This Week at VPC
As you know the VPC Open Forum is every other week and Vice Provost’s Council will continue to meet on the opposite week. Much of what we discuss outside of the Open Forum is a high-level overview of what is happening around the library and is brought back to area and team meetings via your AUL. While that is still an expectation, I’d like to also start including some of the discussions here in my message to help continually improve our flow of information around the organization.
Today’s meeting was a discussion regarding our 2017 budget hearing. Because of the projected outlook for the State’s budget, we have been asked to plan for additional permanent cuts to our budget. We will be meeting this week with the Provost’s Library Advisory Committee to begin what will be substantive discussions between PLAC and VPC on the nature of that plan.
At last week’s meeting we received an update on the status of the searches and discussed strategies to keep them and others that are on the list moving forward. We also continued our discussion of the role of liaisons outside of Research Services, including expectations for delivering services, time commitments as well as how to balance new opportunities for staff who express the desire to reach beyond their day to day unit duties with needs of the units.
There will be no VPC Open Forum next Wednesday.
BLC Workforce Development Program Update
As you have read in a few of my previous messages, the BLC has assembled a group of Associate University Librarians from across our member institutions to strategize on ways to build and develop staff with the right skills for today’s libraries. A proposal was submitted at our September meeting which includes a two-pronged approach to both strengthen and enhance the consortium as well as provide benefit to the individual institutions. The first step proposed is to create a BLC workforce development infrastructure that includes minimal staffing to support the initiatives such as helping to plan events, coordinating a mentoring program and maintaining an event calendar. The second is called BLC Leads: Building Our Capacity to Learn, which is a six month participative program where individuals from member libraries will attend in-person and virtual learning sessions that introduce new and familiar content to enhance leadership skills. We have agreed that one person from each institution that meets the suggested qualifications, will have the opportunity to join the program. We will manage the multiple expressions of interest through prioritization and staging over time since we expect this program to continue. An announcement will come out soon but in the meantime if you have any questions, you can contact me or Holly who is our representative on the working group.
Charleston Conference
As you may have seen yesterday, Sara, Michael Rodriguez and Patrick attended the Charleston Library Conference and have invited us to a brownbag discussion at noon on Tuesday, November 22 in the OVP Conference Room. The Charleston Conference is an annual event that pulls together librarians, publishers, electronic resource managers, consultants, and vendors to discuss issues of importance such as collection development, resource assessment and access. I encourage you to attend.
New Look for Security
Our security staff has a sharp new look! We have changed the official uniform for our security staff to offer a more approachable look and to incorporate our new library branding. They are here to provide a level of safety to our users as well as to be helpful and supportive and I believe this new look will emphasize this role in a more visual way.
One Good Thing
Last week I shared with you some kind words about a staff member and so many people were able to guess, but for those who didn’t it was Michael Rodriguez. This week, I’d like to spotlight a few of our Hartford Library folks for a job well done:
- Michael Howser is thoughtful and fair; his gentle humor helps calm troubled waters and he creates an atmosphere of trust.
- I could write for pages about what I appreciate about Marsha and Claudia! They are wonderful colleagues: dedicated, helpful, kind, reliable, inventive, collaborative. I couldn’t ask for better colleagues!
Keep them coming! I love to read them.
Next week is a student break and of course Thanksgiving (remember, no VPC Open Forum next week) so I’ll take the opportunity now to wish you all a wonderful holiday with hopes that you eat your fill of your favorite Thanksgiving treats!