ASSOCIATES (vol. 4, no. 1, July 1997) - associates.ucr.edu
*NEW HORIZONS - NEW CHALLENGES* Keynote Address 19th Annual NYSLAA Conference June 13, 1997 Presented by Ed Gillen Office of Human Resources Management New York State Education Department egillen%sedofis@vml.nysed.gov They say you can't go home again but these last three days have felt like a homecoming to me and it feels great! I have attended many library assistant conferences around the country and NYSLAA's conference ranks among the best, if not, the best. Although it feels great being here I feel a little weird being up here addressing this conference. I confess I'm a little nervous. Not about public speaking - I've given plenty of speeches before and although I am superstitious, it's not because today is Friday the 13th. I'm nervous because of that old adage about a prophet in his own land. Too many of you know me all too well -- I feel like I have to be at my very best today. So as I prepared for today I tried to recall what worked and didn't work for past NYSLAA keynoters. One thing that used to raise the hair on the back of my neck was keynoters who began their address by incorrectly calling us librarians. I guess I had gotten use to the public calling us librarians but not keynoters at a 'library assistants' conference. At least I won't make that mistake. In preparing for today, I also asked myself 'if I was sitting out there, what would I be thinking about, what would I want to hear?' If I recall correctly, on this last day you are probably thinking about going home or maybe how much work is waiting for you on Monday. If you're like me, however, you're wondering if there's any more dessert? I am honored to be here and I'd like to thank NYSLAA and especially the library assistants of the South Central Research Library Council for inviting me to address our conference (I'm still a member) with the theme 'Library Assistants: Hand-in-Hand Reaching New Horizons.' New horizons! When I think about horizons I think of something off in the distance, something I can see. If I can see it, I know I can reach it somehow. When I think about horizons I also think of the futuristic unknown as in 'what's over the horizon?' There's an excitement about not knowing what's over that horizon and what challenges that future might bring. As we approach the year 2000, it seems everyone is speculating what the next millennium will be like. Sometimes we are so focused on looking forward that we don't stop to celebrate the fact that horizons have been reached or to reflect on the paths we took to reach those horizons. You might be thinking about getting home right now or wondering how much work has piled up while you were away but how many of you are thinking, 'wow, the 19th annual NYSLAA conference, how did we get to this point?' I would like to use this opportunity to look back and see how far library assistants have travelled; to examine what worked or what hasn't in trying to reach those horizons; and finally building on that -- library assistants reaching for new horizons and the key to reaching those horizons - working together. Looking back. Why should we take a look back? The history of the emergence of the library assistant is a proud one. Knowing that history puts into proper framework where library assistants are today and how they got there. It's important to know your history because before library assistants can work towards reaching any new horizon you need to know where you are now. Over thirty years ago a movement began - a movement catapulted by the introduction of technology to the library workplace. You didn't need to read that with that new technology came expanded duties and increased responsibilities because many of you experienced it firsthand. The movement was forwarded, however, not by the technology or the increased responsibilities but by the perceived unfairness or glaring inequities that came about because of them. On one hand you were given expanded duties and responsibilities and on the other hand you were not allowed to attend staff meetings, participate on decision-making committees that affected your own job, no time or money was allocated for your continued professional development, your status at the library didn't change, and your paychecks didn't reflect your new duties and responsibilities. When library assistants spoke up about these inequities, a typical response that was heard was 'why don't you go to library school and get your MLS?' I can't begin to describe the looks I got from the librarians at the State Library when I expressed my feelings to them that I didn't want to become a librarian. Some library assistants have gone on to become librarians and that's great, but the majority, including myself at the time, came to a career awakening that I like working in a library and I, as a library assistant, have an important role to play in my library's success without becoming a librarian. To me, this 'career awakening' is the most significant result coming out of the movement. Those who came to that career awakening had some decisions to make when it came to dealing with their own inequities. They could throw up their hands and say, 'I'm lucky to have a job' or 'I can't fight civil service' or 'things could be worse, I guess that's that, learn to live with it.' This decision reminds me of the story of the library assistant and the fortune teller. A library assistant went to a fortune teller who looked into a crystal ball and said, 'For the next 15 years you will work in a job where you will not be valued or compensated for your contributions.' 'Then what will happen?' asked the library assistant. 'Then you'll get used to it.' There's an expression - life is 10% what happens to you; 90% is how you will handle it. A large minority of library assistants decided, 'No, that's not that! I'm not going to get used to it.' They decided to take the initiative to enact change. In most cases, these initiatives initially involved enacting change to right that individual's wrong or to alter the status quo at their library. I was one of those library assistants. For me, it was leading the initiative to obtain an increase in salary grade for the four Library Technical Assistant positions at the State Library. This effort took ten years but it finally happened, resulting in an increase of five salary grades. It made me realize that, if you want change to happen, it takes hard work and it takes time. Ironically, by the time we received our upgrade (along with some nice back pay), I had decided to leave the library profession. My increasing interests in library assistant issues, many of them being personnel issues, led me down a career path in human resources and labor relations. When I left, I left knowing that the library technical assistant who would fill my position would benefit from the initiative I took to enact change. I felt that I had made a difference. Stories like mine were taking place at libraries all across the country. These individual initiatives collectively formed some of the most significant milestones in the library assistant movement. Some initiatives involved just stepping forward and questioning an administration's staff meeting or committee membership practice or policy. Questioning, more questioning, asking the right question! Why can't I go to the statewide library association conference? Why am I not allowed to attend that professional development workshop? Some who did ask to attend and were told they couldn't didn't let that stop them. They went anyway - on their own time and their own money. I believe that many library administrators were caught off guard by this sudden career awakening by library assistants. Horizons? Many librarians, supervisors and library directors assumed you didn't have any horizons. By just questioning 'Why?', many library workplaces and cultures began to change for the better. The movement has expanded the professions horizon! Has there been resistance to this change or sudden career awareness? You betcha! But what is great about the history of the emergence of the library assistant is that individuals have time and time again stepped forward and have risen to meet their challenges head on. No literature on library assistants? No workshops? No conferences? No money? No representation? No section or roundtable in the statewide organization? No organization at all? Your collective response has been "NO PROBLEM!" Let's celebrate past accomplishments! I'm going to play a quick round of library assistant history trivia. If you know the answer I encourage you to shout it out! Today there is a library assistant organization, roundtable, section, etc. in almost every state in the nation. What state leads the nation in the number of library assistant organizations? (New York) What was the first independent statewide library assistant association? (New Jersey Association of Library Assistants) What was the first regional library assistant organization in New York State possibly the country? (South Central) In addition, there are two nationwide organizations (COLT & ALA SSIRT); a number of electronic discussion lists for library support staff (LIBSUP-L or NYSLAA-L); websites (LSSRC); an electronic journal (ASSOCIATES); an international publication (Library Mosaics), a distance learning teleconference (SOARING). Other significant milestones include library assistants being elected to office in statewide library associations, and even a resolution adopted in the New York State Legislature celebrating you, your career, the profession and your professional association. How did library assistants reach all of these past horizons? The answer is "usually not alone". Involving others and working together towards addressing group-identified issues and concerns was and still is a key component of the movement and the career awakening of the library assistant. Library assistants are moving beyond self interests and are increasingly working toward the benefit of the group. Although library assistants have worked hand-in-hand to enact change, they too, have not done it alone. On many occasions, librarians and library directors have cooperated in enacting change for the better. For instance, this conference began with the help of a librarian named Ray Murray. At this point I would like to stop and have you join me in a moment of appreciation for those individuals who have taken the initiative to enact change and make things better for library assistants as a group -- many who are out in this audience today. Without you knowing it and without compensation they have been working on your behalf for many, many years. Now, with all of this movement forward, a career awakening, all of these historical milestones, 20-30 years of time ... library assistant issues should all be addressed by now. Library workplaces should now be the most cohesive places to work and the library profession should be among the strongest of professions. Are they? I believe the answer is no. Does that mean the movement and all of its historical milestones has been a failure? No. Remember, the importance of looking back is to understand where you are now ...today. By looking back you can build on what worked and improve on what didn't so that you can work towards reaching new horizons tomorrow. So where are library assistants today? I think the library assistant community is at a very important crossroads. There's a growing recognition among library assistants that many of the issues that have been around for decades need resolving. I'm reminded of that line from 'The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe' that goes 'I worry that our lives are like soap operas. We can go for six months and not watch and then six months later we look in and the same stuff is still going on.' I'm sure you would agree that ten years from now at the 29th annual NYSLAA conference issues like terminology, certification, recognition, continuing education, etc. will have been put to bed or at least some action had been taken to resolve them. There's also a belief that it has taken the past thirty years to create the system necessary to finally address library assistant issues. For example, the creation of organizations with missions that library assistants identify with; those organizations providing places for assistants to gather and to be professionally developed; fostering leadership development within the organizations and the profession; opening, and improving on, communication channels between these organizations and between library assistants and to the profession; the ability to share best practices so the wheel is not reinvented over and over again; and the raising of, and sharing of, limited financial resources. In addition, the past thirty years has created a growing sense of community - where what happens to you at your library affects library assistants elsewhere. All of these are things that have worked in the past and library assistants should continue to build on these. If it has taken 30 years to get to a point where library assistants now have a system in place to address their issues, what will it take now to get beyond this juncture. This is where history comes into play again. Looking over that history, what was missing these past thirty years? I'd like to briefly explore four items. The first two elements in my opinion are having a united vision agreed upon by the entire library assistant community and working toward that vision by having an integrated strategic plan. A vision and a plan -- maybe it's not the most inspirational keynote message you'll ever hear -- but having a vision and a plan is so practical that it is often overlooked. You've probably heard of the expression 'if you don't know where you are, going any road will take you there.' Think about your trip home today ... home is your desired destination. Have you thought how you are going to get there? Have you mapped out your route? As you get closer to your home do you notice signs that mark your progress? You may stop and rest awhile and that is definitely needed. However, you realize that it is a long journey and you keep going ... heading home. Hopefully you will not encounter any detours or bumps in the road along the way. The history of the library assistant has had its fair share of detours and bumps in the road. Admirably, library assistants have kept going. But where too? That vision - that desired future state - should be the new horizon library assistants work hand-in-hand to reach. That plan should be the right road there. What should that vision be and what should that plan include? I am not here to determine that. That is your challenge! However, I would offer that the vision be clear in its understanding and passionate enough to motivate individuals to work toward reaching it. I would propose that the plan be crafted with the understanding that the goals be achieved by a coalition of library assistant organizations - because what affects one organization affects the other and because leaders of these organizations would be better served sharing what time, energy, resources and talents they have. Once that plan is established, I would recommend that it be used to measure success and that the plan be periodically re-evaluated. I have always been a big believer in having a plan. If 90% of life is how you will handle it then I feel I can handle it a lot better with a plan. It has helped me achieve both professional and personal goals. I brought this belief with me when I served as a member of NYSLAA's Executive Board and I continue to bring that belief with me as Chair of the American Library Association Support Staff Interests Round Table Strategic Planning Process Steering Committee - a committee charged with identifying the top issues facing library support staff today so that solutions can be implemented to address these issues tomorrow. The next two items deal with resistance. Over the years library assistants have moved beyond self interests to addressing the issues of the group they could identify with. Although many of those issues haven't been resolved yet, library assistants today are more aware of issues facing the entire profession and are actively working on behalf of the profession itself. At times there has been an us versus them attitude within the profession. Now, I accept the fact there's one profession but there's no denying there are different communities when it comes to library personnel within that profession. The third item is making sure that these communities visions and plans are aligned with the vision and plan of the profession. Why is this important? The answer is to reduce resistance to reaching your horizons. I think you'll agree that much of the resistance to the career awakening of the library assistants has been because you are/were perceived by the profession as a threat to their power, status, and livelihood. On the other hand library assistants have felt excluded from this community altogether. Librarians and library assistants are natural allies. Many of the issues and concerns facing library assistants -- status, salaries, value -- face librarians. I believe there's a growing understanding between these communities of the value of working together - of heading in the same direction. The challenge for library assistants then is to continue working on behalf of addressing their issues while simultaneously working on behalf of the challenges facing libraries in the next millennium. Alignment will help in that challenge. The theme of this conference is 'library assistants: hand in hand reaching new horizons'. What will be needed in the future will be more hands! The movement has produced a large minority of individuals who have changed from complacency to activism for themselves, their professional organizations and for their profession. They know their role and they care about the profession and its future. They have changed the conventional norms of what was expected of library assistants in the past and by doing so they have reduced much of the resistance that existed. But they still are the minority! For whatever reason, the majority of library assistants do not support this culture change yet or do not help to perpetuate the values or beliefs that the library assistant community deems important today. This will continue to have a detrimental effect as you try to reach your new horizons. My challenge to you is to lend a hand in trying to get other library assistants involved in what's happening in the library assistant community as well as the larger library community. There's hundreds of ways to lend a hand and I know how difficult it is when they don't seem to care. I've come back from conferences all charged up, my batteries renewed, and I'd march right up to my co-workers and start telling them about it and how great it was and how they should get involved too. I don't mean to offend anyone here but the response I got was like a person who had found religion - people were happy for me but they didn't want to be preached at all day. Are there ways we can enlist the help of this majority? Well, if they knew what their horizon looked like and what needed to be accomplished to reach it, maybe, just maybe, they would get involved. That's another reason why I believe having a vision and a plan is essential. By communicating that vision and plan it may answer the one question that may get the majority involved -- 'What's in it for me?' Before I finish I would like to spend a few moments talking about NYSLAA. I hope you are as proud of this association and its history as I am. I am fortunate that I have had the ability to travel around this country to attend library assistant conferences. Everywhere I go, people have mentioned NYSLAA and the leading role it played in the formation of their conference or their organization's mission and bylaws or their newsletter or their membership recruitment and so on. NYSLAA is a proven leader and has many characteristics of a leader -- being open to change; encouraging personal responsibility; attentive to members needs; rapid innovation with a concern for results; and promoting collaborative behavior. One of its most important characteristics is that NYSLAA has a vision to identify positive change and it has a long-term focus. It is helping to make those changes happen. It is one of the main reasons why NYSLAA is so successful. Yesterday there was a roundtable discussion on the 'future of NYSLAA.' I think it is healthy to have discussions about NYSLAA's future direction. Has NYSLAA become obsolete? Are they a victim of their own success? Leaders ask tough questions of themselves. Personally, I believe there are still new horizons left for NYSLAA to reach and I'm confident that they will continue to be a leader in meeting the new challenges over that horizon. Well, if there is one important thing I've learned about speeches given on the last day is to try and keep it short. As you leave here today I would like you to consider the following: 1. Get to Know Your History -- How you got to today. 2. Be a Part of History -- get involved; everyday there are new horizons being reached because people are taking the initiative to change things for the better. 3. Understand that your actions may benefit you, those like you and those who may come after you. 4. Have a vision or a horizon in your personal and professional life. 5. And have a plan to reach that vision. 6. Involve others in obtaining your vision -- there's power in numbers and more hands means less resistance. 7. Reevaluate 8. Finally, stop and celebrate horizons that are met. Library assistants have come a long way since this movement began over thirty years ago. They have overcome many obstacles on their way to reaching past horizons. As was done in the past, your new horizons will be reached and your new challenges will be met by working together hand in hand.