1. Building Liaison Relationships: Some Practical Ideas
Yelena Luckert
University of Maryland Libraries

2. My Liaison Responsibilities
Departments: History, Jewish, Slavic and Women’s Studies
Over 70 tenured and tenure track faculty
Adjunct, visiting, affiliated faculty
821 undergraduate majors (678 from history)
155 graduate students (126 from history)

3. Description of Liaison Work
“Librarian liaisons are assigned to academic departments and/or subject areas for which they serve, in effect, as ambassadors for the library to their academic community. Librarian liaisons often serve as the primary link between the library and the academic departments and their faculty and students. Ideally, liaisons serve as the chief point of communication and service between the faculty and the departments that comprise their academic community “(Gettysburg College, coll_dev/liaison_jobs.dot).

4. Responsibilities of a Liaison Librarian
Subject specialist for the discipline
Collection development & management
Library instruction
One-on-one consultations & specialized reference
Main contact to the department

5. Does Background Matter?
Learning on the job
MLS
Subject knowledge
Necessary for reference, collections, teaching
Advanced degree
Can be gained
Continues learning

6. Does Background Matter? --Continues Learning
Library literature
Subject specific literature
Departmental conferences, lectures, brown bags, events
National & International subject specific conferences, meetings, conventions
Taking classes
Discussions with faculty
Choose what to attend based on your needs

7. Does Background matter?
Foreign languages
Ask faculty for help if need be
Remain in control

8. Know Your Own Library
Can’t represent the library without deep understanding of functions, policies, regulations & limitations within the library
Each part of liaison job requires its own set of negotiations and partnerships

9. Negotiations – Collection Mgmt
Collegial relationships with processing departments/units
At UM it is Technical Services Division (or TSD) = Acquisitions, Cataloging, Preservation
Consider impact of collection decisions on staff and resources of these units
Work to develop reasonable workflow patterns and expectations
Reject some, accept others

10. Negotiations -- Other Units within Library
Gifts and endowments
Money & donor issues must be dealt with extreme care
Will become more common in our work
Strong relationships with other liaisons
Interdisciplinary research
Cooperation in collection development, instruction, reference

11. Be Professional Active Outside Home Library
Subject specialist is a unique position in one’s library
Meet others who are experts in the field
Opportunity to learn
Great resource in solving difficult issues or in making informed decision
Opportunity to contribute to the development of the field

12. Library Commitment
Effective liaison program is determined by the library’s commitment to it
Liaison programs are one of the most effective communication tools between libraries and academic departments – Valuable to Libraries
Liaison culture must be nurtured in libraries and given full commitment
It takes time for a liaison to develop as a professional
Commitment from Library Administration

13. Commitment from Library Administration
Overseer of the program
Help in developing venues in campus communications
Support in professional development of the liaisons
Encourage library-wide support of the program

14. Commitment from others in the library
Liaison work is often not very visible to other library staff
It is sometimes hard for staff to understand liaison’s commitment to needs of their faculty and students
Liaisons involvement in policy making decisions that effect users is crucial
Staff & liaisons must work together on solving issues
Staff too serves faculty and students

15. Communication with Departments
Effective communication with departments is the purpose of the liaison system
“Buy in” from departments
Communication with department is the responsibility of a liaison, not the other way around

16. Some Practical Advise on Communication
Use already established means of communication that department has in place
Meetings, listserves, office hours, etc.
Try various things, different things work with different people or departments

17. Organizational Structure of the department
Understanding organizational structure of the department is very important
Different departments have different structure
Chair, Associate Chair, Director for Undergraduate Studies, etc.
At UM we have departmental liaisons, they are library liaison’s first contacts
Be flexible in working with departments

18. “Right” Amount of Communication
Not a hard written rule
Always provide subject heading in s
Always fully understand the purpose & nature of listserves you plan to use
Some appropriate things to send are:
Changes in collection budgets, new policies and procedures that effect users directly, lists of new books, critical information about publishing trends
Ask the library dept which issued new policy to write the official announcement

19. Goals of Communication
Reach faculty and students
Become a resource to them
Learn department’s priorities & future directions
Follow changes in curriculum (HIST208)
Creating better student educational experience
Creating better collections & research environment
Cooperation and building partnerships
Library and non-Library related

20. Personal relationships
Can’t emphasize enough importance of personal relationships
They lace everything that liaisons do
Open doors to possibilities of participation in department’s life
Good professional relationships turn to personal friendships
Get to know your faculty and students

21. When Relations Become Mature
Different for different departments
Full acceptance of the liaison & his/hers contributions in the life of the department
Opportunity to better integrate & promote library in academic life of the department
In curriculum development, projects, etc.
Limits are set only by the imagination of a liaison him/her self

22. Conclusion
Liaison work is time consuming, constantly evolving, work intensive
Prove yourself through every day performance and contributions to department teaching and research
Market liaison services to departments and library
See faculty as colleagues and partners – we work for the same mission: better educational experience of our students and advancement in standing of our institutions
Crucial for survival of library on campus

23. Thank you