Monkee), I take a moment to gush about America’s new Librarian of Congress before transitioning to an interview with Andy Taylor, a librarian, archivist, and records manager at Tulsa Community College. He took a classroom filled four feet deep with 45 years of institutional archives and imposed order on the chaos, finding numerous buried treasures along the way. After our discussion about the preservation of past and present institutional knowledge, I wrap up with a spotlight segment on the 4 Ps of library marketing. Enjoy! News Segment: *Circulating Ideas (YOU ARE subscribed, right?): http://circulatingideas.com *Atlantic article on Carla Hayden: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/07/carla-hayden-is-librarian-of-congress/491267/ *Thomas Jefferson Hour: http://jeffersonhour.com/ Interview with Andy Taylor (8:18) *TCC’s Record Management policies: http://guides.library.tulsacc.edu/recordsmanagement (included Andy’s contact info) Spotlight on Library Marketing (41:30) *More on the 4 Ps of library marketing: http://betterlibraryleaders.com/marketing   *Flickr Commons (where I find my blog post covers!): https://www.flickr.com/commons Other Handy Links: *Subscribe to the show: http://betterlibraryleaders.com/itunes *BLL Facebook: http://betterlibraryleaders.com/Facebook *FREE Mastering Difficult Conversations mini-course: http://betterlibraryleaders.com/subscribe

Welcome to the first full-length episode of Better Library Leaders! Today’s show features a neat discussion with Elspeth Olson, a fellow library podcaster (NPS Break Room Chat) as well as a librarian at the American Bookbinders Museum, a workplace that features a working book Guillotine. Elspeth is also the Chair-elect of the ALA's Library Management and Leadership Association's New Professionals Section. In the Spotlight segment, I share a recent unpleasant encounter I had with our trash dumpster and a mud puddle, and consider the lessons I learned about handling a rough day as a library leader. Oh, and I get a little snarky about library cats in the News roundup. Please don't unsubscribe, I love cats and I am owned by two of them. (I'm just not on board with the idea of them living in libraries...) ~~~~~ BLL Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterlibraryleaders/?ref=br_tf FREE Mastering Difficult Conversations mini-course: http://betterlibraryleaders.com/subscribe/ Knight News Challenge: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterlibraryleaders/permalink/1144257195632618/ Cornell's Wine Library: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterlibraryleaders/permalink/1145575108834160/ Browser the Library Cat: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterlibraryleaders/permalink/1142551069136564/ AND https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterlibraryleaders/permalink/1143994858992185/ American Bookbinders Museum: http://bookbindersmuseum.org/ LLAMA NPS: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LLAMA.NPS/ Break Room Chat Podcast:https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/break-room-chats/id1009630856?mt=2 The Library Leader's guide to Bad Days: http://betterlibraryleaders.com/2016/05/26/the-library-leaders-guide-to-bad-days/

Here goes...after a lot of prepping and blog posting, the Better Library Leaders Podcast is live! If you're looking for a show that talks about the ins and outs of great library leadership, then this is the podcast for you! Each episode of the show will be divided into three sections, which I will describe in the show notes with a timestamp, comments, and some useful links.   Part 1--News Update The big (ok, medium-ish) news today is that I launched the podcast! I share a little bit about the format of this podcast, as well as my goals for the show. BLL Website: BetterLibraryLeaders.com BLL Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterlibraryleaders/ BLL Twitter: @oklibrarian   Part 2--Interview with Alex Gates (4:55) Alex is a former journalist and current school librarian at an elementary school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We had a brief chat at the Oklahoma Library Association conference about libraries and leadership.   Part 3--The Secret to Fearless Leadership (8:50) In this Spotlight Segment, I share what i learned about dealing with fear as a leader when a tornado blew into town.