What is this and why should I care?

As you know, we are spending this year listening to our users, looking at our peer libraries, learning about the wider information society in which we live and work, and planning for the future. I have told you that I don't want to make major changes until we have planned thoroughly so that we can use our resources (people, time, money, facilities, energy, and the trust of our users) wisely and efficiently.

However, it is clear to me that having met with all of you there is some pent up demand for change in the way the library operates. While I want to be deliberate in how we plan for change, I also do not want to stifle the energy and optimism I have felt from everyone in the library.

Therefore, we will find ways to enable personnel in the library to question the way we have done things, to review policies and procedures, and to raise the issues we may have been thinking about for, in some cases, a long time.

• Is there a procedures in your department that frustrates you but you have never questioned because, "we have always done it this way"?
• Is there a policy you have to follow that you dread because you have been told you have to follow it, but you know it is likely to upset a user?
• Have you thought, "there must be a better way of doing this" but have not taken time to work out what that better way might be?
• Have you seen how another library does something and wondered why we don't do the same thing?
• Does another department do something that makes little sense to you, but you have not wanted to rock the boat?

Well this is your opportunity to change something you think needs changing!

I am sure if you have read this far you are beginning to worry. What if other people want me to change how I do things? What if someone proposes changing something without realizing the implications? Couldn't this lead to chaos?

Good questions! We need a process that manages this change so that constructive proposals don't get lost or stifled and changes that are either too big or not practical don't get implemented.

Here is what I propose:

1. Everyone in the library can raise any rule, policy, or procedure and suggest getting rid of it altogether or changing the way we do it.
2. All proposed changes, and the people who propose them, should be treated with respect, as should those who disagree. We are all trying to run the best library we can for our users.
3. Everyone is encouraged to look at what they do, what their department does, and also what other departments do. But humility is a virtue. Before you try and change everyone else, take a good long look at what you do first.
4. Everyone can just question why we do something, but it is much more constructive if you can say why you think it should be changed, and also suggest an alternative.
5. You can post your question to this blog, send an e-mail to the whole library, or raise the question in your department, or bring it to me.
6. Posting it to this blog, sending an e-mail to the library, or raising it in your department will enable your colleagues to suggest alternatives, and disagree with your proposal. This open discussion will result in a better proposal and ultimately better service for our users. So be ready for open discussion.
7. Ultimately the biweekly Librarians' Meeting will be the deciding body for this process. So ultimately your proposal must come to that body. Why the librarians? Because all the Department Heads are in that meeting and the rest of the librarians all represent various functions within the library.
8. Where appropriate, other library personnel will be consulted before a decision is made.
9. I will be the ultimate arbiter if necessary.

This will be an opened ended process. We should never stop reviewing what we do and trying to do it better.

Remember, we are all here to try and provide the best possible library services to our users and make the most efficient use of the resources that the College has entrusted to us. So, what is stopping us do that?