Overview

Most libraries in the US are small in size and rural in location. And, since most of them don’t require a degree to be hired as Library Director, many new hires step into the position with limited management or librarianship experience. This handbook will quickly get new directors up to speed on managing staff, drafting budgets, crafting policies, overseeing a building and its collections, and strengthening the library’s place in the community. The authors, with years of small library management experience between them, offer expert guidance on all those topics and many more besides. Small public library directors at all stages of their career, as well as their board members and library trustees, will benefit from this handbook’s up-to-date perspectives on what it takes to run your library in today’s post-pandemic, politically polarized, technologically advanced, socially isolated world; receive to-the-point advice on governance, strategic planning, human resources, policy development, facilities, services and programs, and other foundational tasks; become informed on how to safeguard intellectual freedom, handle challenges to materials and programming, and protect patron privacy; get pointers on broadening their personal network, understanding what outside resources are available, and spearheading effective advocacy and community engagement; learn from real-life “Success Stories” and “On the Job” words of wisdom sprinkled throughout the text; and find adaptable templates, self-enrichment activities, and other tools to facilitate ongoing professional development.

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Author Information

Cindy Fesemyer is the principal of Fesemyer Consulting. Her areas of expertise include community engagement, staff and trustee training, strategic planning, and meeting facilitation. Cindy served for seven years as the director of the Columbus (WI) Public Library, which was a finalist for Library Journal’s 2017 Best Small Library in America award. Cindy served for eight years as a trustee for the Madison Public Library and has taught academic and continuing education courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s iSchool. She was also the community services consultant for the Wisconsin State Library, and she sat on the board of the Public Library Association. After many years of work in the library field, Cindy earned her MLIS degree in 2012 from UW-Madison. Christina Jones currently serves on the Monona (WI) Public Library’s board. She formerly worked as a community engagement librarian at the Madison Public Library and also served as director of the Altoona (WI) Public Library. She earned her MLIS degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012. Christina is particularly interested in collections, community engagement, and strategic planning, and how libraries can help facilitate connection and community cohesiveness.

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