SUSTAINING A COLLABORATIVE ORGANIZATION IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT Gale S. Etschmaier Associate University Librarian for Public Services Gelman Library, George Washington University

OVERVIEW BACKGROUND DEFINING THE FUTURE SHAPE OF THE LIBRARY IMPACT OF GENERATIONAL SHIFTS ON COLLABORATIVE MODEL

Gelman Library George Washington University Located in Washington, DC Mission reflects link to location, opportunities for internships, etc.

Enrollment/Student characteristics On-Campus 20,318 Off-Campus Enrollment 3,672 Undergraduate Students 10,556 Graduate Students 12,389 (Includes Doctoral Students and Professional Degrees)

Gelman Library System Culture History of Collaboration Strategic Plan Goals 1999 : become a learning organization 2000 : develop a culture of assessment Work with consultants transform organizational culture develop staff facilitation skills

REFERENCE AND INSTRUCTION Education and Instruction Training & Professional Development Reference Collection Development REFERENCE AND INSTRUCTION Research Guides Reference Services

Areas of strength/emphasis Strong Instruction Program Supporting University Strategic Plan Collaboration with new University Writing Program Staff with a Strong User Focus

Changes: Challenges & Opportunities Department Head left in August 2005 Four new librarian positions New Director of Advancement Plan to prioritize funding main service floor

Restructuring Reference and Instruction Early notification of staff Affinity diagram to capture concerns, issues for long and short term Brainstormed structural models Formed volunteer teams to explore long term and short term structures and make a recommendation Both groups explored pluses and minuses for each of models

New Structure: Triad/Troika/Triumvirate Instruction Collection Development Reference

Requirements for new structure Coordinators for each group to work closely together Issues identified: Priorities, workload, reporting structure

Challenges of new structure Communication Developing programmatic approach to new services New reporting relationships and finding and developing new group leaders Moving forward with planning for future services during a transition

Breaking Down Barriers Redefining Reference Futures Role of Reference Role of Technology Print Reference Collections

Planning for the future: What will services look like? Looking at User Perceptions Gelman Library Student Advisory Board and Student Liaison OCLC’s Environmental Scan (2003) and Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources Data from LibQUAL+ survey in 2003 Data from current LibQUAL+ survey (spring 2006) Focus groups of high school students and others

Focus Group Plans School Without Walls Students University Writing Program Freshmen Graduate Students Faculty Library Staff

OUTLINE OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS Focus Group leader from outside the Library but with Library staff participation Pictures of current first floor and Three-dimensional plans Reactions to each: what works; what doesn’t? Free-form discussion to determine what like library services and spaces should look like Scripted questions in case the group is unresponsive

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Who has used focus groups or has considered using them? What worked well and what didn’t? Once you obtained information, how did you use this with staff (especially skeptical staff) and what did you do with the information? What would you do differently?

Collaboration Issues Challenges of working with units outside of the Library Denying the value of user perceptions Challenge to communicate, communicate, communicate Generational collisions

Communication and Denial Redefining Reference may invalidate the work librarians do Question how students want to do research and how they should do research

Generations in Libraries Traditionalists (Born 1900—1945) Loyal, hardworking Boomers (Born 1946—1964) Competitive, “live to work,” political Generation Xers (Born 1965—1980) Tech savvy, skeptical, change jobs regularly, “work to live” Millennials (Born 1981—1999) Confident, collaborative, protected, change careers regularly

Graying/Succession Planning Generation Xers are moving into managerial positions Traditionalists and some baby boomers are retiring Collaboration is embraced by baby boomers and Xers (as members)

Millennials have arrived!

WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT OF GENERATION X MANAGERS? Collaborative Skeptical Direct communicators Limited patience with meetings Life balance

IMPACT ON COLLABORATION Much of our collaboration is based on face-to-face meetings—will Gen Xers do this, or will they develop a new collaboration technique? Will Gen X managers be interested in consensus and group process or will they be more directive?

WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT OF MILLENNIALS IN THE WORKPLACE? Collaborative Believe their opinions are valued Not intimidated by authority Have “Helicopter Parents”