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Dr. Buffy Edwards, Fall 2024
5023 Fall 2023 Syllabus Assignments and Schedule.pdfCourse Description
Course Description
This course teaches that being a library manager is an important role and even if you think your professional goals are not ‘management’, each library professional can lead and manage from where they work. In this class, we will learn about theories, processes, behaviors, and issues that allow knowledge-based institutions to transform themselves into ones that organize and share knowledge in an effective, efficient, and ethical manner; leadership, motivation and organizational communication; management of knowledge workers; ethical and legal aspects of managing information and knowledge organizations (SLO 6). The goals of this course are to introduce the theory and practice of management in general as well as specific foundational managerial competencies, particularly those as defined in ALA’s CORE: Librarianship, Infrastructure, Futures competencies and to help students further develop these skills in contexts appropriate to their own career goals, while also critically reflecting on the specific information environments involved (ALA 4, PLG 1).
Analysis
Analysis
At the beginning of this course, I was one of many students who stated they were nervous about the “management” aspect of the class as I had never had a management role before. This class broke down how management doesn’t necessarily just mean being someone’s supervisor, but can also include leadership skills any staff member can develop to support a library (ALA 4B, ALA 4E). The final project was an in-depth review of strategic planning and the development of a strategic plan for a local library (ALA 4F, ALA 4D). I learned so much about how to successfully create and implement an effective strategic plan through researching similar institutions and their strategic plans.
Reflection
Reflection
I had joined the strategic plan working group at my library and was able to apply what I was learning in this course to strengthen my prospective management skills in my current library position (PLG 1.2). My experience on the strategic plan group at my library also helped me inform my project partners on different methodologies and resources that we were using to create our strategic plan (ALA 4C, SLO 3). I started this class very nervous about the pressures that can come with management, but through the guidance of this course, interviewing and working with people in management at my library has strengthened my confidence in my own skills and decision-making abilities. As this class and librarians in management positions have guided me and helped me grow my skills and given me environments where I can thrive, I hope to be in a position in the future where I can do the same for others (ALA 1H).
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