Hi everyone,

On behalf of the LMD members I would like to say a fond farewell to Joni Savage as Blog co-chair and wish Joni the best in her future endeavors. I want to welcome Michelle Dollinger as our new LMD blog chair. Moving forward, I will assume the role as Social Network chair for the division and still blog post to the blog from time to time .  However, I am confident that Michelle will continue the tradition of providing maximum leadership impact through her blog post to come.

Dear SLA-LMD,

At last year’s SLA meeting, I met many of you and talked about the desire to become a leader in the profession. I discussed frustrations, concerns, and other issues that were tugging at me.  I was able to take all kinds of advice from you and learned a great deal at the conference. I thank you all so much for your support!

I have had the pleasure and opportunity to serve as a College Librarian for the University Libraries at Virginia Tech since March 1, 2001.  The experiences I have had there can be described as extraordinary and fulfilling. This honor has afforded me the ability to learn, share, and grow both as a professional and as a person.

I now have the knowledge and ability to move up in the profession of librarianship and therefore, have accepted a position as the new Library Director at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. I look forward to this new chapter in my life. I am absolutely thrilled! My last day at Virginia Tech is November 30, 2007 and I start at Clarkson on January 2, 2008.  Wish me luck!

Sincerely,
Michelle

I see on the Free Range Librarian’s, Karen Schneider, blog that Karen asks if email lists are still useful – or are they "last century".  And I must confess that I immediately felt very old – as I vividly remember when the SLA Toronto Chapter got its first list – way back when!  How handy it was!  No more mailing around to individuals!  What a great social network (to use a current phrase to apply to a time before the phrase existed) it was!  But I also immediately thought of the LMD list – which, perhaps fortuitously given the comments on Karen’s blog, has never been over-active.  This is one of the many questions that I am sure Ulla deStricker and her strategic planning team will explore next year in our quest to uncover the future of LMD.  But I thought I would interject this thought here in advance … what do you think of email lists in general and the LMD list specifically?  Are they "so last century" … or does the LMD list serve its purpose to communicate to our audience?  Please comment!

http://freerangelibrarian.com/2007/11/07/email-lists-are-they-last-century/#comments

Regards, Juanita – LMD Chair-Elect

Dear SLA-LMD–

I want to take a moment to tell you all, thank you.  If you recall, I am a new (returning) member to SLA and now a new member of the SLA-LMD.  I was encouraged by the warm welcome and thoughtful conversations I had with you all.  I remembered why I loved the organization so much. I plan to become an active member of this division and look forward to working with you (please let me know what I can do to help and how to get involved). 

I am planning to attend the SLA Leadership Summit in January ’08 and then, of course, the SLA Annual Conference in June ’08. I hope to see you all again then or even sooner!

So, if you need anything, please let me know! I can be easily reached via e-mail: myoung@vt.edu or IM: myoungatvt (Yahoo, AOL, MSN).

Sincerely,

Michelle L. Young, College Librarian
Virginia Tech

Friends, it’s good to see you here!  Here is an excerpt from a “Message from the Chair” about to be broadcast via email … making the point that we would benefit from increased communication among us.  I very much want for us to exploit the collective expertise in the Division!

Are you wondering how to “grow your political savvy” ?

Quite aside from your technical expertise, have you ever had the following thoughts when you read an email or a document, watched an interaction at a meeting, or otherwise observed someone else’s actions in the workplace:

Wow – that was tactful. I would have struggled to find a non-hurtful formulation.

What a good way to convey how the proposed initiative is in everyone’s interest?

A great solution to what seemed like an intractable problem – how did she come up with that?

I’ll have to adopt that technique next time I present in front of a group!

I, for one, have those reactions at times in my condo corporation board meetings!

Skills in leadership and management come naturally to some people … or so it seems.Great leaders and managers may in fact say “Oh, I learned that the hard way”. Personally, I look way back at my very early career and recognize that on occasion, while I meant well, I did not have the ballast of experience to counterbalance my youthful eagerness. (I’m thankful for that experience now and take every opportunity I can to share it.)

Are you wondering how to go about systematically broadening and deepening your “soft skills” so that you could …

• take on roles focusing on “moving the organization or department forward”?
• enhance your persuasion skills?
• participate in, or lead, new initiatives in terms of getting the necessary stakeholder buy-in?

This blog is all about letting us help each other.  What a good new device for the Division … let’s use it!

We’ve created this blog to share resources among members. Perhaps it will grow into a place for our experienced leaders & managers to share their knowledge, and for newer LMD members to learn and ask questions. It’s ready to form into your vision for LMD, so take advantage! If you would like to be added as an author, email LMD Secretary Christina Zeller