KCLS Policy

KCLS Staff Development Priorities (all activities should be beneficial to KCLS and to staff members)
A. Skills and knowledge essential to perform current assignment.
For example: Millennium, Event Planner, Meeting Room Reserve, Telus.
B. Public contact/service skills.
For example: Customer service training, diversity training, difficult patron training
C. Management supervisory skills.
D. Interpersonal skills.
Suggestion: Crucial conversations (making the most of every interaction)
http://www.vitalsmarts.com/books_more.aspx
This training could also work for Management and supervisors
E. Continuing education related to current professional development.
For example: Future of libraries, Web 2.0
F. Job-related enrichment.
For example: joining KCLS Committees, attending trainings, ALA conferences, enrichment from other organizations or partners.

Educational Factors to Consider

Educational Factors to Consider

There are several important factors to consider when planning educational programs for library staff:

1. Support the KCLS Mission. The ultimate goal of staff trainings is to support and enhance the KCLS Mission of providing free, equal, and open access to all members of the community. Therefore, trainers and staff members should be reminded that training is vital to ensure outstanding service to the public and thus to fulfill the KCLS mission.

2. Identify staff needs when planning any type of training program. This includes talking directly with supervisors and support staff (pages, page assistants, page fellows, library assistants, library technicians, etc.) to identify training needs.

3. Learners are not simply empty vessels waiting to be filled. This is a bit of a cliche in the world of education, but it is important to keep in mind. All learners have a level of understanding already and are looking to enhance and develop this understanding in a specific field. Educators and learners are actually working together to expand upon the universe of knowledge.

4. Trainings should be relevant and include real-life library experiences. If learners do not see the purpose of what they are learning, it is unlikely that they will retain skills and much less will they actually use them.

5. Trainings should be fun. Libraries are not boring, so why should trainings be? I will never forget a philosophy professor in college who simply read from Plato's Republic every day for two hours. Many members of the class simply stopped attending because fail to do justice to the philosophy of Plato, it was completely and utterly boring. This type of indifference on the part of the instructor and the student is what we want to avoid at all costs. Trainings can be made more fun by incorporating pictures, role-playing, participation, and including a few jokes to make the whole thing more bearable.

6. Include Hands-on learning. Letting the learner actually experience is probably one of the most important aspects of training. Returning to the empty vessel metaphor, trainers are not meant to pour information into the heads of learners, but are actually meant to foster and encourage a solid skills base that will assist learners in a variety of work-related situations. Therefore, it is not as important to teach as it is to let the learner experience. This is also part of a learner-centered educational philosophy.

Training Interests

Training Interests

In order to address training needs within KCLS, I have prepared a blog of brief responses from patrons, librarians, library assistants, and pages about the types of staff trainings that are important to these groups. The responses are preliminary in that they do not address the needs of every staff member at every branch, but they do give an idea of staff input with regards to training needs.
One of the issues that was raised among the staff members I interviewed was the problem of attending trainings when it is difficult to find subs for the branches. I think we can address this issue by providing more online training in the form of a "learning blog". A learning blog would allow staff members to participate in various trainings at their own convenience in an interactive manner. For example, most staff I talked to said that participating in the KCLS 27 Things learning blog has been very interesting, informative, and fun. This is an example of a successful online learning blog. If we can mirror this type of success with future online training blogs, then we probably have a better chance of ensuring relevancy to more staff.

Of course, learning blogs are no substitute for hands on training, especially in library settings. However, if we can combine learning blogs with actually visiting different branches and offering trainings, we probably have a better chance of reaching a wider audience.

Patrons

PATRONS/CUSTOMERS

From what we have observed, the public sees the importance of technology training for staff. If we are better equipped to answer technology-related questions, then consequently the public will receive a more comprehensive level of assistance. One of the ways to do this would be to give branch staff additional technology training as well as allow them to conduct computer classes.
I also asked some of my English for Spanish speakers students about what was important to them in the library. Some of the aspects they mentioned to be important were English classes, computer classes, and having someone in the library who could connect with them in their language. One student told me that even if staff members only knew how to say a few words in his language, he immediately felt more comfortable using the library.

Librarians

LIBRARIANS

The librarian I interviewed felt that in order to offer better customer service, diversity training would be very useful. Indeed, when there is a basic understanding of culture and language, a better rapport is built with the patron. For example, according to census data, more than 1/2 a million Latinos live in Washington state. This accounts for the state's largest minority group. In order to identify the needs of a growing Latino population, some of whom speak little or no English, it is very important to have at least a basic knowledge of culture. However, there are very few Spanish speaking library staff members within KCLS to accomplish this. If we can identify major languages spoken and offer a diversity training with a language element, librarians and library support staff across the entire system would be better equipped to assist our diverse populations. Indeed, as the world becomes more diverse, libraries have an obligation to make changes as well, even if the only way to accomplish this is to offer more diversity trainings.

Library Assistants

LIBRARY ASSISTANTS

In this technology driven world, it is essential that libary workers have some degree of technological knowledge in order to truly assist the public. This is also so that libraries continue to address the issue of the digital divide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_divide
On a daily basis, patrons have questions regarding how to set up e-mail accounts, open and use MS Office programs, see picture files, etc. However, there is not always a library technician present to answer computer questions. Library Assistants must deal with and answer complicated computer questions though this is not part of their job description. When an LTA is not present, the public does not and should not have to accept waiting for an LTA to receive assistance. LAs should receive a similar training to that of the LTAs so that they are better able to answer computer related questions.
Additionally, certain branches such as Crossroads do not have librarians or managers present.
Therefore, LAs are often faced with situations that would normally be referred to managers or librarians in a regular library. Many LAs feel ill-equipped to know what to do in difficult situations. For example, if police ask LAs for information about a patron, what are the limits on patron privacy? When is is acceptable to call the police? How do LAs react in a life-threatening situations? Problem-patron and policy training for LAs would be very useful.

Pages

PAGES

Some pages wish that they could have more customer service training as well as more training on the intricacies of Millennium. Because they are constantly on the floor shelving, patrons often ask pages questions. Some of these questions are complicated, but others require very simple answers. It is not always feasible (and probably not the best customer service) for pages to refer patrons to an LA or a librarian when both are very busy. Perhaps an aspect of page training could include an explanation of relevant policies so that pages are able to briefly explain these policies to patrons when LAs and librarians are busy.
For example, it is useful for pages to know not only that cell phones are
prohibited in the library but also why this is so. Patrons are certainly more likely to adhere to a policy if they know how it is justified. If pages as well as LAs and librarians are able to answer questions, the end result will likely be better overall customer service.