RELIB Staff Day

Author: Bonnie Winters
Library System: Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County, Oakland

Top 3 things learned:

From the Staff Round Robin, I learned that coming up with some programs that target our male patrons would be a good idea.

From the Creative Problem Solving break-out session, I learned that individuals react to change based on their own mental model and where they are in the transition process, moving through the phases from endings to new beginnings. The exercise we did with Julie in the problem solving session was
very helpful in showing how people view change.

Also in the problem solving session, we worked through a transition (the pie), the core components (ingredients of the pie), and then removal of one of these core ingredients and likened the process to the starfish losing one leg. The starfish's response would be to grow a new leg. And our assignment
was to list 1 or 2 opportunities that became available because of the lost component. In other words, we had to look at the pie with a new set of possibilities, rather than giving up because the one component was missing.

How to implement:

Regarding programming targeted to male patrons, we are researching options available to us.

Regarding the problem solving model, I have to remember to be open to new possibilities and looking at each situation with an open mind. Just because we can't do it one way doesn't mean we might not be able to do it in a different way.