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The Annual Urban Libraries Council/LSSI Award of Excellence in Public Library Management will go to the Orange County Library System’s (FL) Spectrum program, ULC announced during Midwinter meetings in Philadelphia. The ULC/LSSI award was established to recognize the innovative practices and programs of public library managers in ULC member libraries, with a focus on strategies that develop leadership skills among staff. The award, along with a check for $1,500, will be presented at the Annual ULC Leadership Breakfast in Toronto in June.
“Making a selection from so much good work being done in the libraries of our colleagues was difficult. In the end, however, we found that the Orange County nomination best exemplified the purpose and criteria for which the award was established,” said Carlton Sears, Director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County and Chair of the Awards Committee.
Orange County Library System was facing twin problems: a need to broaden the experiences of the library’s future leaders (specifically, those in Assistant Manager positions) and an incentive to fill these positions, beset with vacancies. Spectrum, a management development program, was created to provide assistant managers the opportunity to further develop their management skills. Spectrum is a voluntary program for Assistant Managers in public service departments. At the beginning of the program, Assistant Managers were asked to identify other library branches and public service departments they believed would provide them with new experiences and opportunities.
The Library then asked interested parties to which of these places they would like to go and for how long during an 18-month time period. Once identified, individual assignments ranged from three to six months in new locations, and some participants spent time in up to four locations outside of their “home location” (base library) during the program. “We thought that Spectrum would be most useful if we were flexible about the plan,” said Carla Fountain, Human Resources Manager at the Orange County Library System.
The program was a success. “Our experience with Spectrum has exceeded expectations,” said Mary Anne Hodel, Director of the Orange County Library System. “It has provided the ability to offer a depth and breadth of experience to the role of assistant managers and has the added benefit that our current managers are also stretching and refining their management skills through the deployment of employees with little previous experience. We plan to continue Spectrum beyond its original 18-month schedule.”
ULC receives underwriting for this award from LSSI, located in Germantown, MD. Founded in 1971, ULC focuses its research, recognition and capacity-building services on crucial roles of public libraries in urban areas. |
