Have you ever had someone in your career that has helped you navigate your way through the profession? Whether yes or no, mentoring is a process that can benefit us all. On this show, I speak with Ginger H. Williams, Associate Dean for Academic Engagement and Public Services at the Wichita State University Libraries.

She shares how mentoring is a unique process that can be formal, informal, or even self-directed. Whether you’ve had a mentoring experience and want to think about the ways it works best for our profession, or are looking to engage in the mentoring process this information will prove invaluable. 

How can we make our libraries human-centered community assets? Find out on this show as I talk with Jeff Davis, Library Planner and Designer at Architectural Nexus.

Jeff believes architecture is about people not buildings. You won’t want to miss this discussion as he shares how an inclusive community approach to designing our libraries can make our facilities achieve great reach and relevance. 

As librarians, how many times do we tell people what we do and have them say, “Oh, that’s nice. It must be so relaxing?” While it may be cliché, I bet we’ve all heard this a time or two. The truth is that library work can take its toll. On this show, I talk with Jenn Carson, Director of the LP Fisher Public Library in Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada.

She is a yoga teacher, a positional therapist, and the author of Yoga and Meditation at the Library: A Practical Guide for Librarians . She’s also the creator of YogaintheLibrary.com. Whether you are knotted up over work, personal issues, or politics this show teaches how we can take care of ourselves and unwind. 

As presenters, research says that an audience will develop an impression of us within 15 seconds. If we’re giving a presentation and fail to have a great opening, people will basically tune us out. We are asked to present all the time in libraries to stakeholders, governing bodies, in programs, and to one another.

On today’s show, I speak with Victor Baeza, Graduate Initiatives and Engagement Coordinator and Business Librarian at Oklahoma State University. He shares excellent ways to warm-up your audience to ensure successful presentations, something we all can use.

There are differences between leading and managing. How often do we stop to think about what those are and how we can apply them for best results? On today’s show, I speak with Diana Weaver, Director of the Basehor Library in Kansas. She shares how leadership and management are distinctive but complimentary. 

We can use this knowledge to create organizational structures that really work. I enjoyed this conversation filled with information we all should know and I think you will, too.

What leaders need to be successful can be developed in a variety of ways. But, as a profession, how often do we think of having a youth services skillset as an ideal path to leadership? Today, I talk with Amadee Ricketts, Director of the Cochise County Library District based in Bisbee, Arizona. When her career path led her into administration, she was struck by how her youth services skillset applied directly to leadership.

So, she conducted a survey to explore this further. We are fortunate to get to hear about what she learned that will hopefully inspire and build great leaders in libraries, from youth services beginnings.