ULA Annual Conference 2025

Supervisors, Directors, and elected officials often assume that those who are constantly moving or talking are the best leaders - but are they? This presentation explores effective library leadership as an exercise in finding the balance between working to understand, mitigate, or avoid significant challenges, acting quickly and decisively in crisis situations, and deliberately making consistent, measured progress toward organizational goals. In particular, the presentation relies on Martin Gutmann's Action Fallacy principle (our society's incorrect belief that good leaders move when others are paralyzed, and that this action is the ultimate indicator of the effectiveness) to show the need for wholistic leadership. Presentation and discussion will discuss relevant scholarship, shared library experiences, and best practices surrounding library leadership.

Transform your library's Staff Development Day from a routine training into a meaningful celebration of growth and community through strategic planning and cohesive branding. Learn how to create an engaging, inclusive full-day experience that energizes staff while delivering valuable professional development. This session will cover the essential elements of a successful staff development day, from strategic planning timelines to creative themes that unite your programming initiatives. Discover strategies for balancing structured learning, including coordinating multiple learning tracks and creating memorable moments through carefully chosen speakers, activities, and recognition ceremonies. We'll explore practical aspects like catering management, branded swag selection, and accommodation planning, alongside the more nuanced elements of fostering staff engagement and building institutional culture. Discover how to weave consistent visual branding throughout your event ecosystem, from digital platforms to on-site navigation and every touchpoint in between. Whether you're reimagining an existing staff development day or planning your first one, you'll leave with a comprehensive planning framework and creative ideas for making your next Staff Development Day both meaningful and memorable.

Librarianship as a profession often appeals to introverts. Working with books and seeing the regular patrons in a relatively quiet setting seems like the perfect job for the more reserved. But what happens when an introvert advances in their career and suddenly find themself in a leadership position? Can introverts be effective leaders? Yes! In this panel session we will hear from some great librarian leaders who are introverts and learn how being introverted actually helps them be effective leaders.

Library workers in the United States face a complex array of challenges in their professional environments. Recent findings from a groundbreaking survey published in College & Research Libraries reveal that harassment and abusive behaviors are alarmingly prevalent in libraries, significantly more than previously thought. The survey indicated that 78% of librarians in academic settings have encountered gender harassment, while 64% reported experiencing seductive behavior from patrons, and 35% have faced sexual assault. Additionally, the 2022 Urban Libraries Unite Trauma Study, which gathered responses from over 435 urban library workers, paints a vivid picture of the difficult working conditions many face. This survey not only highlights these challenges but also provides a promising framework for addressing the needs of the library community. The emotional labor involved in library work is substantial, particularly as workers frequently interact with patrons who are distressed or frustrated. Library staff often act as frontline responders, necessitating a high level of empathy and professionalism in their interactions. Recognizing that staff are an organization’s most valuable resource, it is crucial to protect them. In this session, we will discuss the urgent need for evidence-based, trauma-informed programs focusing on human safety, de-escalation techniques, leadership development, and crisis management.

Equipping employees for success requires starting on strong footing with an organized onboarding plan and making continuous growth a priority for both the employee and the organization. We will share our experiences, lessons learned, and how professional development can be scaled to libraries of any size.

A few years ago Salt Lake County looked at what we were doing to help grow our employees for future leadership roles and recognized a need for a more formal program. A leadership development program was created, of which mentoring was a key part. Over the past three years we've seen what a critical part mentoring plays in helping employees grow and develop new skills, especially in a leadership development program. We'll be covering the benefits of mentoring for staff, good guidelines for mentoring interactions (formal and informal), and offering a look at how we structured mentoring within the framework of our own leadership development program.

We will provide a clear understanding of what experiential learning is through an experiential learning framework that has been successful at our institution. We will offer practical real-life stories and have table and partner discussion as we deliver each step of the framework. The session will demonstrate how implementing experiential learning can give time back, can teach us how to delegate more to employees and empower them in ways that will further their growth. Attendees will learn how to implement this framework at their library.

Who are you as a leader? What impact do you hope to have? These are some of the initial questions every good leader asks. Effective leadership is not confined to formal positions of authority and emerges from any level. Come learn about the differences between being a leader and a manager, using self-awareness as a foundation for success. Communication and community building are essential tools to effectively lead and manage onsite, hybrid, and remote teams. Informal leaders often emerge from unexpected sources, and can significantly impact an organization. Participants will leave with actionable insights and a renewed understanding of their potential to lead and inspire, regardless of their position within the library hierarchy.

Daily decisions and problem solving creates stress. We have latitude in spending our budgets, but not in creating them. We have amazing patrons and staff, but there is always the possibility of conflict. Our daily decisions and priorities can be questioned at any time by almost anyone. Steve Decker has been making library decisions for over 30 years. He hasn't seen it all. Nobody has. But he has learned about what can be "fixed" and what cannot. Join Steve for some insights about What You Can Fix - Don't Stress the Rest.