How Public Libraries Can Become Learning Organizations

By: Alex JakupovicHow Public Libraries Can Become Learning Organizations

DefinitionOrganization that acquires knowledge and innovates fast enough to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing environment. Learning organizations (1) create a culture that encourages and supports continuous employee learning, critical thinking, and risk taking with new ideas, (2) allow mistakes, and value employee contributions, (3) learn from experience and experiment, and (4) disseminate the new knowledge throughout the organization for incorporation into day-to-day activities.The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1990)Peter SengeThe Five Disciplines:Personal MasteryMental ModelsShared VisionTeam LearningSystems Thinking

Personal Mastery- organizational learn only through individuals who learn. Personal mastery involves people clarifying what is important and continually learning how to see reality more clearly.Mental models- these are deeply held images of how the world work and subtle patterns of reasoning which tend to limit a persons way of thinking and acting.Shared vision- this consists of pictures and images people carry in their heads concerning what the organization should be and what its members should be trying to create, it is a shared sense of identity throughout the organization.Team learning- this is the process of aligning and developing the capacity of a team to create the results its members desire.Systems thinking- this involves the understanding that organizational endeavors are one system or whole, made up of an individual fabric of interrelated actions, which often take years to play out their effects fully on each other.3Why is being a learning organization good for libraries?Libraries are always changing and need to adapt to strategies that will make the organization move forward.Problem solving is a productive and proactive process.Two types of learning that people experienceMaintenanceAnticipatorySenge says Leadership is attending to conditions that would keep growth from happeningLibraries cannot afford the luxury of one person leadership

Maintanence learning is discovering better ways to do current procedures and tasks. Making things much more efficent.Anticapatory learning is what learning organizations encourage. Individuals acquire new knowledge and incorporate the new knowledge into the workplace so that the organization can reach its vision. Anticaptory learning is particpatory, a joint venture in which indiviuals in a unit, department, or organization as a whole explore alternatives, share ideas, and consider how new knowledge helps the organization reach new goals. With such tight funding, libraries cannot afford the luxury of one person leadership. Every staffer has to be fully engaged, understand the mission, and be happy to implement it. This means investing in the worker by focusing on strengths, talents, and personal goals. 4The role of library leadersThe designer- builds foundation of core values and organizational purpose. The teacher (guide)The steward- protect the mission of the library

As a guide, managers encourage growth, development, and true learning rather than emphasizing memorization of policies and blind application of proceduresThe steward ensures organizational values are understood and practiced. Without this commitment a culture of a learning organization cannot be achieved.

5Strategies for library leadersRemember that:Everyone can be a source of useful ideasThe people closest to the problem usually have the best ideas about solutionsLearning flows up as well as down (commitment to learning)Open dialogue improves ideas A mistake is an opportunity to learn

Libraries and systems thinking can work!Read from so much more power than we think we have7Benefits of becoming a learning organizationUnderstanding all the operations of the library and learning how they are inter-relatedStart to think in system terms rather than individualAdaptabilityImprove servicePeople will resist what they do not understandLearning is not a destination it is a way of life

How libraries can be learning organizationsBe a training department of oneGet library staff involved (informal chats, coffee, lunch, 1:1)Start with one person and push forwardMake knowledge available to everyoneTraining does not have to come from the upper hierarchy (brings creativity)

Denver Public Library has one training department for 500 people

9Obstacles for libraries to become a learning organizationNo one sees value in trainingPerception vs. RealityEach library is unique, cannot just copy other libraries versions of successStaff is afraid to talk openlyOrganizational structure

Examples of what actual libraries are doingEmployee Annual Reviews (Denver Public Library)Learning 2.0 23 Things (Charlotte, NC Mecklenburg Library)Lessons came in blog posts or podcastsStaff would have to create their own blogs in response and post it to the official 23 Things website.Participants went through the experience togetherTechnology Director turned several topics into longer trainingsGreat way to generate enthusiasm among a lot of potential learners

Denver Public Library has a learning section on their annual reviews. The management team and the employee collaborate on different learning opportunities that interest that employee. The employee then participates in the learning opportunity but then they have to teach everyone on staff about what they learned.11