Management Principles and Best Practices

SLO2: Graduates will apply management principles and interdisciplinary best practices in library and information agency environments

Librarians wear many hats. In addition to traditional library work like reference help, readers’ advisory, and weeding, librarians may write grants, create budgets and other policies, plan projects, programs, and events, and even deal with the occasional elevator replacement. Through both my required and elective classes, I have gotten a taste of the myriad of issues a librarian may be responsible for. The importance of being flexible and adaptable may be the most important lesson I have learned while pursuing my MLIS. The below assignments show my specific skills and how I would deal with a wide variety of work.

Assignment 1 is an interview I completed with the Manager of Digital Services at the St. Louis Public Library (SLPL). She ostensibly manages only the SLPL’s digital collections, but she often gets pulled in a lot of different directions. I picked this assignment because I have very limited experience working in a library and this was a useful conversation. I learned that she must be flexible and deploy her best problem-solving skills because her day may not turn out like she planned. I chose this assignment also because there is more to managing digital collections than just making sure a patron can download e-books. Digital materials need to be carefully selected while adhering to user needs and intellectual freedom principles, and managers need to ensure all patrons can equally access all digital collections and manage privacy concerns.

Assignment 2 is a grant I wrote to the Missouri State Library requesting funding to bring Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the library for an author visit. While I did not actually send this grant application to the Missouri State Library, I included this assignment in my portfolio because it was good for practicing my project management skills. I had to propose an idea, advocate for why it is a good idea that should be funded, propose a budget, work out logistics, promotions, and dates, explore potential collaborations, and determine how to evaluate success. I know I will use these skills for regular, daily library work and special events and projects. I included this assignment also because increasing diversity in patrons and services is a common goal for librarians. Justice Sotomayor has published both adult and children’s books and she can speak to diverse audiences who may not otherwise use the library.

Assignment 3 is a PowerPoint presentation I created about the fictional budget for the fictional Zarick Memorial Library. The presentation shows the 2019 budgeted revenue and expenditures and how they relate to actual revenue and expenditures from 2017 and 2018. I included this assignment for two reasons. First it shows that I can create slides and use charts and graphs which are useful skills for future presentations on all topics. Secondly, it shows how my skills as a budget professional in municipal government are adaptable for a library. I can create and explain budgets and understand where the budget comes from and what it is spent on. While a library budget is often behind-the-scenes, it affects everything a library does and wants to do.

As previously mentioned, librarians wear a lot of hats. This is not only because their work can vary from day to day but also because of the broad range of principles and ideals for informational professionals. Librarians believe in providing equal access to materials, intellectual freedom, ensuring patron privacy, and being socially responsible, among other beliefs. A librarian must keep all these ideals in mind while also going about their daily work.

Interview with Manager of Digital Services at the St. Louis Public Library

Grant application for an event to bring an author to a fictional library

Budget presentation for a fictional library