Alabama Chapter Special Libraries Association

Prelude

This report was put together for those of you who were unable to attend the Alabama Chapter Winter Meeting and Reception featuring Donna Scheeder, 1999-2000 SLA President-elect. As a short disclaimer, it should be noted that is not an "official" SLA report. The information contained herein is based on my personal experience, notes and/or memory and should be taken as such. So with that out of the way, let’s begin.

Introduction/Background

As background to this event, it should be noted that each year, SLA sponsors chapter visits by the Association President or President-elect and SLA Chapters are eligible for a visit once every three years. Last year (1998-1999), our Chapter President, Jason Burnett, had requested and was granted permission for a Presidential visit which would have taken place October 1998, during a joint meeting with the Law Library Association of Alabama. Everything was planned and in place until Hurricane George swept through Orange Beach, Alabama and effectively cancelled our meeting.

So, last summer I was contacted to see if our Chapter would be interested in "trying again." The Board said "Yes;" SLA approved the visit; and, the membership present at the Fall meeting said "Go for it." (Remember that these are my words and/or paraphrases.) With that support, the Board began planning in earnest. Jackie Hatton and Calberta Atkinson helped gather addresses of Alabama libraries/librarians for the invitations while Ann Nathews, with the assistance of Jason Burnett and Ginny Allen, sent out the special invitations and began planning the reception. Jeff Graveline put the Invitation and meeting information up on our Chapter website while Melanie Watts and I brainstormed to make sure all the details and "bases" were covered. The rest of the Board patiently read through the many email messages passed back and forth adding their feedback as needed. All this activity culminated in a very successful winter meeting.

February 10, 2000

For me, the day began with pushing aside pre-event jitters and nervous anticipation. It was about noon by the time I arrived at The Tutweiler Hotel, downtown Birmingham, with our Welcome Basket. To my surprise, Donna had already arrived and was standing at the reception desk. So, I handed her the basket as we went upstairs to call the airport and inform Melanie that Donna was already at the hotel. (There had been a mix-up in communications on my part.)

Since the weather was exceptionally nice, even for Birmingham in mid-February, Donna and I walked through Linn Park, passing the Jefferson County Courthouse, to make our way to the Birmingham Museum of Art. After a leisurely lunch and quick tour of the Museum, we headed back to the hotel to see if Donna’s luggage had arrived. Yes, the unthinkable had happened -- Donna’s luggage did not arrive on the same airplane as she did. However, after several telephone calls, the airline finally decided to forward her luggage to the hotel in time for Donna to get ready for the evening event.

During the meeting, Donna outlined several SLA strategic planning initiatives and gathered feedback from our Board to take back to the SLA Board of Directors. These initiatives included:

1. Simplification -- SLA is looking for ways to make it easier for volunteers to participate in SLA activities/functions. Simplifying the bylaws and procedures is one aspect of this.
2. Identity -- SLA is looking at a name change. The current name stresses "buildings" ("libraries"), not "library advocacy" which would support individuals. Some people have expressed that don’t believe they belong in SLA because they aren’t in traditional "special" libraries, or might not be in a "library" at all.
3. Membership -- SLA is looking into recruitment and retention of members. They are looking at SLA membership benefits to see if those benefits are valuable enough and/or whether those benefits should be restructured.
4. Partnerships -- SLA is looking at identifying partnerships with other organizations that may or may not be directly library-related.

While further discussions would have been useful, by this time the reception was already in progress, so the Board adjourned to Southern Progress’s lovely reception area.

The reception area was a very relaxing and open area that overlooked beautiful mountain scenery complete with a bubbling stream. The food tables were decorated with black and antique gold tablecloths sprinkled on top with golden Hershey’s almond kisses. A large flower arrangement was centered on the tables.
 

Of course, the best part of the reception was getting to meet and talk with the Chapter members and our visitors. This reception had been planned as a BYOB (Bring Your Own Boss) affair and we had several bosses to attend. Those bosses received a special red heart on their nametag to signify our appreciation of their support for librarians in general and Alabama Chapter members in particular.

Ann Nathews’ boss, Jeanetta Keller, Executive Vice President of Southern Progress Corporation, graciously welcomed the group to the area and to the Southern Progress facilities. While turnout for the reception and meeting was rather small, those who were able to attend seemed to enjoy the time of fellowship and the program that followed.

 

The Program

As Chapter President, I brought the meeting to order and made some general announcements. Special thanks were given to Ann Nathews for coordinating the reception and to Jason and Ginny for assisting Ann. Chapter President-elect, Melanie Watts, introduced our special guest, then we all sat back and listened attentively as Donna made her presentation and blew our preconceptions about politics out the door. The following is from my notes taken during Donna’s presentation. Donna’s own speech notes are available and will be put on the Chapter website as soon as possible.

Why should we be knowledge leaders? We are already practitioners of this "art form." We connect people to text and people to people. (The SLA Who’s Who and a rolodex are low-tech examples of knowledge management.) We serve the whole organization so we are positioned to be knowledge leaders. We don’t have to be a manager to be a knowledge leader, though we must work to BE a knowledge leader. To refrain from this DIS-empowers our function and ourselves.

Why do we have to be a politician as well as a knowledge leader? If we can’t get our ideas across, we aren’t effective. Good ideas do not implement themselves. It takes political skills to gain support for our good ideas.

So, what is "politics?" Politics is "the art of bringing people together to get the right things done." Process is as important as content and politics is a process. Having a good idea is just not enough. Donna assured us that there was such a thing as good (clean) politics, then proceeded to give us nine best practices for politics.

Best Practices:

1. Build Relationships -- Trust is built on relationships and people seek information from people they trust. So, build relationships with as many people as you can throughout your organization.
2. Build Your Favor Bank -- Favors build trust and trust helps build relationships.
3. Map Your Organization -- There are two kinds of maps -- the organization chart and the power map. The power map is NOT the same as the organization chart. Think in terms of who is influential yet recognize that different issues may require different power maps.
4. Build Alliances and Partnerships -- Identify common interests. Get to know people to find out other perspectives, etc. Develop a unified plan of action.
5. Understand and USE the Decision making process -- Get on task forces and/or make sure your input is given.
6. Do your Homework -- Don’t go into a meeting on something affecting you or your job without having a good idea of what the outcome will be.
• Use your power map to negotiate before a decision-making meeting.
• Be flexible.
• Consider withdrawing rather than getting a negative decision.
7. Get Feedback
8. Use Consensus and Compromise -- Remember that politics is the art of the possible. Use creeping incrementalism if you have to, but be sure to judge a compromise from the present situation forward, NOT from your vision backward. (In other words, make sure you are working forward.) Consider your allies. Don’t leave them hanging in the wind, or they won’t be your allies for long.
9. Give More Credit To Others Than Yourself -- Let your allies and supporters know they are/were critical to your success.

Knowledge management is bringing people together to put knowledge to work.

After the program concluded, there was more time for mixing and mingling with the attendees who were able to stay longer.

As an added bonus for attending, Southern Progress gave each attendee a gift bag which included an issue of Southern Living and a hardcover copy of Cooking Light: Annual Recipes 2000. Truly, that was an added delight to a very informative and pleasant evening.