Council On Library/Media Technicians

Meeting 21^st Century Challenges:
Professional Development for Library Support Staff

Maurice B. Wheeler, Ph.D.
Director, Detroit Public Library

COLT Conference - April 8, 1999
Detroit, Michigan

Good morning! On behalf of the 500 employees of the Detroit Public Library, I would like to welcome you to Detroit. Our city and its public, academic and special libraries are delighted that you decided to gather here for your annual conference.

It's a wonderful time for libraries. Great things are happening. Challenges abound. Opportunities surround us. We know that in the midst of this activity, there is a high level of stress, accompanied by feeling overwhelmed by the many difficult decisions facing us.

Many libraries are balancing on the tightrope of shrinking financial resources while trying to provide the best possible service to our customers. Frequently, in this high-pressured environment, we become so caught up with the technology, collection development and maintaining infrastructure - we forget our most important resource - the people who work in our institutions. Without these people, of whatever job classification, we are simply unable to provide a product - and that product is information.

It has been said that, "At least fifty percent of what we know today will be obsolete in five years." However, the problem is that we don't know which fifty-percent. On-going, creative and forward-focused staff development and training are key to fighting off the obsolescence that is certainly lurking around the corner.

Since the mid-1970s, library administrators and librarians began to extol the benefits of organized staff training and development activities. Now, 20 years later most library staff members no longer need to convince the library administration of the value of staff development. However, we all know that this commitment usually extends only as far as discretionary funds allow. On rare occasions when staff development does merit inclusion in the base operating budget, these funds are usually the first to be cut in times of budgetary crisis. In some libraries, support staff find that they frequently do not have access to the same level of training and development available to librarians.

I'd like to discuss with you this morning some of the issues related to training and development for library support staff. We are, as your conference theme suggests, "standing at the crossroads" of the future and only a well-prepared staff will have the ability to move libraries into the 21^st century.

First, let me make a distinction between staff development and training. For me, training is frequently reactionary and not necessarily expected to be an on-going activity. Training is usually job-specific and focuses primarily on tasks or procedural instructions.

Staff development is, on the other hand, a far more comprehensive and future oriented undertaking. It provides not only the necessary orientation and training, but also prepares staff for greater challenges and new responsibilities.

Each person is this room knows that library environments have changed over the past decade. Very few libraries and information organizations will remain viable far into the future if they are unable to embrace the significant changes that are certain to come our way. Organizational change is a necessity for survival and none of us will remain unaffected by it. A "business as usual" approach will only leave our institutions and each of us in the dust of a rapidly evolving information world.

Three primary forces will define libraries in the future - social, economic, and technological. As these forces continue to reshape society, they also shape the institutions through which we serve. Consequently libraries must continually re-examine their mission, indeed their purpose for existing.

Technological advances are often the force that pushes us to explore our training needs because they require such a significant response from libraries.

At Detroit Public Library, for example, we are currently in the midst of implementing HORIZON, our second-generation online public access catalog. This project consumes us at present, providing headaches and heartbreaks for just about everyone involved. Recognizing that only a well-trained staff can help our customers make the transition to this new system, we are currently providing HORIZON training sessions for our staff.

However, our preoccupation with technology and automation sometimes causes us to lose sight of the importance of library staff members, our primary component of service delivery.

Until recently, libraries have been unchallenged in the delivery of their information-based services. However, today as competition becomes more intense - witness the growth of mega-bookstores - we must prepare ALL of our staff to deliver the best possible services. We cannot afford to neglect the needs of support staff. The latest reports indicate that 60% of a library's work force is composed of non-librarians. This significant portion of our workforce must have access to quality staff development and training opportunities.

As libraries are re-shaping their missions, so much each staff member recognize the importance of professional development. Staff development is a two-sided coin. On one side is the library organization; on the other, the individual. Each side bears some responsibility for staff development and training.

On the organizational side of the coin, libraries must recognize the enormous investment we make in hiring, training and developing staff. We must intentionally prepare staff for the inevitable future changes.

Every library must provide a work environment that encourages and promotes learning - thus creating a continuous learning organization. In these organizations staff development is so woven into the cultural fabric of the library that it would be inconceivable to discuss a new initiative without incorporating a discussion of training and educational aspects.

When the learning process is embraced as a vital part of the organizational culture, people feel comfortable being involved in self-development and training. Of course, the clearest way for an organization to communicate this concept is through making a realistic financial commitment to staff development.

The other side of the staff-development coin is the individual - the employee. Each staff member, regardless of where he or she works in the library, must assume ultimate responsibility for his or her professional development and growth. This means that each of us must determine what our training and development needs are and then identify those opportunities. This is not a new concept for you.

Larry Oberg's article, "Support Staff in an Age of Change: The Challenges of Tomorrow," in the January/February, 1999 issue of Library Mosaics, says it best:

"Although the key to developing effective continuing education programs is, in fact, top-down support, it is critical that support staff make their own needs known. They must take the initiative to seek out appropriate continuing education opportunities."

How can you "take the initiative?" What should you do if you find yourself in a situation where staff development and training is not an administrative priority? Without knowing the details of each situation, I can only offer some general suggestions.

Resistant administrations should be approached in whatever way works best for your particular library. Explain your interest and desire to contribute to the library's mission. Gather information from other libraries with solid development programs and share it. Look at creative collaborations with other organizations, which may expand your opportunities.

Claiming this personal responsibility is particularly important in changing work environments. Support staff in libraries are key to the changes taking place within our institutions. That's because, as we all know, many of the changes in technology, collections and policies will actually be implemented by library support staff.

In a library environment where learning is valued, support staff will feel comfortable assuming this responsibility. However, in instances where there is hostility and tension, there may be a tendency to resist for fear of being rebuffed or discouraged.

Administratively, we must provide environments where staff does not feel that their needs will be perceived as deficiencies, and thus used against them. Staff must feel safe in exposing their training, educational and developmental needs.

The kind of self-determined responsibility I am suggesting is usually the missing component in staff development. Frequently we - support staff, librarians, administrators - are waiting passively for someone else to determine our development and training needs.

I believe we are now at a crossroad where the future will belong to those who are observant and alert to changes within our organizations and ready to step into new learning situations. And, the future will also belong to the library that is committed to a continuous learning environment.

At Detroit Public Library we are currently involved in developing a staff training and development program. This is new for DPL. About a year ago, we hired a person who devotes all of her time to identifying, developing and implementing staff development and training opportunities.

Although DPL is an independent, municipal corporation, we are fortunate to be able to take advantage of a variety of training classes offered by the City of Detroit. These classes include customer service, telephone skills, and time and stress management. In addition, every DPL employee is entitled to a $600 tuition refund annually for educational programs to improve job skills.

There are some specific skills that will be needed by support staff for the 21^st century. First among them is a level of flexibility that opens staff to embracing new missions, changes in directions and all of the accompanying chaos and confusion. Second, there must a level of comfort with the increasing ethnic and racial diversity that is part of today's world. Third, our support staff AND librarians must understand the customer service nature of the library and information business. We are no longer the only game in town. Fourth, appropriate technological and communication skills will be very valuable in the future. We cannot implement the technology if we are unable to communicate its value to our customers.

In conclusion, I see change as the driving force behind much of what libraries will do and be in the next century. For many people, "change" is the nastiest word around. As commonly used in business, governmental and academic circles, change evokes feelings of resistance, fear and anger. But, change is also invigorating and challenging, requiring us to stretch ourselves in ways we never imagined possible.

Many libraries are re-examining and re-shaping their missions. That is certainly the case at Detroit Public Library. We cannot neglect, however, the role of people in this change process and we can't overlook the human reaction to this change.

For that reason, I believe it is up to each of us to prepare ourselves for the new institutions that are being re-born before our eyes. Administratively, we must shape organizations that value, encourage and support lifelong learning.

And, as staff members we must each do our part by individually stepping up to the challenge of continually refining and developing our skills. We are never fully "trained or developed." We must continually identify and seek out opportunities to make ourselves "better." No one else can do this for us.

One of my favorite quotes about change comes from Machiavelli who said: "There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things."

I believe that each of us has the ability "to take the lead" in introducing a new order of things in our individual libraries. It is up to us to actively prepare our selves for the challenges ahead, while calling on our libraries to create an environment that values learning for everyone.