Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations.
Group work and interaction are a necessity in any organization. The ability to divide work and communicate in an effective manner so that project goals are reached is one of the hallmarks of any functional library system. Without this sort of interaction, projects go unfinished, organizational buy-in does not exist and the system becomes more prone to dysfunction. Managers particularly must be able to create and maintain the internal and external partnerships necessary to secure the library’s optimal position within the community.
While we often think of internal projects as the element of librarianship that most necessitates group work, external concerns are also of great import. A library director or administrator's position puts them in direct contact with the public and politicians of their district with whom they must be able to effectively partner. Likewise, with cuts to library funding, the need to form quality outside partnerships with other community organizations has grown. With public demands on libraries steady or growing, these collaborations are an important component of the service platforms of many libraries. Because of the diffuse quality of these relationships their maintenance becomes more challenging.
While interaction, in and of itself, is important to an organization and its functions, a crucial component of this interaction is often the art of presentation. This is the manner in which a group or individuals point is relayed to others. This may happen on a small scale or on an ad hoc basis within small groups or in a very formal way as when administrators present to library boards, funding organizations or other outside partners. Often the quality of a presentation and the manner in which it relays the goals, objectives and vision of a project can mean the difference between approval or denial; funding or lack of funding. In Duarte’s (2008) work on the art of presentation she summarizes the importance as such:
“Corporations are started, products are launched, climate systems are saved – possibly based on the quality of presentations. Likewise, ideas, endeavors and even careers can be cut short due to ineffective communication.”
Evidence
In my career in libraries thus far all the components of this competency have been demonstrated on an almost daily basis, whether it is organizing outreach events with a team, collaborating with outside presenters or performers for programs, or giving presentations internally to library staff or externally to the media. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of these skills in the day to day performance of my job. The recent remodel project at my Library was an instance in which all three components were intertwined. In this project we performed internal group work, creating timetables and responsibilities, we collaborated with contractors and the Library Foundation, and we presented the plan and results to the media, the public, and staff in a variety of forums.
In LIBR 204, Information Organization and Management, the final project was the development of a Strategic Plan. The plan's development in its entirety was a group project undertaken by myself and four other students. The plan dealt with the proposed remodel and redesign of the San Francisco Public Library's Audio Visual Collection. In many ways this group work mirrored the type of work I would do later in planning and completing the Library remodel. In both cases the projects took a great deal of planning, many meetings in which disagreements were resolved, and the development of timelines and benchmarks toward reaching our goals.
Another example, combining both group work and presentation skills comes from LIBR 283, Library Marketing. In this project my partner and I examined a number of marketing trends within libraries. The presentation itself utilizes an almost seamless transition between each person’s portion, a necessary component for allowing the presentation to speak with one voice. The presentation also strove to be stimulating through audience questioning and focusing on newly introduced factors likely to be of interest.
Another example of an effective presentation comes from LIBR 285, Research Methods, in which I presented a research proposal with the purpose of looking at Spanish language materials stock among major library distributors. The presentation, in this case, seeks to strike a balance between being informative and visually appealing.
In LIBR 282, Seminar in Grant Writing, I utilized both presentation skills and collaborative skills to prepare a grant proposal for an English Language Learning Collection for the Calistoga Branch Library. This project required paying very careful attention to the needs and requirements of outside organizations, in this case, the grant maker. The proposal necessitated creating a tailored message and meeting certain grant maker requirements. The project as a whole is demonstrative of both an understanding of agency collaboration and the form of presentation necessary to achieve results.
- Public Library Strategic Plan
- Library Marketing Trends Presentation
- Research Proposal Presentation
- Calistoga English Language Learning Collection Proposal
References
