Running the “business” of your library
To offer library staff:
• An understanding of the basic
strategy of the successful
entrepreneur and how it fits within
the library world
•To demonstrate three needed roles
in every library - leaders, managers
and coaches
The well written strategic plan
performs several important,
functional purposes:
•Causes the organization’s
shareholders to think about,
discuss and put down on paper
their goals for the library’s future.
•Sets measurable, defined and
time specific goals
•Brings the mission and vision
statement down to earth
•Defines the organization’s
priorities and keeps the library
“on task”
The well written strategic plan
performs several important,
functional purposes:
•Allows the board, director, staff,
volunteers and customers to know
where the organization is going Keeps the director, staff and the
board accountable
•Defines what is “success” for that
library.
Stick with the Plan - Do not allow
“good ideas” to get you off the
track of a “great idea”.
Do you have a
successful
library?
How can you say
you have a
“successful
library”
if you cannot
define success?
The Random House Dictionary:
“a person who organizes and
manages any enterprise,
esp. a business,
usually with considerable
initiative and risk.”
Etymology: French, from Old French,
from entreprendre - to undertake
A Successful Entrepreneur starts or
takes over a business and using
creativity, strategic planning,
targeted marketing and
innovation,
positions that business to be ready
to take advantage every
opportunity to become as
successful as possible.
Success depends upon
previous preparation,
and without such preparation
there is sure to be failure.
Confucius
Focusing this on the library
world…
The Successful Entrepreneurial
Librarian uses:
creativity, strategic planning,
targeted marketing and
innovation
To place their library in
the way of success.
The ladder of success is best climbed
by stepping on the rungs of opportunity.
Ayn Rand
The Successful
Entrepreneurial Librarian
looks for ways to place their
library in the best possible
position so it is ready to take
advantage of opportunities to
meet the needs of their
community, both present and
future, and
thereby be foundational in the
success of the community
they serve.
Creates a library that is
foundational to the success of the
community they serve…your
library’s success is tied directly to
the success of your community.
Your library cannot succeed
without taking it’s community with
it. . . If your library is successful,
your community must also be
successful.
You do not dare allow your
community to find a way to succeed
without your library being involved
in that success.
“It thus takes special effort for the existing
business to become entrepreneurial and
innovative.
The temptation in the existing business is
always to feed yesterday and to starve
tomorrow. It is, of course, a deadly
temptation.
The enterprise that does not
innovate inevitably
ages and declines.
And in a period of rapid change,
such as the present,
an entrepreneurial period,
the decline will be fast.”
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
– Peter F Drucker 1985 p 149
Plans to
succeed
Manages,
Coaches &
Leads
Prioritizes
“Upgrades”
Proactive
Hires the
Person
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Communitybased,
organization
Cultivates
“Loyalists”
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
What makes a Librarian
“Entrepreneurial”?
Has a set of
measurable,
prioritized,
attainable
goals
for their
library with
an ideal
timeline for
reaching those
goals.
Manages,
Coaches &
Leads
Prioritizes
“Upgrades”
Plans to
succeed
Proactive
Hires the Person
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Communitybased,
organization
Cultivates
“Loyalists”
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
What makes a Librarian
“Entrepreneurial”?
Anticipates
issues
Institutes
policies,
procedures and
programs to
meet the needs,
solve the
problems and
assimilate
necessary
changes
Plans to
succeed
Manages,
Coaches &
Leads
Prioritizes
“Upgrades”
Proactive
Hires the Person
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Communitybased,
organization
Cultivates
“Loyalists”
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
What makes a Librarian
“Entrepreneurial”?
Hires the
person, not the
skills.
“The successful
candidate likes
working with
people, has a
strong desire
for good
customer
service and is
able to be
taught.”
Plans to
succeed
Manages,
Coaches &
Leads
Prioritizes
“Upgrades”
Proactive
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Hires
the
Person
Communitybased,
organization
Cultivates
“Loyalists”
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
What makes a Librarian
“Entrepreneurial”?
Able to adjust
and adapt to
unexpected
changes with
minimum delay
or resistance.
Flexible and
Responsive
Plans to
succeed
Manages,
Coaches &
Leads
Prioritizes
“Upgrades”
Proactive
Hires the Person
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Community
- based,
organization
Cultivates
“Loyalists”
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
What makes a Librarian
“Entrepreneurial”?
Plans to
succeed
Develops
seminars and
workshops
based on the
needs of their
community
and
accurately
describes
them as
classes,
workshops,
etc.
Manages,
Coaches &
Leads
Prioritizes
“Upgrades”
Proactive
Hires the Person
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Communitybased,
organization
Cultivates
“Loyalists”
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
What makes a Librarian
“Entrepreneurial”?
Has
considered
Who they wish
to reach with
marketing
Where they
can be found
And uses the
right tools to
reach them
Plans to
succeed
Manages,
Coaches &
Leads
Prioritizes
“Upgrades”
Proactive
Hires the Person
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Communitybased,
organization
Cultivates
“Loyalists”
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
What makes a Librarian
“Entrepreneurial”?
Develops not
only loyal
customers who
use the library,
but Loyalists
who believe in
and are willing
to volunteer,
advocate and
financially
support the
library.
Plans to
succeed
Manages,
Coaches &
Leads
Prioritizes
“Upgrades”
Proactive
Hires the Person
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Cultivates
Loyalists
Communitybased,
organization
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
What makes a Librarian
“Entrepreneurial”?
Encourages all
stakeholders
to attend
training and
makes training
a priority by
attending
sessions
themselves.
Plans to
succeed
Manages,
Coaches &
Leads
Prioritizes
Upgrades
Proactive
Hires the Person
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Communitybased,
organization
Cultivates
“Loyalists”
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
What makes a Librarian
“Entrepreneurial”?
Models
leadership by
regular, open
communication,
and by allowing
the team to
work as a unit
within the
framework of
the strategic
plan.
Manages,
Coaches
& Leads
Prioritizes
“Upgrades”
Plans to
succeed
Proactive
Hires the Person
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Communitybased,
organization
Cultivates
“Loyalists”
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
Which ones are
you doing?
Do you have
staff, board or
Friends
members that
you can
delegate
something to?
Which one do
you need to
work on the
most?
Plans to
succeed
Manages,
Coaches &
Leads
Prioritizes
“Upgrades”
Proactive
Entrepreneurial
Librarian
Cultivates
“Loyalists”
Hires the
Person
Communitybased,
organization
Targeted
Marketing
Builds a
Curriculum
Manager
Focuses on problem solving
and day to day operations
It’s all about the team!
Tasks - Scheduling, ordering,
logistics, organization
Manager keeps the
organization running every
day
Coach
Focus on the people in your
organization
It’s all about the players!
Tasks – mentoring, regular
meetings, training
Helps staff reach their goals
and in turn, helping the
library reach its goals
Leader
Focuses on the future of the
organization
It’s all about the goal!
Tasks – Planning, vision
building, teamwork
Constructs a framework for
organization growth and
development for the future
Which one does your team need?
You need all three.
No title needed. . .
You do not need someone to call
you a manager, a coach or a
leader to be one. . .
Management is doing things
right; leadership is doing the
right things.
Peter Drucker
All coaching is, is taking a
player where he can't take
himself.
Bill McCartney
A good manager is best when
people barely know that he exists.
Not so good when people obey
and acclaim him. Worse when they
despise him.
Lao-Tzu Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)
Are you ready to be an
Entrepreneurial Librarian?
creative thinking, strategic
planning,
targeted marketing,
innovation
and at times, be a risk taker
The Entrepreneurial Librarian
Suggested Reading
The Entrepreneurial Librarian: Essays on the Infusion of
Private-Business Dynamism into Professional Service – Edited
by Krautter, Lock and Scanion and published by McFarland Press
2012
First Break all the Rules –Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
Fish: A remarkable way to boost morale and improve results –
Paul Harry and John Christensen
Innovation and Entrepreneurship –Peter F. Drucker
One Minute Manager –Ken Blanchard, Spencer Johnson, and
Constance Johnson
Strategic Planning for Results – Sandra Nelson
Wooden on Leadership -John Wooden & Steve Jamison
Transforming our Image through Words that Work: Perception is
Everything. Valerie Gross, Public Libraries, Volume 48, Number 5,
(2009).
Andrea Berstler
Andrea.Berstler@gmail.com
www.EntrepreneurialLibrarian.blogspot.com
Twitter – AbintheLibrary