Supervising & Motivating an Intergenerational Library Workforce

A popular managerial maxim holds that “managing things is easy – managing people is the challenge” (Evans & Alire). This may be more true now than ever before. Recent demographic shifts have created an unprecedented situation, wherein members of four different generations are working side by side, in large numbers, in workplaces across the country.…

Read More

What Makes a Good Friends Group?

Over the years since Library Strategies was created, we’ve worked with dozens of Friends groups across the country. Some were led by board members who’d been serving as volunteers for as many as thirty years and were praying for a way out, but were too committed to just leave. Other Friends groups have a kick-butt…

Read More

Three Things Every New Library Director Should Consider

1) Library-Community Relationship? How does the library fit into the community—and can it fit better? Forget about the budget and the facility for a moment. Consider instead what the foremost issues are facing the community, then inventory what other organizations are addressing those issues, and, finally, assess how the library might partner with those organizations…

Read More