Presentation for the Library Association of Ireland's Career Development Group's Annual Seminar and AGM by Kate Kelly, head librarian at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland RCSI

1. BEYOND VISION: Making it real
Kate Kelly
LAI Career Development Group. Lead to Succeed
RCSI. October 14, 2016
RCSI Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Coláiste Ríoga na Máinleá in Éirinn

2. LEADERSHIP & VISION

3. Leadership Propositions:
Leadership is
• Relational
• Conversational
• Contextual
• At all levels in an organisation
• Inseparable from learning
• Enhanced by a clear sense of purpose
• Values-based
• Leadership requires a personal vision
• For leaders what is “real” is always changing
Source: Sheppard Moscow. Leadership Development Programme. 2014. Used with permission

4. Leading
"As you think, so will
you be. And as you are,
so will you do.“
Lee Thayer. Thinking,
Being, Doing

5. The Vision Thing
Photo: Corey Miller. https://www.flickr.com/photos/toomuchfire/

6. Warren G Bennis
“Leaders must
encourage their
organizations to dance
to forms of music yet to
be heard.”

7. Warren G Bennis
“Leadership is the
capacity to turn
vision into reality”

8. Willie Walsh
Leadership is
the “ability to
give bad news”

9. vi.sion /’viZHen/n.
Imagined idea or
a goal towards
which one
aspires
http://empireone.com.au/our-vision-purpose-and-values/

10. LIBRARIES, LEADERSHIP &
VISION

11. LIBRARY LEADERSHIP?
• No such thing
• A label rather than a vocation
• Put leadership theory and practice in
context, i.e. apply to library
Bell, S. (2016). There’s No Such Thing as Library Leadership | Leading From the Library.
[online] Library Journal. Available at: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/09/opinion/leading-
from-the-library/theres-no-such-thing-as-library-leadership-leading-from-the-library
[Accessed 11 Oct. 2016].

12. Management & LIS Literature
• New type of leader
• “Soft” or “people” skills – including emotional
intelligence and vision…imparting vision to
help organisations embrace change
• Allow leaders at all levels to emerge
• Adapt to workplace where there is more
experimentation, more adaptation and more
“healthy anxiety”
Gwyer, R. (2010). Leading in Difficult Times: What Can We Learn from the Literature?. New
Review of Information Networking, 15(1), pp.4-15.

13. Most Important Leadership Skill in Academic
Library Leaders? Vision
• Be a visionary
• Be a person of vision – constantly scanning the
environment, analysing and interpreting it, developing a
vision that sets a clear direction
• Take strategic action (as opposed to planning)
• Be able to articulate a vision based on university and
library environment
• Persuade and guide others to strategic vision and the
goals and objectives to work towards that vision.
• Other 4? Management, Integrity, Collaboration,
Communication
Binh P. Le (2015). Academic library leadership in the digital age. Library Management. 36(4/5),pp 300-314

14. Vision Statements
“Toronto Public Library will be
recognized as the world's leading
library by informing and inspiring
Toronto and its communities,
making us all more resilient,
more knowledgeable, more
connected and more successful”.
Madison Public Library: your place to
learn, share, and create.
The California Digital Library’s vision is
to elevate the digital library for UC so
that it becomes "expansively global and
deeply local"
To transform the way people experience
knowledge. (Virginia Tech)
The UO Libraries serves as a powerful
catalyst for learning and knowledge
creation. We innovate, adapt, and excel
in our efforts to improve the world, one
curious mind at a time.
NCSU: The Libraries: NC State's competitive
advantage
The vision is for the Library to be
the physical and virtual “go-to”
place to learn and to research
(TCD)
To share the story of Ireland with the world
through our unique collections (NLI)

15. STRATFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY
VISION STATEMENT
We’re here for you…The library is a vibrant community hub and favourite
destination where personable, knowledgeable and progressive staff, provide
innovative and interactive programs and services to anyone.
Or you can take us with you…With robust technology and engaging on-
line spaces, the library transforms community life by inspiring and enabling
literacy, curiosity, creativity and change.
To refresh your spirit. The library is essential to community life because of
its deeply inclusive and collaborative approach to making this a better place to
live.

16. RCSI LIBRARY 2008-2016

17. RCSI Library 2009
Strategic Plan
Vision:
Our vision is that in “three” years’ time
the RCSI Library and Information
Service will:
1. Provide excellent online
biomedical resources in physical
environments that are people-
centred learning spaces
2. Serve the entire RCSI community
through its co-ordinated network
of libraries
3. Use the skills of information
specialists to support education,
research and clinical practice in
new ways
4. Develop a “living” heritage
collection focused on surgery in
Ireland and related themes
5. Be a model health sciences library
and information service that
implements international best
practice

19. All Action is Strategic
• Alignment with organisational strategy
• Persistence, Patience
• Persuasion/Influencing – up, down, and sideways
• Resourcing
• Risk-taking
• Resilience
• Belief
• Buy-in
• Engagement
• Action

20. Vision for RCSI Library?
• Over-arching
• Vision within visions
– Online
– Onsite
– Heritage
– Records
– Clinical
– Bahrain
• Connection between them?
– Skill set and service
– Health sciences
Image: http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Brain-Connections-800.jpeg

21. Move on Many Fronts
Story
website
Collections
Space
Skills
Heritage
“Friends”
Records
IT

24. RCSI: Services and Resources
2008

25. 2016

26. Library Buildings
• Physical manifestations of vision
– For their communities/organisations
– For the library profession
– For us as individuals
• Symbolic of change
• Catalyst for change

27. RCSI: Physical Space 2008

28. RCSI’s Academic Education Building 2017

29. Learning Commons Pop-up Expo Stage

30. Ampitheatre

31. Customer Service Ethos & Model

32. Evolution of Team and Teams
2008 2011 2016 Teams
Archives &
Special
Collections
Archives &
Records
Management
Heritage
Heritage &
RecordsRecords & Information Compliance
Systems Systems &
Repository
Systems Support & Development
Service
Delivery
Technical
Services
Information
Resources
Management
Information Resources Management
Information
Services
Information
Services
Customer Services & Communications
Teaching & Learning Support
Education,
Research and
Clinical Support
Beaumont
Hospital
Beaumont
Hospital
Clinical Librarian
Research
Support
Scholarly Communications & Research
Support
RCSI Bahrain
(informal)
RCSI Bahrain (formal)

33. WHERE DO YOU START?

34. Hunt Library NCSU
http://snohetta.com/projects/10-james-b-hunt-jr-library

35. “Begin with
the end in
mind”
Covey, S. (1989). The seven habits of highly effective people. New York: Simon and Schuster.

36. Leading the Library (when you’re not in
charge)
• Cast vision
• Plan strategically
• Manage projects
• Reject passivity
• Build your team
• Implement accountability
Boatright, Beth (2015) leading the library (when you’re not in charge), College and
Undergraduate Libraries, 22(3-4), 343-357

37. • Add detail to the “big picture”
• Scan the environment especially outside
the sector
• Make suggestions, proposals.
• Try things
• Make mistakes
• “Care and not care”

38. And
Grotzinger, Laurel A.; Carmichael, James Vinson, Jr.; Maack, Mary Niles (1994). Women's work : vision and
change in librarianship : papers in honor of the centennial of the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library
and Information Science. https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/3859

39. Visions for Irish Libraries?
• Dublin City Library
• Dun Laoghaire Lexicon
• National Library
– Strategic Plan 2016-2021,
– Lunchtime library lecture series
• Trinity College Dublin
– “The Library of the Future; the Future of the Library” series
• DBS
• Open Libraries
• Re-associate the word “library”?