Make It a Place They Want to Work | Leading From the Library; Library Journal, 6/24/14

Steven Bell, Library Journal; Make It a Place They Want to Work | Leading From the Library:

"We look to our leaders to enable us to get things done. We look to them for vision and inspiration, but we also want leaders who make progress and get our organization to the place where the vision becomes reality. What sometimes gets overlooked is the need to create a workplace where people want to be while all the work is getting done...

Start With the Core

Prior research has led Schwartz to identify four areas that leaders need to recognize if they want to develop the right conditions for a better workplace. He identified these four core needs as:

Sustainability – Think of it as physical preventive maintenance. What does the employer do to make sure that employees are in physically good condition – or does it wear them into the ground with stress and lack of support for wellness.

Security – Mental well-being is equally important so employees need to feel recognized, valued and appreciated. According to Schwartz, only one in ten employees believe they are perceived as vital to the organization.

Self-expression – Fulfillment is derived from having the ability to apply individual skills and talents to complete work in a way deemed optimal by the employee. Leaders need to avoid micromanaging, parental treatment and other bad behaviors that make employees feel they are being constantly watched and controlled.

Significance – Believing their presence and work makes a difference can make all the difference in employees’ attitude. They also want to believe that the organization they work for stands for something significant and that they contribute to its cause in a meaningful way.

Leaders must take responsibility to determine whether or not, or to what extent, these core values exist in the organization. If this core is non-existent or only partially in place, the leadership needs to rethink its current policies and behaviors and determine what it can do to shift the culture. Schwartz has some suggestions for how to turn things around...

Zappos and Southwest Airlines are good examples of organizations that have achieved success by putting employees first through empowerment and engagement. Schwartz recommends four things leaders can do to start changing the culture."

Departing Pitt library director ‘‍finessed’ the system into 21st century; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/26/14

Stephanie McFeeters, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Departing Pitt library director ‘‍finessed’ the system into 21st century:

"Mr. Miller believes these transformations have been largely positive. As director of Pitt’s libraries, he was always ahead of the curve and excited about modernization, planning in a way that involved the entire staff, his colleagues said.

When Mr. Miller arrived at Pitt in 1994, he judged the libraries to be disorganized and overcrowded. He set out to restructure the system and make it more efficient, closing half a dozen libraries, shipping books to a new storage facility and re-engineering back-room operations.

Tim Deliyannides, the university’s head of information technology, said Mr. Miller was forward-thinking and quickly shifted the library’s focus.

“From the very first time he came to Pitt, he had the vision and foresight that the role of the library would be completely redefined by information technology,” Mr. Deliyannides said. “He’s very bold in committing to a new activity and re-allocating resources, and sometimes that means we stop doing things we have always done because we’re moving in a new direction.”"

LLAMA Webinar Explores New Methods of Collecting Building Use Data: July 23, 2014 1:30 PM - 3 PM (CDT)

Library Leadership & Management Association (LLAMA); LLAMA Webinar Explores New Methods of Collecting Building Use Data:

As the use of library space continues to evolve rapidly, the collection of building use and space data has become increasingly crucial for all types of libraries. The Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) will present “Beyond the Gate and Counting: Collecting and Organizing Building Use Data in Public and Academic Libraries,” on Wed., July 23, at 1:30 – 3:00 PM (Central time).

Description: Organized by the LLAMA MAES Data Collection for Library Managers Committee,this webinar will feature two presentations exploring multiple aspects of collecting space and building use data.

The first presentation will focus on the sampling methodology used to gather space utilization data within an academic library. In order to have a better understanding of physical space usage, detailed examinations of physical space usage were performed in the Thomas Cooper Library, at the University of South Carolina's Columbia campus. In that study, a correlation method was devised to assist in the data collection of reference statistics, avoiding the need for daily tallies.

The second presentation will review the latest iteration of the data collection process at The University of Arizona Library (UAL). Formed in 2011, the Library Space Usage Assessment project sought to answer questions about how public spaces in the library were being utilized. Using iPads and a newly developed online data collection form, they gathered observational data on customer activity throughout the library. This presentation will demonstrate the tools used, the lessons learned, and how data collection has been incorporated into ongoing customer needs assessment and strategic planning.

By the end of this webinar participants will:

Understand methodologies used to collect building use data.

Be familiar with the tools used to collect building use data.

Learn the various types of building use data that can be collected.

Know how to organize the building use data that is collected.

Presenters:

Presentation 1: Daniel S. Dotson, Mathematical Sciences Librarian, Science Education Specialist, The Ohio State University, University Libraries; Joshua Garris, ILS Administrator, University of South Carolina

Presentation 2: John C. Miller-Wells, Library Information Analyst, Access & Information Services Team, University of Arizona Library

Target audiences: librarians who collect data on building use or those who are interested in learning more about this topic

Fees:

LLAMA member: $49

Non-LLAMA member $59

LLAMA group rate (5 or more people at one site) $199

Non-LLAMA group rate (5 or more people at one site) $239

Register online: http://tinyurl.com/3zhtecm

Register with a purchase order or by mail: registration form (PDF, 1 pg.).

For questions about this webinar or other LLAMA programs, contact Fred Reuland. freuland@ala.org

About the Library Leadership and Management Association

The Library Leadership and Management Association (www.ala.org/llama) advances outstanding leadership and management practices in library and information services by encouraging and nurturing individual excellence in current and aspiring library leaders. LLAMA is a division of the American Library Association.

Unblinking Eyes Track Employees: Workplace Surveillance Sees Good and Bad; New York Times, 6/21/14

Steve Lohr, New York Times; Unblinking Eyes Track Employees: Workplace Surveillance Sees Good and Bad:

"A digital Big Brother is coming to work, for better or worse.

Advanced technological tools are beginning to make it possible to measure and monitor employees as never before, with the promise of fundamentally changing how we work — along with raising concerns about privacy and the specter of unchecked surveillance in the workplace.

Through these new means, companies have found, for example, that workers are more productive if they have more social interaction. So a bank’s call center introduced a shared 15-minute coffee break, and a pharmaceutical company replaced coffee makers used by a few marketing workers with a larger cafe area. The result? Increased sales and less turnover.

Yet the prospect of fine-grained, digital monitoring of workers’ behavior worries privacy advocates. Companies, they say, have few legal obligations other than informing employees. “Whether this kind of monitoring is effective or not, it’s a concern,” said Lee Tien, a senior staff lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco."

Don’t Do What You Love; Do What You Do; Harvard Business Review, 6/17/14

Charlotte Lieberman, Harvard Business Review; Don’t Do What You Love; Do What You Do:

"Miya Tokumitsu has critiqued Do What You Love (DWYL), the “unofficial work mantra of our time,” as elitist and untenable, “a worldview that disguises its elitism as noble self-betterment” and “distracts us from the working conditions of others while validating our own choices.” Tokumitsu’s overarching argument is, well, relatively inarguable: the idea that we should all embrace the notion of DWYL makes the false assumption that getting a “lovable” job is always a matter of choice. (The DWYL framework ignores those who work low-skill, low-wage jobs – housekeepers, migrant workers, janitors. These individuals are not simply failing to acquire gratifying work that they “love.”) The idea of DWYL, as Tokumitsu points out, privileges the privileged, those who are in the socioeconomic position to perpetuate this “mantra” as a way to rationalize their professional success and most likely, also their workaholism.

To explore these ideas further I talked with Sharon Salzberg, author of a new book entitled Real Happiness at Work, in which she describes a myriad set of actionable ways to find “real happiness at work” – even at “jobs we don’t like.” By practicing techniques of concentration, mindfulness, and compassion, Salzberg argues that that work is “a place where we can learn and grow and come to be much happier.” When we practice the art of mindfulness, we can tap into what is an opportunity for learning and growth on the job...

So try out the mantra “Do What You Do” (DWYD) – and maybe love will emerge from different places, professional or personal, at different times."

Manage a Difficult Conversation with Emotional Intelligence; Harvard Business Review, 6/19/14

Susan David, Harvard Business Review; Manage a Difficult Conversation with Emotional Intelligence:

"Emotions cannot be ignored. In fact, research suggests that suppressing your emotions – deciding not to say something when you’re upset – can lead to bad results. Have you ever yelled at your spouse or child after a frustrating day at work – a frustration that had nothing to do with him or her? That’s what psychologists refer to as “emotional leakage.” When you bottle up your feelings, you’re likely to express your emotions in unintended ways instead, either sarcastically or in a completely different context. Suppressing your emotions is associated with poor memory, difficulties in relationships, and physiological costs (like cardiovascular health problems). Emotions matter.

When Karl came to me with questions about his upcoming meeting, I walked him through a plan based on the principles of emotional intelligence. This plan would help him acknowledge logic and emotion during the meeting...

Emotionally intelligent leaders are aware of what causes their emotions, and they also think through what outcomes are most desirable...

Emotions aren’t just the result of a workplace conflict. In fact, emotions usually are the conflict. They need to be acknowledged and planned for. Recognizing emotions, assessing their impact on thinking, understanding them, and managing them is a roadmap for navigating through those often-murky (and anxiety-provoking) waters."

2014 Gale/LJ Library of the Year: Edmonton Public Library, Transformed by Teamwork; Library Journal, 6/11/14

John N. Berry III, Library Journal; 2014 Gale/LJ Library of the Year: Edmonton Public Library, Transformed by Teamwork:

"For 101 years, Alberta’s Edmonton Public Library (EPL) has galvanized its ever-growing city. From its beginnings above a meat and liquor store in 1913 to its current configuration as a massive, team-driven enterprise, EPL has served as a pioneering gathering place, connecting people and expanding minds. In the process, it changed the parameters of what it means to be a public library and transformed itself. Having the spirit and creativity to do that meant taking risks, innovating, and embracing change. It made EPL a model for all public libraries and the winner of the 2014 Gale/Library Journal Library of the Year Award. A place where “Europeans and Aboriginals always met and traded,” today, people come “to start fresh, build something new, try something out, and make their mark,” says EPL’s entry for this award."

In Silicon Valley, Searching for Diversity in an Algorithm; Fox Business, 6/9/14

Jennifer Booton, Fox Business; In Silicon Valley, Searching for Diversity in an Algorithm:

"Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said its 46,000-person workforce is “miles” away from where Google would like to be. It blamed education, and touted its efforts to try and fix the problem such as sending engineers to historically black colleges to reinvent IT curriculums and investing in education for girls...

“My concern is the 99% of other companies who want and need diverse teams but don’t have the team to recruit them,” Bischke said. “This could help level the playing field.”

What Entelo provides is more than 20 million profiles of potential employees filled with publicly-available data pulled from sites like Twitter (TWTR) and LinkedIn (LNKD).

Its proprietary algorithms then sort through this information using big data, predictive analytics and social cues, to determine the likelihood that people fall into a number of demographic subsets: female vs. male, white vs. black, etc.. It also identifies U.S. military veterans.

"We realized we could do this with a high degree of accuracy,” Bischke said.

The idea is that it would help companies to more cost-effectively and efficiently scour a wider group of potentially ethnically-diverse and qualified candidates, freeing up resources to focus on innovation, training, and ideally develop these people into future industry leaders."

Managing Two People Who Hate Each Other; Harvard Business Review, 6/9/14

Liane Davey, Harvard Business Review; Managing Two People Who Hate Each Other:

"Managing people is never easy, but when the animosity between two of your direct reports escalates to the level of hatred, how do you minimize the drama and keep your team on track? Before you call for a professional mediator, remember that this is a fundamental part of your job as a manager. If you can get to the root of your employees’ fear, you can help them rebuild their relationship. And if you do it the right way, the shared vulnerability will start to foster trust in place of hate. Try the following approach to get at the root of the problem and resolve the conflict once and for all:...

When you are ready, relentlessly provide feedback whenever you see symptoms of the poor relationship. For example: “When Giselle spoke, you rolled your eyes. For me, that demonstrated a lack of professional maturity. What caused your reaction to what Giselle was saying?”

Take every opportunity to call out bad behavior and don’t hesitate to provide feedback on the absence of behavior either, as in: “I noticed that you didn’t say anything during Giselle’s presentation. What was going on for you?” In each case, ensure that your feedback ends with an open-ended question that gets the person talking."

National Library management 'no confidence' threat; BBC, 5/20/14

BBC; National Library management 'no confidence' threat:

"National Library of Wales workers have threatened to pass a motion of no confidence in the institution's management.

The move comes after the library's board gave two members of the executive team responsibility allowances equal to a 10% payment.

It comes as unions are unhappy more than 200 of their members have not had a consolidated pay rise since 2009...

A Prospect Cymru spokesman said its 170 or so members felt that management - consisting of the library's board and chief executive Aled Gruffydd Jones - were not treating all staff equally and there was no transparency in its decision making.

She said members were aggrieved, adding: "In February we were unable to support the most recent pay offer because it did not deliver the living wage."

One Reason Cross-Cultural Small Talk Is So Tricky; Harvard Business Review, 5/30/14

Erin Meyer, Harvard Business Review; One Reason Cross-Cultural Small Talk Is So Tricky:

"A good way to prepare is to ask yourself whether the new culture is a “peach” or a “coconut”. This is a distinction drawn by culture experts Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner. In peach cultures like the USA or Brazil people tend to be friendly (“soft”) with new acquaintances. They smile frequently at strangers, move quickly to first-name usage, share information about themselves, and ask personal questions of those they hardly know. But after a little friendly interaction with a peach, you may suddenly get to the hard shell of the pit where the peach protects his real self and the relationship suddenly stops.

In coconut cultures such Russia and Germany, people are initially more closed off from those they don’t have friendships with. They rarely smile at strangers, ask casual acquaintances personal questions, or offer personal information to those they don’t know intimately. But over time, as coconuts get to know you, they become gradually warmer and friendlier. And while relationships are built up slowly, they also tend to last longer."

Buildings and Books; New Yorker, 6/2/14

Ian Frazier, New Yorker; Buildings and Books:

"Observers could be excused for finding the plan too complicated and strange to think about at first. The library’s management and board of trustees developed the C.L.P. without the public’s knowing much about it, but as the time for construction approached, and more public meetings were held, it became clear that the C.L.P. represented a major retrenchment. Anyone with experience in household austerity and the cost of modern real estate could get the picture. The main research building was like the elderly but still healthy parent; the Mid-Manhattan Library and SIBL were the grownup offspring. Pressed for cash, the family was selling the kids’ apartments and moving the kids in with the parent. To make room, some of the parent’s belongings would have to be put in storage in New Jersey. When the sacrifices that the C.L.P. would entail sank in, thanks in particular to reporting in The Nation and n+1, library users began to object loudly and persistently. The protests, the new mayor’s lack of support, and the fact that the financial projections did not add up eventually undid the C.L.P.

The biggest problem was the money...

The Schwarzman Building stands on the site that once held about half of the Croton Reservoir. Massive stones from the reservoir’s walls make up part of the building’s foundation. The reservoir stored much of the city’s water, carried by an aqueduct system for many miles from upstate. New York City has created visionary civic projects in the past; its public library is chief among them. America now has the highest level of income inequality in the developed world, and New York’s is among the worst in America. The public library has always been a great democratizer and creator of citizens, and a powerful force against inequality; it must not retrench, especially now."

Does the New York Times Know How to Fire Someone?; Harvard Business Review, 5/16/14

Ben W. Heineman, Jr., Harvard Business Review; Does the New York Times Know How to Fire Someone? :

"In many organizations, top leaders have issues that emerge from 360-degree reviews or other systematic (and fair-minded) assessments. Often, boards or senior executives try to be clear about areas where a leader needs to improve. Assuming that leader has other very positive qualities (clearly so in Abramson’s case), he or she is then given a real opportunity over a reasonable period of time to address those issues, customarily with some guidance or assistance. And given that Abramson had worked for the paper for 14 years before her promotion to Editor, it would seem unlikely that her flaws – everyone has some – would be totally unknown to her bosses.

If the Times and Sulzberger want to make “management” the issue, then they have an obligation not to hide behind a vague sentence or phrase — or a non-disparagement agreement — but to explain what the problems were and whether Abramson was given a fair chance to correct them. At this point, with the expected media scrum — and with important issues very much in the public eye — Abramson shouldn’t be complicit in the silence.

This is a big story about an important event at a national institution: The firing of one of the most senior leaders in journalism. The Times would never let another major institution off the hook with such a cursory account of its reasoning."

NYPL: Why We’re Changing the Central Library Plan; Library Journal, 5/13/14

Anthony Marx, Library Journal; NYPL: Why We’re Changing the Central Library Plan:

"The Library’s trustees patiently explored all of these issues, listened to concerns and critics, studied all options and, based on the new facts on the ground, decided to alter the plan. This is as it should be: when the facts change, the only right thing to do as a public serving institution is to take a look with fresh eyes and react to the facts as they present themselves.

But we also know that our goals of a renovated Mid-Manhattan Library, better protection for our research collection, and more access to the Schwarzman Building were the right ones. That’s why we have announced changes to the plan that deliver on those goals at less cost, and with greater flexibility and less risk. Instead of removing the Schwarzman stacks and placing the Mid-Manhattan Library in that space, we’ll renovate the Mid-Manhattan Library at its current site. This renovation will add much-needed computer labs and an adult education space, and an inspiring, comfortable space for browsing our largest circulating collection."

The Best Leaders Are Humble Leaders; Harvard Business Review, 5/12/14

Jeanine Prime and Elizabeth Salib, Harvard Business Review; The Best Leaders Are Humble Leaders:

"In a global marketplace where problems are increasingly complex, no one person will ever have all the answers. That’s why Google’s SVP of People Operations, Lazlo Bock, says humility is one of the traits he’s looking for in new hires. “Your end goal,” explained Bock, “is what can we do together to problem-solve. I’ve contributed my piece, and then I step back.” And it is not just humility in creating space for others to contribute, says Bock—it’s “intellectual humility. Without humility, you are unable to learn.”

A recent Catalyst study backs this up, showing that humility is one of four critical leadership factors for creating an environment where employees from different demographic backgrounds feel included. In a survey of more than 1500 workers from Australia, China, Germany, India, Mexico, and the U.S., we found that when employees observed altruistic or selfless behavior in their managers — a style characterized by 1) acts of humility, such as learning from criticism and admitting mistakes); 2) empowering followers to learn and develop; 3) acts of courage, such as taking personal risks for the greater good; and 4) holding employees responsible for results — they were more likely to report feeling included in their work teams. This was true for both women and men."

Stacks of problems: New N.O. libraries quickly in financial peril; WWLTV.com, 4/24/14

David Hammer, WWLTV.com; Stacks of problems: New N.O. libraries quickly in financial peril:

"Lacking leadership?

In December 2011, the New Orleans Public Library Foundation, a nonprofit that collects donations in support of library services, hired consultant Louise Shaper to assess the system’s performance.

New Orleans Public Library “is an underperforming organization that sorely lacks the leadership, clarity of purpose, and resources needed to provide even average library services,” Shaper wrote. “This state of affairs is a chronic condition, predating Hurricane Katrina.”

Charbonnet said that since the new libraries have opened, residents have been largely unaware of the underlying fiscal problems because of the spacious reading areas, interesting artwork, banks of new computers and the host of librarians.

But if the city can’t find new money soon, Library Director Charles Brown said he will be forced to cut back on staff, reduce hours of operation and cut back on maintenance.

Library leaders have not hidden their financial struggles, appealing each of the last few years at City Council budget hearings for at least some city general fund money. But with court-ordered costs for police, firefighters and the jail taking center stage, the libraries’ needs have received little public attention."

Beware the Next Big Thing; Harvard Business Review Magazine, May 2014

Julian Birkinshaw, Harvard Business Review Magazine; Beware the Next Big Thing:

"Where do new management practices come from? A few emerge fully formed from the minds of academics and consultants, but the vast majority come from corporate executives experimenting with new ideas in their own organizations. A case in point is the online retailer Zappos, which is replacing its traditional hierarchy with a self-organizing “operating system” known as holacracy.

Zappos’s experiment is getting a lot of attention. Like many management innovations before it, holacracy has an exciting zeitgeist appeal. At least a few executives in other firms are no doubt asking themselves, given today’s pressure to innovate and the changing nature of the workforce, is this the management idea of the moment? Could it give my company a competitive edge? What are the risks of trying to import it?

For decades, executives have been asking similar questions whenever management innovations burst onto the scene...

But importing ideas is risky. Even the most obviously useful theory or practice can go wrong if a company is unprepared to act on the insights it offers. And the value of most management ideas—and where they might take you—is far from obvious...

Publicity also has a downside: It raises the risk of hype, disappointment, and, sometimes, a repudiation of the idea. (See the sidebar “The Inevitable Hype Cycle.”) This magazine, for example, has debuted ideas that are now part of the management canon—and ideas that have been relegated to the dusty archive shelves. Your goal as a manager couldn’t be more different from those of the media and academia. You’re not trying to ride the next wave; you’re looking for the perfect wave."

Seeing Your Future Self: Do You See a Library Director? | Leading From the Library; Library Journal, 4/23/14

Steven Bell, Library Journal; Seeing Your Future Self: Do You See a Library Director? | Leading From the Library:

"At some career stage librarians may contemplate moving to an administrative leadership position with the goal of becoming a director or dean. Here are some things to consider as you dwell on your administrative leadership potential.

Deans and directors aren’t the only ones who lead in the library. If leadership is about the ability to influence others and get them engaged with an idea or vision, then leaders can emerge all around the library. However, the scope of your influence, particularly as the architect of a much broader vision for a library organization, will amplify in magnitude as a director. It is regarded as the optimal way to influence thinking at a larger scale, particularly if it requires support from stakeholders beyond the library. More than that, moving into library administration offers the opportunity to implement a personal and unique vision for how a library organization should operate and how it can impact community members."

Leadership Is Not Command; Library Journal, 4/9/14

John N. Berry III, Library Journal; Leadership Is Not Command:

"It took me decades TRULY to understand the qualities that make for great leadership. I finally learned what they are but only after observing more models, mentors, and lessons than I can count. I am still surprised at how slowly I realized that the key strengths of great leaders are not command, control, or management skills, as so many top administrators misleadingly “teach” us. Part of the problem is that while it is easy to state what makes a great leader, it is very difficult and even risky to practice great leadership.

A great leader must have the ability to spot and hire excellent people; build a passionate, committed team; liberate everyone on that team; and then trust them with the autonomy and authority to make decisions, innovate, and test their inspirations and ideas in practice.

The leader brings a vision and broad outline of services and programs to a library and supplies the environment, the culture, and the attitudes through which the services are offered. But members of the team will come up with most of the ideas and often make the decisions and strategies to execute them. It takes a carefully supportive and wide-open mentality on the part of the administration to stimulate staff to enlist and participate in the process. Too few library leaders possess the willingness to trade command and control for participation, creativity, and innovation."

Without more tax dollars, Miami-Dade library system would fire more than half its full-time staff; Miami Herald, 4/10/14

Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald; Without more tax dollars, Miami-Dade library system would fire more than half its full-time staff:

"Without more tax dollars, Miami-Dade County’s library system would fire 56 percent of its full-time staff and bring on part-time workers to operate branches that will see hours cut by an average of 35 percent, according to a document released Thursday.

The draft budget assumes no increase in the coming fiscal year in the special property tax that funds the library system, which has been relying on cash reserves since 2010. The tax currently generates $30 million, but the library’s current budget is $50 million and cash reserves are forecast to be gone by the fall. Mayor Carlos Gimenez says he will not endorse higher taxes without a referendum, leaving library administrators to map out how they would manage a 40 percent drop in funding.

The plan assumes no branch closings. Gimenez instructed library director Raymond Santiago to fashion a $30 million budget with all 49 branches, after facing a firestorm last year when the mayor proposed saving money by closing some of the less-popular branches."

ALA Releases 2014 State of America’s Libraries Report Including List of Most Challenged Books of 2013; Library Journal, 4/14/14

Gary Price, Library Journal; ALA Releases 2014 State of America’s Libraries Report Including List of Most Challenged Books of 2013:

"The full text report (HTML) is available here."

Consortium of foundations bids to buy August Wilson Center; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/8/14

Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Consortium of foundations bids to buy August Wilson Center:

"A consortium of local foundations has stepped forward with a bid to buy the beleaguered Downtown property with the goal of preserving its mission as a center of African-American arts programming.

Led by the Pittsburgh Foundation, the local group submitted a joint bid last week to conservator Judith Fitzgerald, the former bankruptcy judge charged with selling the building to pay off a $7 million delinquent mortgage and other debts.

"The Pittsburgh Foundation is among a small group of local foundations that is developing a joint initiative in efforts to preserve the August Wilson Center and to safeguard its purpose as the pre-eminent community resource for African-American arts programming," John Ellis, a Pittsburgh Foundation spokesman, said in a statement...

"The foundation consortium's primary objective is to explore opportunities to save the August Wilson Center in hope that it may reopen and remain operating for the long term fulfilling its essential role as a community hub for African-American arts and culture.""

The Found Art of Thank-You Notes; New York Times, 4/4/14

Guy Trebay, New York Times; The Found Art of Thank-You Notes:

"While researchers leave open the matter of which format is best for rendering thanks for small favors, courtesies, presents or a tuna casserole supper, there is a growing sense that the old, reliable handwritten note is making a comeback — and not just as a prop on “Tonight.”

For Martin Nowak, director of Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, thanking is a form of cooperative reciprocity with roots in primate behavior. For Paula Madden, a real estate developer in Portland, Ore., “Good manners are the basis of civilization.”

This truth is not, alas, universally acknowledged, added Ms. Madden, who manages a portfolio of family-owned properties and also oversees Portland’s Friday Evening Dancing Class for children, a social institution now in its 92nd year. “As you grow older, it becomes more important when someone recognizes the effort you have made on their behalf and reciprocates in the form of a written acknowledgment,” she said.

A text message just doesn’t cut it, Ms. Madden said, for the simple reason that conveying emotion in digital formats is a lost cause."

Queens Library Board votes not to suspend big-spending director Thomas Galante; New York Daily News, 4/3/14

Caitlin Nolan, Chelsia Rose Marcius, Tim O'Connor, New York Daily News; Queens Library Board votes not to suspend big-spending director Thomas Galante:

"Elected officials called for the library board to shelve Thomas Galante while city and federal investigations probe his eye-popping salary, luxury office renovations and undisclosed side job. Following a five-hour meeting, much of it behind closed doors, the library’s board voted 9-9 not to force him to take a leave of absence. The tie meant the motion to suspend did not carry...

One board member, Terri Mangino, arrived from Florida at the last minute to cast her vote, said a source with knowledge of the proceedings.

“They waited for her to fly in because they knew she would vote to keep Tom,” the source said. “They knew she would tie it up.”

Galante smiled as he left the library late Thursday, his eye-popping $392,000-a-year job intact."

Carnegie Library back on solid financial footing; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/26/14

Mackenzie Carpenter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Carnegie Library back on solid financial footing:

"In 2009, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh was teetering on a precipice, faced with a dramatic drop in state revenues and the prospect of shuttered branches, shorter hours and fewer users because of competition from the Internet.

Today, the library system is on solid ground again, thanks to revenues from two new funding sources -- a new property tax of 0.25 mill approved by voters in 2011 and money from a casino gambling tax.

"We feel we're in a position of strength and stability when it comes to finances," the library's president and director Mary Frances Cooper said Wednesday, hours before a "State of the Library" public meeting at the East Liberty branch...

For 2014, there are two big priorities: increased community engagement -- more teen and children's services, for example -- and expanded digital initiatives. The library has hired Toby Greenwalt as its new director of digital strategy and technology integration to help fully link the library's physical services with the virtual world."