Comments on: Being a Library Director: What’s it all about?

By: Being a library director | Community Librarian

Being a library director | Community Librarian — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:30:13 +0000

[...] I found this blog posting by Kenley Neufeld about Being a Library Director: What’s it all about?. [...]

By: Kenley Neufeld

Kenley Neufeld — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Hi Julie – I may not be the best person to respond because I haven’t worked in a public library before and it’s been 10-years since I worked in a school environment. Good luck with your interview and decision.

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 15:38:00 +0000

I have been a media specialist for 13 years in a public school. I recently interviewed for a public library director position and am going to a second interview in two weeks. Can you comment on how you see these two positions in comparison to one another, despite the obvious, like summers off! Thank you!

By: Kenley Neufeld

Kenley Neufeld — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:58:11 +0000

Thank you for the additional analysis and ideas. The inclusion of vision was an oversight, but clearly important for this position.

As you know, visiting other locations when the staff is small can be a challenge. Sometimes I just need to rely on the professional literature to keep me abreast to what other libraries are doing.

By: stevenb

stevenb — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:21:54 +0000

Well done Kenley. I think this is a good synopsis of what it takes to be a library director, and it sounds quite similar to my experience of nearly ten years of directing at Philadelphia University. I always enjoyed being available to everyone in our community, and I didn't even mind the complainers because I looked forward to the opportunity to fix what was broken or turn the complainers into supporters. But I agree entirely that as the director you are the physical representation of the library. It is also important to be a technologist as you suggest because it is vital for the library director to position the library as a technology leader – particularly in the ed tech area. It was at PhilaU that my ideas about blended librarianship first emerged because we had to blend in those skills with our library work – no one else on campus was leading in this area. I would add one other important thing to your fine description. Vision. I think if you want to be a library director – even before you start applying for positions – you should have in your mind a vision of what you think a college library should be and what it should bring to that academic community. It doesn't have to be exact because you will need to tailor it to that institution. But you should, I think, have a sense of what you think libraries need to do to support the community and help them achieve success. It may be about technology, it may be about strong collections, it may be about building relationships. It doesn't matter what it is – but it has to be your vision that you'll be able to concisely articulate to the community. Because when you are the library director, I think the rest of the community and the staff are looking to you to be the guiding light – to bring the vision and move the library in that direction.

One last thing. I agree it is critical to be outside the library and active on campus (committees, going to events, just walking across campus, etc). But it is equally important to be off-campus visiting other libraries and meeting other directors and librarians. You can't do that all the time for good reasons you mention (like deadlines and paperwork), but for getting new ideas and inspiration and being able to come back with an outsider's view of your library – getting out to other libraries is very important – libraries of any size – not just the ones similar to your own. I hope more would -be directors will read this.

By: fredila

fredila — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:10:42 +0000

I'm exhausted.

Good job.

Fred

By: fredila

fredila — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:10:42 +0000

I'm exhausted.

Good job.

Fred