Andrew McIntyre, LibraryJournal.com; LSSI Gets Its First Contract in Florida:
"In a move that is predicted to save $1 million or more annually, one central Florida county will soon outsource management of its branch libraries to Library Systems & Services (LSSI), a private, for-profit company based in Germantown, MD.
The Osceola County Board of County Commissioners voted 3-2 on December 12 to allow LSSI to take over management of the six-branch Osceola Library System. The deal begins Tuesday, and it is LSSI's first contract in Florida."
Saturday, December 31, 2011
'Upheaval at the New York Public Library'? At the Least, Some Clouds Over Transformation Plan | News Analysis; LibraryJournal.com, 12/22/11
Norman Oder, LibraryJournal.com; 'Upheaval at the New York Public Library'? At the Least, Some Clouds Over Transformation Plan | News Analysis:
"The New York Public Library (NYPL) likes to manage its press coverage via carefully placed exclusives in the New York Times, the newspaper that matters to an institution dependent on contributions from New York's elite and the policies of top elected officials.
So it was a blow--though unclear how big--that, on November 30, The Nation published Scott Sherman's investigation, headlined "Upheaval at the New York Public Library."
His essential critique: the NYPL, while managing austerity by closing some research library spaces and tolerating branches in disrepair, is "pushing ahead with a gargantuan renovation of the Forty-second Street library, the crown jewel of the system.""
"The New York Public Library (NYPL) likes to manage its press coverage via carefully placed exclusives in the New York Times, the newspaper that matters to an institution dependent on contributions from New York's elite and the policies of top elected officials.
So it was a blow--though unclear how big--that, on November 30, The Nation published Scott Sherman's investigation, headlined "Upheaval at the New York Public Library."
His essential critique: the NYPL, while managing austerity by closing some research library spaces and tolerating branches in disrepair, is "pushing ahead with a gargantuan renovation of the Forty-second Street library, the crown jewel of the system.""
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Corner Office: To Stay Great, Never Forget Your Basics; New York Times, 12/17/11
Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Geoffrey Canada, president and C.E.O. of the nonprofit Harlem Children’s Zone: To Stay Great, Never Forget Your Basics:
"Q. A lot of managers go out of their way to avoid having difficult conversations. Your thoughts?
A. I call them adult conversations. People don’t want to have these conversations. They will avoid them. I am often asking people: Do you need help with having these conversations? So you’re going to talk to that person. What are you going to say to them? How are you going to say it?
It’s something that most of us aren’t trained to do. I used to think it was particularly true in a not-for-profit business, because people who come to work at a not-for-profit want to help people, so it’s harder for them to make these tough calls. But the more I have seen people in for-profits, I think they’re even worse at it.
I’m just stunned sometimes with how unwilling people are to bring somebody in the office and just say to them: “Look, you’re a good person. You know I like you. I like your family. This job is not really working out, and I’m going to have to let you go.” And so they will put people in another position, where they don’t really add to the bottom line, so they don’t have to deal with firing them. We don’t have the luxury of being able to do that. I mean, we don’t have positions that we can just sort of stuff you in."
"Q. A lot of managers go out of their way to avoid having difficult conversations. Your thoughts?
A. I call them adult conversations. People don’t want to have these conversations. They will avoid them. I am often asking people: Do you need help with having these conversations? So you’re going to talk to that person. What are you going to say to them? How are you going to say it?
It’s something that most of us aren’t trained to do. I used to think it was particularly true in a not-for-profit business, because people who come to work at a not-for-profit want to help people, so it’s harder for them to make these tough calls. But the more I have seen people in for-profits, I think they’re even worse at it.
I’m just stunned sometimes with how unwilling people are to bring somebody in the office and just say to them: “Look, you’re a good person. You know I like you. I like your family. This job is not really working out, and I’m going to have to let you go.” And so they will put people in another position, where they don’t really add to the bottom line, so they don’t have to deal with firing them. We don’t have the luxury of being able to do that. I mean, we don’t have positions that we can just sort of stuff you in."
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Deputy director takes over Carnegie Library operations; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 12/13/11
Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Deputy director takes over Carnegie Library operations:
"The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has a new president and director.
The board of trustees last night unanimously appointed Mary Frances Cooper, the library's deputy director, to the top position.
Ms. Cooper was selected from among 40 applicants, Lou Testoni, chairman of the trustees, said in an email to board members and other boosters this morning.
He called her a nationally recognized library leader who was selected after an "extensive national search."...
Ms. Cooper has a master's degree in library science."
"The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has a new president and director.
The board of trustees last night unanimously appointed Mary Frances Cooper, the library's deputy director, to the top position.
Ms. Cooper was selected from among 40 applicants, Lou Testoni, chairman of the trustees, said in an email to board members and other boosters this morning.
He called her a nationally recognized library leader who was selected after an "extensive national search."...
Ms. Cooper has a master's degree in library science."
Corner Office: A Blueprint for Leadership: Show, Don’t Tell; New York Times, 12/10/11
Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Amy Schulman, executive vice president, general counsel, and president of nutrition at PfizerA Blueprint for Leadership: Show, Don’t Tell:
"Amy Schulman, executive vice president and general counsel at Pfizer, says that just as good writers learn to “show, don't tell” in their essays, she has learned to use real-life anecdotes about herself to convey her style to employees...
Q. I’ve lost count of the number of executives I’ve interviewed who, it turns out, have teaching backgrounds.
A. Actually, I think that’s not surprising. People who are drawn to teaching really like to help people. I think of teaching as teasing out what’s already inside of people, and helping them to get better. Teaching has a lot to do with getting other people enthusiastic about something, and feeling that you want to create that spark."
"Amy Schulman, executive vice president and general counsel at Pfizer, says that just as good writers learn to “show, don't tell” in their essays, she has learned to use real-life anecdotes about herself to convey her style to employees...
Q. I’ve lost count of the number of executives I’ve interviewed who, it turns out, have teaching backgrounds.
A. Actually, I think that’s not surprising. People who are drawn to teaching really like to help people. I think of teaching as teasing out what’s already inside of people, and helping them to get better. Teaching has a lot to do with getting other people enthusiastic about something, and feeling that you want to create that spark."
Thursday, December 8, 2011
I Don't Understand What Anyone Is Saying Anymore; Harvard Business Review, 12/5/11
Dan Pallotta, Harvard Business Review; I Don't Understand What Anyone Is Saying Anymore:
"I'd say that in about half of my business conversations, I have almost no idea what other people are saying to me. The language of internet business models has made the problem even worse...
People just don't make sense anymore. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you internalize this. Observe it, deconstruct it, and appreciate just how ridiculous most business conversation has become.
You will gain tremendous credibility, become much more productive, make those around you much more productive, and experience a great deal more joy in your working life if you look someone in the eye after hearing one of these verbal brain jammers and tell the person, "I don't have any idea what you just said to me.""
"I'd say that in about half of my business conversations, I have almost no idea what other people are saying to me. The language of internet business models has made the problem even worse...
People just don't make sense anymore. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you internalize this. Observe it, deconstruct it, and appreciate just how ridiculous most business conversation has become.
You will gain tremendous credibility, become much more productive, make those around you much more productive, and experience a great deal more joy in your working life if you look someone in the eye after hearing one of these verbal brain jammers and tell the person, "I don't have any idea what you just said to me.""
Sunday, December 4, 2011
[Corner Office] I Was Impossible, but Then I Saw How to Lead; New York Times, 12/3/11
[Corner Office] Adam Bryant, New York Times; Interview with Ruth J. Simmons, president of Brown University for the last 11 years: I Was Impossible, but Then I Saw How to Lead:
"Q. But at some point, particularly when you became a manager, you realized you couldn’t be so impossible.
A. It was living, frankly. And the experience of understanding that the ways in which I was trying to solve problems and to interact with people were getting in the way of achieving what I want. And that’s what did it for me. Ultimately, I came to understand that I could achieve far more if I worked amiably with people, if I supported others’ goals, if I didn’t try to embarrass people by pointing out their deficiencies in a very public way. So I think it was really experience that did it more than anything else."
"Q. But at some point, particularly when you became a manager, you realized you couldn’t be so impossible.
A. It was living, frankly. And the experience of understanding that the ways in which I was trying to solve problems and to interact with people were getting in the way of achieving what I want. And that’s what did it for me. Ultimately, I came to understand that I could achieve far more if I worked amiably with people, if I supported others’ goals, if I didn’t try to embarrass people by pointing out their deficiencies in a very public way. So I think it was really experience that did it more than anything else."
How Libraries Are About More Than Books; HuffingtonPost.com, 11/30/11
Paul Needham, HuffingtonPost.com; How Libraries Are About More Than Books:
"These are complicated times for public libraries. Even as budgets are slashed nationwide, more people than ever are visiting their local library. Even as the unemployed seek out the quiet space and free Internet access, the group most attached to libraries remains working mothers, often accompanied by their children.
And, in case you hadn't heard, books aren't quite as popular as they used to be.
"So the question, and it's a huge question, is, 'What even is a library anymore?'" said Cesar Pelli, the world-renowned architect and designer of the Minneapolis Central Library."
"These are complicated times for public libraries. Even as budgets are slashed nationwide, more people than ever are visiting their local library. Even as the unemployed seek out the quiet space and free Internet access, the group most attached to libraries remains working mothers, often accompanied by their children.
And, in case you hadn't heard, books aren't quite as popular as they used to be.
"So the question, and it's a huge question, is, 'What even is a library anymore?'" said Cesar Pelli, the world-renowned architect and designer of the Minneapolis Central Library."
Upheaval at the New York Public Library: The Nation, 11/30/11
Scott Sherman, The Nation; Upheaval at the New York Public Library:
"The man who must contend with the NYPL’s budget difficulties is its new president, a tall, amiable, casually dressed political scientist named Anthony Marx, who started at the library on July 1. Marx had been the president of Amherst College, where during his eight-year tenure he raised great sums of money and did much to diversify the student body. But obtaining the financial resources to sustain the NYPL in these lean and mean times is a task that’s sure to keep Marx tossing in his bed at night. (Personal reasons may also keep Marx from sleeping soundly: on the afternoon of November 6 he was arrested in Upper Manhattan for driving while intoxicated; his blood alcohol level was 0.19. He is scheduled to appear in court on December 9.) He faces an additional challenge with the CLP, devised by his predecessor and scheduled to be completed in 2015.
The centerpiece of the CLP—expected to cost anywhere from $250 million to $350 million—is the construction of a state-of-the-art, computer-oriented library designed by British architect Norman Foster, in the vast interior of the Schwarzman Building."
"The man who must contend with the NYPL’s budget difficulties is its new president, a tall, amiable, casually dressed political scientist named Anthony Marx, who started at the library on July 1. Marx had been the president of Amherst College, where during his eight-year tenure he raised great sums of money and did much to diversify the student body. But obtaining the financial resources to sustain the NYPL in these lean and mean times is a task that’s sure to keep Marx tossing in his bed at night. (Personal reasons may also keep Marx from sleeping soundly: on the afternoon of November 6 he was arrested in Upper Manhattan for driving while intoxicated; his blood alcohol level was 0.19. He is scheduled to appear in court on December 9.) He faces an additional challenge with the CLP, devised by his predecessor and scheduled to be completed in 2015.
The centerpiece of the CLP—expected to cost anywhere from $250 million to $350 million—is the construction of a state-of-the-art, computer-oriented library designed by British architect Norman Foster, in the vast interior of the Schwarzman Building."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)