Building Strong Board / Director Relationships
MLTA 2024
...from a director’s perspective
BA - English & Education
Stonehill College
MS - Library & Information Science
Simmons University
Executive Director, Worcester Public Library
Director, Morse Institute Library
Assistant Director, Marlborough Public Library
Technology Education Coordinator, Wellesley Free Library
Research & Instruction Librarian, WPI
Circulation Supervisor, Regis College
Library Technician, Middleborough Public Library
Education
Experience
JASON + SANTA
BFFS
Professional Affiliations
Central Massachusetts Library Advocates - Past President
Public Library Association - Advocacy
Massachusetts Library Association - Legislative Committee
Implications of structure
01.
What you need to know regardless
of Board composition
OUR DISCUSSION TODAY
Setting Expectations
02.
We’re in this, together
Building Trust
03.
It’s lonely at the top and you can help
Advocacy 102
04.
Taking it to the next level
Helpful tips
05.
If you learn anything today...
Board Structure
ELECTED TRUSTEES
APPOINTED TRUSTEES
selected by a public official or group of municipal officials
selected by the registered voters of the municipality
SELF-PERPETUATING TRUSTEES
EX OFFICIO TRUSTEES
selected by virtue of holding a specified public office or a specified political, committee, social or religious affiliation in the municipality.
selected by the members of the library corporation or association.
Board Structure
Yes, boards/trustees have specific responsibilities charged to them (policies, director searches, etc) but ultimately, all of us are here for common goal, to create positive impact.
CREATE A POSITIVE IMPACT FOR THE COMMUNITY
Expertise...
Volunteer
Employee
Volunteers who commit their time provide an invaluable perspective of progress and organizational needs
Library Directors and staff are often professionals who are paid to deliver library services
in all its forms
Encourage Big Swings
With permission from the Board of Directors (Trustees), the Worcester Public Library was able to fundamentally alter library services when we made international news over our initiative to waive lost book fees in exchange for photos of cats.
Serving the community is only possible through a collaborative effort on the part of everyone involved with the library. For Trustees, the main conduit for this collaboration is with and through the library director.
SETTING EXPECTATIONS
Questions to ask yourself:
Do you know the library director’s why?
Does the library director know your why?
How have you communicated this?
Increasingly, when Library Directors are coming into new roles, Trustees are requesting candidates present 100 day plans towards the end of an interview process. These plans offer a great opportunity to clarify and set expectations early on.
100 DAY PLAN...
SETTING EXPECTATIONS
Evaluations enable the Trustee/Director relationship to thrive as it:
EVALUATIONS
SETTING EXPECTATIONS
MY CHARGE
“GLOBAL DOMINATION OF LIBRARY SERVICES”
“Trust is like the air we breathe. When it’s present, nobody really notices. But when it’s absent, everybody notices.”
–Warren Buffett
Building Trust
Building Trust
Data presented at 2nd Annual AI @ Word Study by Oracle in 2019:
https://www.oracle.com/corporate/pressrelease/robots-at-work-101519.html
Do you trust your director?
percent of people would trust a robot more than their manager and half have turned to a robot instead of their manager for advice.
MANAGER VS. ROBOT
Question 1:
Question 2:
Does your director trust you?
64%
Board Structure
ISOLATION
Library Directors do not have direct co-workers that understand their role and their organization. While our colleagues in other libraries are valuable, there are few people that understand our direct experience.
Board Structure
Building Trust
Trust Busters:
Trust Builders:
Building Trust
Rebuilding Trust
1. Observe and acknowledge what happened.
2. Allow feelings to surface.
3. Get and give support.
4. Reframe the experience.
5. Take responsibility.
6. Forgive yourself and others.
7. Let go and move on.
Dennis S. Reina, Ph.D., and Michelle L. Reina, Ph.D., experts on workplace trust and co-authors of Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace (Berrett-Koehler) and Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace (Berrett-Koehler).
Advocacy 102
The kind of change that is needed to positively impact a community can often feel unknown or scary, especially for decision makers who are not in the work. While it is important to remember there is value in getting new perspectives, those perspectives have to be shared.
Change needs to be purpose driven
STORYTIME
Change needs to be purpose driven
SOCIAL WORKER AT THE WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY
In 2019, as the Director of the Morse Institute Library, I attempted to get the library to be an early adopter of fine-free. While the Trustees were on in agreement on Children’s items and Senior-residents, the concept of completely fine-free was a tough sale. They elected to wait and see how other communities would handle it, and in 2020 moved to join the fine-free movement.
STORYTIME
FINES AT THE MORSE INSTITUTE LIBRARY
Your stories
Whether looking for a new building, additional funding, or even level funding, the stories you use to advocate are immensely important.
Do you have a good story?
Municipality
Legislators
Budget
Do your friends, neighbors, and/or contacts know you are on the Board? Do they know why the library is vital?
Have you ever asked an elected official to support a library effort?
What is the appropriate level of involvement for your community?
Is your director in need of support? Guidance?
Advocacy
YOU’RE INVITED...
MLA
MBLC TRUSTEES GUIDE
YOUR MESSAGE
Helpful tips...
Resources compiled to help you succeed with staff to answer questions
Annual conference in May, great for both you and your director to attend!
If you are unable to recite and believe in your mission/vision, it is time to redo it!
Thank you
JASON HOMER
Executive Director
Worcester Public Library
jhomer@mywpl.org
508-735-7830