DPSLA soaring high @ 35 : “building unity in the field of librarianship”

Speech delivered byDr. Briccio M. Merced, Jr.

at the 35th founding anniversary of the Davao Private School Librarian’s Association (DPSLA)Saturday, 20 September 2008Brokenshire College, Davao City

“A Soaring Speech?”

• Taking stock after 35 years

• Librarianship today

• DPSLA’s present milieu

• Building Unity at

DPSLA

Taking stock after 35 years

• Point 1 – What’s in a name?• Point 2 – Is there a reason to soar high

at 35? • Point 2 – PVMGAO • Point 4 – Structure matters

– Membership – Officership– Relevance

• Point 3 – Quo vadis DPSLA?

DPSLA BUILDING UNITY

• Davao, Development-oriented

• Professionals who are• Successful• Leaders whose

leadership and • Achievements are

DPSLA BUILDING UNITY

• Bases for• Unity in the generation and

management of• Information where• Librarian-members are• Dedicated to the• Intellectualization of its association

that espouses• Novelty in • Governance such that it

DPSLA BUILDING UNITY

• Unites• Networked institutional libraries and

associations for the advancement in the utilization of

• Information and • Technology infrastructures performed

by • Yeomen

Davao, development-oriented

• technology-oriented • working library which provides for teaching,

reading and research• apart from his professionalism, a librarian

needs to be an intellectual through reading, research

• the Library, global implications for knowledge economy

• reading habit declined, restored by University Librarianship so that the University Libraries could become development partners in Higher Education.

Davao, development-oriented

• The Professional Librarian is an integral link in the development of an intellectual culture in the Universities, and this Association should discuss the relevant issues which need to be articulated to make the professional Librarian a

unique kind of intellectual.

Profession

• Attributes of a profession (Ernest Greenwood, 1957)

• A systematic body of knowledge • Professional authority and

credibility • Regulation and control of members • A professional code of ethics • A culture of values, norms,

and symbols

Criteria of a Profession

• A Profession is guided by a code of ethics that regulates the relationship between professional and the client;

• A Profession is distinguished by the presence of specific cultures, norms and values;

• A Profession has a clear standard of education preparation for entry into a profession;

Criteria of a Profession

• A Profession attracts individuals of intellectual and personal qualities who exact services above personal gains and who recognize their chosen profession as a life’s work.

• A Profession strives to compensate its practitioners by providing for action and opportunity for continuous professional growth and

economic security.

7 habits of highly successful librarians

• Habit 1: Proactivity, fanaticism, and downright aggression

• Habit 2: From Librarianship to World Domination - yes, YOU can!

• Habit 3: Prioritization and Delegation - keeping the

trivial in some else's

in-tray

7 habits of highly successful librarians

• Habit 4: Believe in yourself

• Habit 5: Exceptio probat regulam

• Habit 6: Synergy, empowerment, paradigms, viability and other jargon

• Habit 7: Imagination,

ingenuity, innovation, inspiration, and inventiveness

Every librarian a leader

• all staff, professional and support, do their best to take a leadership mentality and apply it to whatever they do

• Warren Bennis and Noel Tichy. book Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls, Oct. ’07, Harvard Business Review (p. 94), wrote “we all make judgment calls throughout our lives and careers - and so do all librarians”

Every librarian a leader

• your library’s leader for information literacy or scholarly communications, has got a significant role in shaping future

services

Achiever-librarians

• John McKinlay: University Librarian; Quiet Achiever, James Cook University, Australia

• John’s multitasks at JCU - the staff of Careers and Employment reported to him, Study Skills/Aka Learning Advisors/AKA Language and Learning twice, Counselling, Medical Services, Archives, Records, Mail Room, Student Admissions, Printery, Student Equity, Disability Support and

Equal Opportunity. Quite a variety

of responsibilities for any

Librarian.

Achiever-librarians

• A worst moment • February 1985: As a result of industrial action, the

library buildings suffered frequent and unpredictable power, light and air conditioning outages over several weeks, mercifully pre-orientation. Meanwhile, it was very hot and humid and there was a cyclone hovering about. In spite of the appalling working conditions, library services never missed a beat.

• Achievement • I took great pleasure in the establishment of a brand-

new library service in Cairns in February 1987, followed by celebrations for its move to increasingly bigger and better homes in July 1995 and December 1999. The Cairns connection has been both a pleasure and a privilege.

Achiever-Librarians

• Changes in the profession • When I first started work in a university

library in 1963, printed book and journal collections were everything and cataloguing was King. Services to readers (as they were then known, because they did) struggled out of the mists somewhat later.

• Experiences with CAUL • The companionship of my university

librarian colleagues is what has kept me informed, entertained and sane over the past 22 years. I will miss them very much.