Preparation for our Statewide Staff Development Blue Print Planning Meeting
June 11, 2009, 10am to 3pm, Arbutus Library, Baltimore County
Background: During the LSTA strategic planning process (which included statewide meetings with various staff, including library
administrators and staff development coordinators), the need for a statewide blue print for staff development was identified. Therefore a
Goal 5 Program Activity in the current LSTA Strategic Plan, FY 2008-2012, states “Develop a statewide blueprint, timeframe 20092011”. It was thought that by planning together, we can identify trends, collaboration opportunities, and address gaps in what is being
offered throughout Maryland public libraries. A blue print planning meeting has been scheduled for June 11, 10am to 3pm, Arbutus
Library, Baltimore County. A registration link will be sent to the mdstaffdev listserv, which includes staff in public libraries who support
staff development functions in their libraries. Wesley Wilson, SLRC, Margaret Carty, MLA, and Honore Francois, LATI, have also been
invited. Two training opportunities have been offered to help everyone prepare for this meeting. The first was a workshop on how to do
needs assessments provided by Gail Griffith. The second was a workshop about staff development planning facilitated by Joanne Trepp.
The hope is that you have been able to use this knowledge to gather and prepare for this meeting.
Final Product and Meeting Activities: The Blue Print document will be a table that will include: 1) Topic Trends 2) Who Currently
Offers 3) Gaps (what is needed that can’t be found) and 4) How The Gap Can Be Addressed. Your meeting pre-work documents will be
included as addendum. During the meeting, you will have the opportunity to meet in mixed, statewide groups and then again within
regions/locations. These small groups will map out parts of the blue print. Then as a large group, we will review and further modify.
Meeting Pre-Work: Please complete pages 2 to 4 of this document and post it to our Maryland Staff Development wiki in the
Blue Print folder by June 1, 2009. DLDS will print these and compile into notebooks that we can use to fuel discussion at our
statewide Blue Print meeting on June 11, 10am to 3pm, Arbutus Library, Baltimore County. Please name your document with the name
of your county. (For example, Carroll_blueprint.doc). Please maintain this file in .doc format. Here’s how to upload it:
Wiki Upload Instructions:
Go to http://wiki.carr.org
Click on Sign In (on right sidebar) to login – User and Password was provided in the email that was sent with this document
Click on MarylandStaffDevelopment wiki (on left sidebar)
Click on SharedFilesForMarylandStaffDevelopment (on right sidebar, towards bottom)
Double-click on Blue Print folder to open it
Upload your file
Click on Exit (top right)
Sign Out – please don’t forget to do this (on right sidebar)
Questions, Ideas or Concerns? Please contact Nini Beegan, DLDS, nbeegan@carr.org, 443-340-7853.
Thank you for your support of this new initiative.
Page 1 of 6
Library Organization: _______Worcester County Library _______________________________________
During September 2009 to September 2011:
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
What are you offering?
What would you like to see offered that you can’t find?
Ideas/comments about how we can share together
Note: It is understandable that some of you will not know enough about your budget yet to fully commit to a plan. Also, a two year
timeframe is a long time for staff development planning. It may suit our group better if we hold an annual blue print meeting each July,
for example. We can discuss options during the Blue Print meeting. Meantime, please do you best to share your plans. There is a
comment area provided below the table where you can share more detail and any questions/thoughts/concerns.
Part I: Here’s what we’re offering:
Please complete the table below. It should include any initiatives you plan to use to support staff development in your system. You can
add and delete rows as necessary. Please see page 5 for examples.
PRIORITY
1
2
TOPIC
Communication /
Interpersonal
coping skills
Keeping Current
SPECIFICS
AUDIENCE
DELIVERY
METHOD/
PRODUCT
DATE/
TIMELINE
Stress relief,
better communication,
peer sharing
Supvrs, circ managers,
circ staff, support staff
in-person
hire presenter
to be planned
Feb – May 2010
• collection development
strategies
• readers’ advisory
all genres & age groups
Supvrs, circ managers,
circ staff, tech services,
youth services manager,
youth services liaisons
to be planned
with ESRL
2010
• Ideas for childrens &
teen programs
youth services manager,
youth services liaisons
MLA/CSD workshops,
YALSA workshops
Fall 2009 – Spring 2010
• Business, Economic &
Job Search resources
designated staff
ESRL workshops
Sept – Oct 2009
tech services manager
& tech services staff
OCLC, MLA,
Innovative Univ webinars
to be planned
Supvrs, circ managers,
circ staff, support staff
coaching &
peer training
Sept 2009 – Dec 2009
• Tech Services
3
Customer Service /
greetings
Peer sharing, invigorate
focus, refresh skills
see comments
??
Page 2 of 6
Worcester
3
continued
Customer Service /
Roving Reference &
Beyond Basic Ref
best practices to achieve
best results for customer
Technology:
Desktop MS Office
SkillSoft -- Excel,
Adobe
Technology / Ref:
Library databases
ESRL & database vendors
navigating online databases
Leadership
DLDS – LFAP I
Leadership /
Supervisory
SkillSoft
Leadership /
Future trends &
MdES demographics
Millennium ILS
7
Early Learning
Birth to Five
BCPL Storyville tour
(tour arranged by ESRL)
8
Security Awareness /
Conduct Policy
Black Belt Librarian
4
5
6
Supvrs, circ managers,
designated circ staff
to be planned
with ESRL
Feb – May 2010
see comments
selected staff
Online – Skillsoft
Sept 2009 – Aug 2010
adult & youth services,
branch staff
in-person workshops,
some online follow up
on-going
Oct 2009 – Oct 2010
selected nominees
in-person
Sept 14-15, 2009
selected staff
& admin
Online – SkillSoft
Sept 2009 – Aug 2010
Planning for grant funding,
creativity / future vision
Directors,
Assistant Directors
to be planned
2011
Lower Shore Lib Consortium
Circ managers, circ staff
Technical services staff
in-person & webinar
Sept 2009 – April 2010
(provided by ESRL)
selected branch &
youth services staff
admin &
participant follow up
in-person tour &
staff dev discussion
October 28, 2009
in-person meetings
November 2009
Comments: Eastern Shore Regional Library’s Training Coordinator, Gayle Morrow, will be scheduling on-going library database
trainings at various Shore locations. Worcester County Library will provide follow up activities for Worcester staff.
Pending adequate funding, Worcester County Library / Lower Shore Library Consortium hope to offer appropriate Millennium ILS
training opportunities. Lower Shore Library Consortium includes: Wicomico, ESRL, Somerset, Worcester and Dorchester
If SLRC/EPFL subject department staff are available to conduct Beyond Basic Reference and readers’ advisory trainings
at an Eastern Shore library or Eastern Shore college location we would like to discuss a training schedule for Feb – May 2010 trainings.
An alternative would be for ESRL to coordinate trainings with SLRC/EPFL trainers for ESRL member library staff.
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Part II: Here’s what we would like to see offered that we can’t find:
Please complete the table below. Please see page 6 for examples.
PRIORITY
1
TOPIC
Stress management
for busy library
workers
SPECIFICS
Jettison unproductive
behavior, manage
interpersonal conflict,
find legal & acceptable
ways to cope with
stressful situations
AUDIENCE
PREFERRED
DELIVERY
METHOD
DATE/
TIMELINE
managers, branch staff,
& other designated staff
in-person
group meeting
2010 - 2011
Comments: We are looking for a dynamic speaker who can help us identify methods to successfully manage stressful situations, manage conflict,
and encourage introspective thought. Acceptable use of humor and relaxation techniques would contribute to this meeting.
Part III – Ideas and Comments
Please share any ideas/comments about how we can share opportunities together.
1. Continue Staff Development meetings -- in-person and online meetings.
2. Continue to post training documents on Staff Development wiki or MERLIN.
3. Explore benefits of mentoring statements: “If I had known so and so (give example), I would have _________.
Page 4 of 6
Example of Part I - What We’re Offering
PRIORITY
1
TOPIC
Coaching (Ongoing)
SPECIFICS


2
How to Help Staff be
More Enthusiastic &
Creative
3
Working with Different
Personalities
Effectively
4
Painless Public
Speaking












5
Handling Delicate or
Borderline Issues –
Like Pattern of SL Use
that isn’t Abuse



Keep it Fresh &
Meaningful
Skill-Building &
Maintaining
Peer Sharing
Generate more
“Spark” in the Day
Peer Sharing
“Creativity Camp”
Seminar
Job Swap
Skill Building
Updating Info
New Info
Peer Sharing
Practical Apps. of
Myers/Briggs
Skill-Build &
Maintain
To Speak at Staff
Meetings & in Front
of Outside Groups
Expert Opinion
Skill
Separating your own
issues from perf.
Issues.
AUDIENCE
DELIVERY
METHOD/
PRODUCT
DATE/
TIMELINE
All SUPS
Mentoring – Supervisors
do coaching
June 2009-July 2010
All SUPS
Blended – online (blog)
with in-person meetings
Sept 2009-Sept 2011
All Supervisors
All Staff
Online –SkillSoft
Sept 2009-August 2010
All Staff
In-person
Hired vendor
October 2009,
November 2010
All SUPS
In-person, library
staffperson (or workshop
at our Regional Library)
Not yet scheduled
Could be All Staff
Page 5 of 6
Example of Part II - What We Can’t Find
PRIORITY
TOPIC
1
How Not to Get Sued
2
Building the
Confidence of Staff
SPECIFICS








3
Theory of Management
(OK with Day to Day)



Documentation
Awareness
Updated/New
Knowledge
Expert Opinion
How to Encourage
People to Grow
Culture Change &
Risk-Taking
New Info
Updating Knowledge
New Info
Academic Course
Peer Sharing
AUDIENCE
PREFERRED
DELIVERY
METHOD
DATE/
TIMELINE
All SUPS
No preference
December 1, 2009
All SUPS- 1st Line SUPS
In person, but can
consider online
2011
Mix of online and inperson
2011
Especially those who
supervise those with more
“quantifiable” jobs
Experienced Supervisors“Big Picture People”
Example of Part 3 Ideas/Comments





Have an annual planning meeting in July and share some ideas with SLRC, MLA and Synchronous Trainers.
Do some futuring exercises during our next blue print meeting so we can think about future trends and products.
Submit one hot topic idea to MLA each year.
Create a place on the wiki to share comments about conferences.
Share one national speaker each year (example: Black Belt Librarian)
Page 6 of 6