Letter to the Liaison Librarian, by Rebecca Carlson

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Communicating the value of the library to university administration, communicating library resources and services to faculty, staff, and students, communicating with other librarians and library staff, with vendors… In the library, it’s all communication all the time. In particular, building relationships and trust with faculty through ongoing communication is crucial for community engagement, budget support, library use, administration buy-in, relevant resources, and about any other part of my job that I can name.

And yet, for all that I am a strong believer in the value of ongoing communication, it has been one of the skills I have worked on most as a young librarian. (The other has been managing my library budget, can I get an amen?). As I think critically about what helps and what hinders my communication with faculty, I have identified a few key strategies for continued improvement.

The biggest thing for me is to build that metaphorical bridge. Both psychologically and physically, the library and I are separate from the departmental faculty. Physically, the library is at one end of the building and the faculty offices, workrooms, and lounge are at the other end; psychologically, I do not belong to any of the close-knit groups of faculty who are teaching the same course or teaching in the same program. To cross these distances, I find ways to meet faculty where they are and create opportunities for open conversation.  

For instance, early on in my current job one of the IT staff told me she never ate lunch with the faculty because she couldn’t get through 30 minutes without having to answer question after question. I heard that and thought that was exactly where I wanted to be. Bring on the questions! I asked where and when most faculty ate lunch on campus and I followed them there. We sit and eat and talk and most of the time nothing related to the library comes up; it’s stories about kids and pets and plans for the weekend. But when then conversation moves to students struggling with a research assignment or a question about a library resource, I’m there.

Just being there can help you to foster relationships with individual faculty; each problem you solve over lunch or in other informal situations is one more board that is building a bridge between you and the faculty.  

In those conversations, I am the new kid in the neighborhood. Many of the departmental faculty have been here for 15 or 20 or more years, so I don’t know the details of their past relationship with the library and librarians. Not having a personal knowledge of that history means working harder toward building relationships from the very foundation. But, instead of focusing on the lack of history, a young librarian has the opportunity to use their newness as an opportunity for meaningful change.

I tell the faculty that it’s not my library, it’s their library and it should be what they want it to be. I want to help make the library what will make it most useful for their students, research, and learning. Learn what your faculty think is most important in their work: their teaching, research, advising, professional development. Then, your role as the librarian is to provide to meet what faculty need. Take the time to be involved in curriculum discussions, ask about their research, etc. etc., and then follow up on these conversations by tailoring library budget decisions, collection development, and service priorities toward what matters to the faculty. You have the opportunity to frame the relationship in a way that will help everyone; showing that the library can adapt, can change, and can be more relevant will have a lasting impact. It starts and ends with you as the liaison librarian going outside the library and moving outside the library box to improve communication.


Rebecca Carlson is the Director of the Mercy College of Nursing and Health Sciences Library and the Personal Librarian to the Mercy College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She tweets at @CaptainLibraria.

The Full-Day Academic Library Interview, From a First Timer's Perspective, Part 2, by Alex Barton

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In my first post, I described the full-day interview process at an academic library from a first-timer’s point of view. At the end of my post I promised to let you know the results of the interview. The hiring committee has now made a decision, so here we are.

At the end of my day long interview, they had let me know that they’d make a decision in two to four weeks. About four weeks after the interview, I heard back. More precisely, I heard back right after I followed up with them via email right after the four-week mark. Within the hour the head of the hiring committee sent me an email asking when it would be a good time to call. Nerves aflame, I let her know that any time was fine.

She was very nice as she explained that they’d offered it to another candidate and the offer had been accepted. She made a point of letting me know I was one of the top contenders and then she wished me luck with my career and sounded genuine as she spoke. That was a nice touch, the call; I expected an email given how much of the coordination took place via electronic communication.

As it happens, a letter was already in the mail. A considerably colder letter. No “best of luck in your career” at the end, just “thank you for your interest” and “regards.” It certainly did not give me the impression that I was a strong candidate. It is safe to say that the phone call provided a soft landing; the letter did not. On the whole, I felt a bit deflated.

But then I started to wonder: did I get a call because the committee intended to both phone and send letters to all candidates? Or because the content of my email made it clear that I had yet to receive the letter? Whatever the reason, I am grateful that I had the chance to speak with the head of the committee. I took advantage of that chance: I offered congratulations for finding the best fit and my gratitude in general.

So, why do I think I wasn’t offered the position? And how do I feel about it? My reflections:

This was my first full-day interview and I think I had a few missteps. Even if they weren’t outright fumbles it came through loud and clear that I was new to the industry and particularly new to the liaison role.  As I speculated earlier, there were probably a number of candidates with more experience than me. I imagine that’s who they hired.

I think my presentation was fine, but if I can offer any advice to any new professionals it is this: even if it is your first time, do not obsess over your presentation. I’d been warned by my colleagues not to do it and yet I did. As I said in my first post, I was given six days total to prepare for my interview; I spent about 30 hours on the presentation alone. This in addition to working full-time and prepping for a three-hour guest lecture I had committed to prior to being called for the interview. I know it’s hard to walk away from your PowerPoint slides, but if you don’t you will not have the time you need to review possible interview questions and come up with your answers, scenarios, and any questions you might have for them. The presentation takes up only one hour of the day. And it’s a long day.

Here’s the one other thing I need to mention: Looking back, I now see that several red flags went up and stayed up right from the start. While I am unable to offer specifics, I do suggest you read Joe Hardenbrook’s post on this blog, “Interview Red Flags,” for some general ideas. I honestly don’t know if I would have accepted the position had they offered it. This might make other new professionals gasp in dismay – “Wait, you would turn down a job offer?!” – or they might think that this is a case of sour grapes. It’s not. In fairness, I am lucky to be employed and I do like my job. It is a contract position (as opposed to a more permanent one) that might be coming to an end, but there might be opportunities. More importantly, though: I had to trust my gut. I did not have a good feeling.

I don’t wish to sound negative about the whole experience. The members of the committee, and other staff, were very nice people who treated me well throughout the day. Besides, I am thrilled that I had the chance to have a full-day interview at an academic library and I know that I can only improve from this point.

And I think I have: I had an interview for a similar position at a different institution a few days ago. Like this one, it included both an interview and a presentation component. But there’s no question I felt much more confident about it and not a single red flag went up. Fingers crossed they feel the same way about me.

Alex Barton (a pseudonym) is an e-learning librarian at a university in Ontario. She worked in book publishing prior to her current position.

How to Prepare to be a Subject Specialist Librarian, by Kirstin Dougan

Dear library school student,

Some people enter library school knowing exactly what they want to specialize in—academic or public, metadata or reference, archives or schools. Others need to take several classes or an independent study or practicum in an area before they know what path they want to follow. There are several things you should do to prepare yourself for the profession if you come to library school knowing you want to be a subject specialist. These same steps can help you decide if that is the path for you if you are undecided.

Before I get into my suggestions, I want to warn you that you shouldn’t put all of your hopes into getting a graduate assistantship or hourly position in the library specialty of your choice. There will be a lucky handful of people who get to do this, but economics mean that these opportunities are available for fewer and fewer students. Don’t use that as an excuse to not get as much exposure as possible to your desired specialty.

Back to my main theme, though, you should acquaint yourself with what it means to be a subject librarian in the area that interests you. To do this you should seek out the relevant specialist on your campus and talk to him or her—preferably before your last semester in the program! Take time to cultivate this relationship. The subject specialist can be a mentor for you throughout your library school career. Most are happy to give advice about coursework, projects, job applications, etc.

Find the library association for that subject and see what kind of information they offer. Many have information online about becoming a librarian in their specialty. Attending a conference may be out of your means, but many library associations offer assistance or scholarships to students wanting to attend a conference, so it’s worth pursuing. Some associations even have smaller regional meetings that are more affordable. You might be able to carpool with other library school students from your area.

Look at job ads in that specialty.  See what sorts of skills and experience are being required. In some specialties, like music, if you are the only librarian for that subject on campus, you may be required to do public service, instruction, and cataloging. However, there are also institutions that need people solely to catalog music materials or to provide music reference service. Looking at job ads will give you an idea of the types of classes you should take and experiences you should seek out while you are still in school.

Once you’ve confirmed that you want to be a subject specialist you should take all of the relevant classes in that area offered by your school. Make sure to round out with classes in areas like cataloging, collection development, copyright, digital libraries, instruction, and special collections, as these are all areas that the average subject specialist should have some knowledge of, even if they don’t have direct responsibilities for them.

Do at least one independent study or practicum. These are especially useful if, for example, you know you want to be a music cataloger but your school only offers a general cataloging course. Don’t wait until your last semester to approach the relevant subject librarian on campus to ask for advice, or to ask for a practicum or independent study. The reason for this is two-fold. First, if you say you are serious about being a subject specialist in this area and we haven’t ever seen you (in our class or in our library) until now, we will wonder why. Second, we often have limited time to offer independent studies or practicums. If you wait too long, we may not have a spot for you that semester.

But, you say, I’ve got an undergraduate degree in this field or a masters (or PhD!) in the subject; of course I’m qualified to be a librarian on this subject! Just as liking books does not make you qualified to be a librarian, knowing something about a particular subject does not make you qualified to be its librarian. Every subject specialty has attendant issues that aren’t necessarily obvious to students in that discipline. Take time to educate yourself about the field so that you can get the education and experiences you need while in library school. This will make you a much stronger job candidate in the long run.

Kirstin Dougan is the Music and Performing Arts Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She tweets both @kmdougan and @mpalillinois.

Becoming a Departmental Liaison, by Wayne Bivens-Tatum

Many academic librarians end up becoming the library liaison to one or more academic departments, including librarians who don’t normally work in public services. A good liaison is more than a contact for the academic department. Good liaisons integrate themselves ever so slightly into the academic departments and become a resource faculty choose to contact first about any library issues. I’ve been a liaison to various academic departments and groups throughout my career, and below is some general advice on how to become an effective liaison based upon my experience.

Get to Know Your Departments
Sometimes librarians liaise with so many departments that getting to know them all is difficult, but ideally the liaison librarian should know something about the academic subject in question and how the specific department functions. This knowledge can be gleaned from the department website, faculty CVs, formal interviews, or casual discussions. On my list of recommended DOs:

• Learn faculty research interests
• Study the curriculum
• Analyze departmental strengths
• Look at dissertations or theses if relevant
• Talk to people

As you can see, there’s nothing difficult about this, but it requires active rather than passive librarianship. Passive liaisons wait for faculty to find their names and contact them. Active liaisons make their presence and capability known. However, there’s making yourself known and then there’s making a nuisance of yourself. Hence, my list of DON’Ts. Don’t:

• Constantly send emails giving faculty “important” library news
• Act as though you are their equal “partners”
• Pester them

This goes against the grain of a lot of librarian discourse. Librarians often claim to be the partners of the teaching faculty in the education of the students. Well, sort of, but the teaching faculty don’t see it that way. Regardless, even if it’s true that librarians are equal partners with the teaching faculty, it’s pointless to act on that belief if the faculty don’t agree. The liaison must persuade the faculty members to trust them.

Things to Know about Faculty
To gain that trust, it’s important not to pester them, but you also must understand their work and how they feel about the library. Here are a few things I’ve learned about professors over the years:

• They’re busy
• They don’t care about your problems
• They don’t care about library issues that don’t affect them
• They don’t think the library is the center of the universe
• They just want their stuff, as quickly as possible

To the idealistic new librarian, this might sound daunting or depressing, but it’s just the way the world is, so it’s best to accept it. However, there are a couple of other things it’s useful to know:

• They’re around a lot longer than the students
• If we show we can help them, they’ll direct students to us

Sometimes, liaisons are so eager to get to students that they forget who really holds the power. Students come and go, but professors remain for decades. If you want to integrate yourself more into the research lives of the students, cultivate the faculty and build relationships with them.

Building Relationships
Building relationships with departments takes some effort. I have some general advice, but how specifically to apply that advice will depend on the situation you find. Things you should do to start building relationships:

• Get to know the department chair and administrator
• Find out how things work
• Cultivate the faculty who use the library most
• Show you’re interested in and know something about their subject. (And if you don’t know something, learn something.)
• Look for problems to solve
• Solve the problems

Librarians like to gather information by searching databases, but this kind of “human intelligence” is best acquired in the field. If you get to know the department administrator and the chair of the department, it’s easier to find out how things work. It’s easier to cultivate the faculty who use the library the most if you know something about how scholars in the field work. For example, historians need different and more extensive library resources than analytic philosophers.

The final two suggestions are the most important, but the most difficult to specify out of context. The key is to remember that the faculty aren’t there to solve your problems, whatever they might be. You’re there to solve their problems, and the more problems you solve the greater a resource you’ll be and the more they’ll rely upon and trust you.

The problems vary. As an example, years ago I was the de facto tech support for a department chair because the department’s tech support wasn’t very reliable. Not my job? Not what I went to library school for? True. However, that support led to a very close relationship to the department in question. On another occasion, I ended up overseeing a private departmental library. That wasn’t part of my job description, but it built useful relationships I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to develop. The trick is finding problems to solve, but the good (or rather, bad) thing about libraries is that there’s almost always a problem that can be solved. If faculty have problems with the library and you solve those problems (important step!), then you’re on your way to success.

Wayne Bivens-Tatum is the Philosophy and Religion Librarian at Princeton University. Read his Academic Librarian blog at blogs.princeton.edu/librarian.