culture change for adaptability, etc.

If “core business practices and production processes are changing so rapidly that [our] real bottom-line need is for people who are adaptable and who know how to learn [constantly] and problem-solve,” then how do we get those people.

Historically, we seem to have hired new graduates or persons with these capabilities as budgets allowed or done without. The hardest approach is the one we talk about but have problems making it happen: culture change. What will culture change allow? It will not stop us from hiring for skills and capabilities. It will encourage and impress the need for the change on our incumbent librarians.

How do we start? Promote librarianship as a career not a job, as a process and not an end in itself. Start at the Library Schools and with our Accrediting Body (ALA) and continue with practicing librarians. When you graduate from school you may be accredited but it needs to be inculcated that you are at the starting gate, you are not a fully formed librarian. What you did in library school is not what you will be throughout your career. It is the launch pad or starting line where all librarians begin, not end up.

Modify the CILIP approach to accreditation and enforce reflection by asking them to follow the process, perhaps on a yearly basis. This process asks librarians to think about where they want to go in their career, describe what they have done so far to meet their goals and what has been planned in the near future to continue this process. In other words, prove you have a career path and prove that you are progressing towards and accomplishing your goals. No sleepwalking or lack of reflection allowed. When was the last time you gave concrete thought to your career and accomplishments?

What else might we do? At those yearly evaluation meetings, don’t just present the process noted above. In these meetings you define mutually acceptable work goals over the next year. That’s nice. Don’t forget to then talk about what you want to LEARN over the next year and what you plan on PLAYING with over the next year. And use the words LEARN and PLAY. For example, I plan on learning more about competency over the next year and about non-profit boards. What do I want to play with? How about some new blogging software and wikis. What am I planning on doing with this knowledge? How much time will this take? Negotiate. In other words, librarians must take responsibility for their careers and be conscious of where they want to go and what they want to learn along the way.

Unfortunately, this does not speak to the traits of adaptability and problem-solving...

http://www.cilip.org.uk/qualificationschartership/

D Hanna. (2003). Building a leadership vision: eleven strategic challenges for higher education. EDUCAUSE July/August, 25-34.