We had a good session reviewing results of a membership survey issued by the Leadership and Management Section. Kyle Cox presented slides summarizing the survey results. Kyle is executive director and chief librarian for Mid-Columbia Libraries in Kennewick, WA. He worked on the survey with Jennifer Steinford from Columbia Southern University, Natalie Kulick from Misericordia University, and Amanda Click from the U.S. Naval Academy.
I can summarize, though this is largely (and shamefully) cut-and-paste from the slides Kyle used.
Based on the responses, the survey revealed three major groups of members:
"Advancers" - Seeking/Interested in Promotion
This group is interested in upward promotion, either in their current institution or elsewhere.
They are seeking:
· Networking
· Receiving mentorship
· Skill building for future roles
· Visibility
"Stayers" - Interested in Current Role
They are more likely to stay with their current employer, but want to improve/advance/learn.
They are seeking:
· Peer-to-peer connection
· Skill building →Mastery
· Sustainability
"Exiters" - Heading toward Retirement
These individuals are not looking to move up in their career, but interested in:
· Providing mentorship
· Establishing their legacy and reflecting on their professional identity
The survey asked respondents about the topics they wanted to see the Section provide more information about. Using a calculation that weighted values assigned by the participants, results were grouped by priority.
Top tier topics included:
· Workplace Culture & Retention
· Emerging Trends & Best Practices
· Coaching & Staff Development
· Evaluation & Assessment
tier topics included:
· Workforce & Succession Planning
· Advocacy, Negotiation, Persuasion
· Politics & Library Management
Other topics were not as interesting to members who responded to the survey. This may have been because they are already adequately covered by activities in the L&M Section. These included:
· Supervision & Performance Management
· Policy Development & Assessment
· Applied Professional Ethics
· Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
· Fundraising & Donor Relations
· Working for a Board
When asked, people listed what they saw as their primary growth areas in the next 3 years:
1. Workplace Culture (43%)
2. Politics & Management (33%)
3. Strategic Planning (30%)
4. Personnel & Employee Relations (30%)
5. Staff Development (29%)
The group had several questions for Kyle and the survey team. Discussion included current and future training needs – especially getting beyond introductory topics into more advanced training.
David Schuster from the L&M Section and Todd Ross from ALA Core reminded participants of several existing professional tools:
Core Continuing education programs
https://www.ala.org/core/continuing-education
Core Course: Fundamentals of Management
https://www.ala.org/core/continuing-education/courses/fundamentals-management
Core Journal: Library Leadership and Management
https://llm.corejournals.org/llm/index
There are clearly many ideas here that could be explored during any of our drop-in events in 2026. What interests you?
Our next session will be Wednesday, January 7, at 2:00 eastern / 1:00 central / 12:00 mountain / 11:00 pacific.
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Erik Nordberg
Dean of the Paul Meek Library
University of Tennessee at Martin
He/Him/His
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